ESPN experienced a very rare occurrence on First Take Thursday morning. No, Max Kellerman did not reappear on ESPN, but his name did.
It’s been more than three years since Kellerman was booted from First Take, nearly two years since ESPN parted ways with him, and more than a year since the network made any reference of him. That changed Thursday morning when Stephen A. Smith’s former debate partner received a shoutout from Molly Qerim. The reference came after Qerim introduced Mina Kimes to First Take, fresh off her runaway victory on Celebrity Jeopardy!.
Did Molly Qerim just admit Max Kellerman is smarter than Stephen A. Smith? 👀 pic.twitter.com/JKLGzqB480
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 13, 2025
“The only Jeopardy! question I would ever get right is if someone asked me, ‘past or present, who at ESPN would win Jeopardy!?’ And I would say Mina Kimes. Or maybe Max Kellerman if we went past,” Qerim said as Smith listened. “Max could have got it done too.”
The reference didn’t seem to bother Smith the way Skip Bayless was bothered the first time Shannon Sharpe’s name was brought up on Undisputed during its brief post-Sharpe era. Smith actually co-signed Qerim touting Kellerman’s knowledge, saying, “That’s right. Absolutely.” But Kellerman’s general intellectual ability wasn’t enough to warrant Smith keeping him on First Take back in 2021.
Smith has made many references to Kellerman in recent years, telling anyone who is willing to listen that he kicked his former debate partner off First Take, citing chemistry issues. But those references always came on various podcast interviews, never ESPN. Per our sources, Kellerman’s name has not been mentioned on ESPN since getting a shoutout during a Feb. 2024 episode of Around the Horn.
But Qerim broke the barrier between ESPN and Kellerman Thursday morning and it should remain open over the course of the next two months as Around the Horn nears its final episode on Friday, May 23. If the next two months are treated as a celebration of Around the Horn, Kellerman undoubtedly deserves to be part of it.
Max Kellerman was an integral part of Around the Horn’s early success, hosting the show from its inception in 2002 until early 2004. Hopefully, ESPN and the Around the Horn can figure out some way to get Kellerman at least one minute of face time before signing off for the last time.
