The whole band is getting back together on First Take this football season.
Shortly after announcing that he would be reuniting with Skip Bayless one day each month, host Stephen A. Smith revealed another familiar face who will be on the show’s roster as the NFL season begins: Michael Irvin.
“My man Skip Bayless is coming back to First Take. You know who else is coming back? Michael Irvin. The Playmaker,” Smith said in a video posted Sunday to his YouTube channel. “He’ll be back on Mondays for the football season. And I ain’t even bring into account the rest of the crew that I got coming with me.”
First Take is in flux after losing Shannon Sharpe, Ryan Clark, and Cam Newton over the past year. The show’s cast was expected to see some new additions for NFL coverage. It turns out that what’s new is old.
Bayless was the show’s original host from 2007-16, and he made his return earlier this year in a well-rated special episode. Irvin was a panelist on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown shortly after retiring, from 2003-07, and has been a frequent favorite guest of Smith’s.
When Smith was looking for a replacement after Max Kellerman’s departure in 2021, ESPN reportedly even considered Irvin as a potential full-time co-host alongside Smith. More recently, Irvin was a regular contributor to FS1’s Speak. Irvin also hosts Netflix’s first original sports podcast, The White House, and has become a key character in the University of Miami’s return to the college football mountaintop.
Bayless and Irvin also share a history of sexual misconduct allegations. Bayless left FS1 shortly after being named as a defendant in a lawsuit accusing him of offering to pay a hairstylist at the network to have sex with him. The hairstylist seemingly settled with Bayless and Joy Taylor last year.
In 2023, Irvin was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman at a Phoenix hotel while he was in town for the Super Bowl. The Dallas Cowboys great was briefly suspended before leaving the network the following year.
The pair have been some of the more compelling personalities to ever debate with Smith on First Take, but will also bring plenty of baggage to a network that acted swiftly to sideline Sharpe as he dealt with a sexual misconduct lawsuit of his own last spring.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.