Jalen Rose takes apparent shot at Stephen A. Smith for ‘pretending to fake troll the Cowboys’

Stephen A. Smith has staked his corner as the premier Dallas Cowboys hater. And Jalen Rose doesn’t appear to support the attention-seeking behavior.

Every time the Cowboys lose a big game, it’s an opportunity for Smith to troll the team and their massive fanbase. And after Smith spent 24 hours relishing all the Cowboys fans’ doom and gloom over their playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday evening, Rose fired off an interesting tweet that seemed to throw shade at his ESPN colleague.

Praying on the audience being dumb/lazy and low hanging fruit. https://t.co/Mr94YO2Nag

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) January 24, 2023

“So glad I didn’t make a career of content pretending to fake troll the Cowboys,” Rose tweeted. “Praying [sic] on the audience being dumb/lazy and low hanging fruit.”

Rose didn’t tag Smith in his Twitter rant, but the @ may not have been needed to get his point across. Even if Rose’s slight was more of a general rant against the media for focusing too much on the Cowboys, it would be impossible to claim Smith was excluded from that criticism. Smith is the foremost Cowboys hater at ESPN, and maybe even in sports media.

During Monday’s episode of First Take, Smith taunted Michael Irvin, he arrived to the studio wearing a cowboy hat and drank from a mug that read “Cowboys fan tears.” Smith criticized Dak Prescott and basked in the sadness of Jerry Jones. Even First Take host Molly Qerim, who is also Rose’s ex-wife, asked viewers to “pray for me” as she anticipated Smith’s antics on Monday.

Stephen A is definitely enjoying himself today pic.twitter.com/b4wGj4K1hP

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 23, 2023

Smith’s Cowboys trolling was on another level after their playoff loss to the 49ers, and we all recognize the theatrics behind it. His taunting is a bit for television much more than it is genuine hate for the Cowboys and their fans. And so long as the Cowboys keep failing to earn their sixth Super Bowl ring in franchise history, Smith wins. It doesn’t matter if the Cowboys win 13 games or advance to the Super Bowl, if their season ends in a loss, Smith gets to grab the “low hanging fruit” and troll America’s team.

We know Smith trolls the Cowboys for attention, but Rose still sought to pull back the curtain on the made for TV bit. Smith’s entertainment style isn’t for everyone, nor is his over-the-top Cowboys hate, but using it to discredit his TV career seems harsh. Not only are Rose and Smith ESPN colleagues, but they co-host NBA Countdown together, which should make for an interesting pre-show meeting this week.

[Jalen Rose]