First Take saw Stephen A. Smith impersonate Mad Dog, Mad Dog bring a Roger Goodell-signed almanac, and Molly Qerim drop a ‘Slim Shady’

ESPN debate show First Take sometimes goes to unusual places. That definitely happened Wednesday on a number of fronts. One particular one was a two-minute run that came out of discussions about if and when notorious Dallas Cowboys critic Stephen A. Smith would do First Take from the AT&T Stadium parking lot, which led to everything from a Chris “Mad Dog” Russo almanac to Smith impersonating Russo and more.

Come for Mad Dog's almanac, stay for Stephen A. "Slim Shady" Smith impersonating the Mad Dog. pic.twitter.com/naw3KQJKEv

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2023

That run saw Molly Qerim say “Imagine him doing kegstands, Slim Shady over here, them picking him up.” Smith said “She calls me Slim Shady now, that’s a compliment” and Marcus Spears said “You slim, though.” This then saw Russo’s attempt to pick games for them to visit derailed by discussion of the almanac he brought to set, which apparently was signed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (who Russo just calls “Roger” at first, leading Qerim to think he’s talking about Aaron Rodgers).

This then went even further off the rails, leading to Qerim saying “I don’t even know what’s happening here” as Smith puts on Russo’s glasses and impersonates him, complete with an attempt at his distinct New York accent:

“I don’t know if I’m going to pick one of those games. But I will entertain it because I kind of like what I’m seeing from Eric Bienemy and the Washington Commanders. But I’m not sure yet. But I gotta tell you, I really, really am considering it, I have to say.”

They then talk about possibly spending Thanksgiving in Dallas, with Spears saying they could go to his family dinner but “We’re not making anything healthy,” Smith saying “She’s going to eat all the food!”, and Qerim dropping another “Okay, Slim Shady.”

There’s a whole lot of notable there, from that Mad Dog impression to the Slim Shady references about Smith (notable either with Eminem or with his weight) through why Smith is talking about Qerim’s eating habits again. But the almanac may have been the funniest part, especially given Russo’s propensity to bring up long-ago players and with the note that it was signed by “Roger” around Goodell’s interview on First Take last week (which Russo previously complained about being excluded from). And Spears had a funny reaction to the almanac on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mspears96/status/1704502555613516123

On or off the rails, the current version of First Take is performing pretty well for ESPN (and clobbering the new-look Undisputed over at FS1). And it certainly produces some unusual moments.

[Awful Announcing on Twitter]