The recent move by the U.S. Department of Defense to remove an article about Jackie Robinson’s time in the Army from its website sparked widespread anger from the sports world, especially in the media.
In the eyes of Stephen A. Smith, not all of the commentary around this situation has been positive, particularly the recent comments from his former colleague, Robert Griffin III.
In a post on X Thursday, Griffin shared his opinion that sports talk shows, such as ESPN’s First Take, “should be about sports, not politics.” Additionally, while defending that comment, Griffin claimed that Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball was not itself political.
Griffin’s comments were understandably met with significant pushback from many sports media personalities. That includes Stephen A. Smith, who, on Friday’s edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show, highlighted how Griffin’s post showed his ignorance.
“RGIII, respectfully, my brother, you sound ignorant. You sound utterly clueless,” said Smith. “First of all, when Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in 1947, are you trying to say race wasn’t politicized in 1947 or beforehand? Like Branch Rickey for the Dodgers didn’t specifically choose him because he knew he would need his temperament? As a former military man who exercised discipline as opposed to reacting violently to the racial venom that was thrown in his direction? You are trying to tell me politics have nothing to do with that?
“We all know that while race may stand alone as its prevalent issue, politics have been used historically to exercise the muscle necessary to implement racially insensitive policies if not racist policies. That is a fact. There is no black person alive who would deny that. And there is no white person who could justifiably deny it.”
Smith then addressed Griffin personally, telling him to “stop tap dancing” around important issues like this in the future and claiming that he is simply “bitter” about no longer being at ESPN.
“RGIII, at some point in time, my brother, you are going to have to show your hand and stop tap dancing like the late-great Gregory Hines,” added Smith. “Figuratively speaking, you have got to stop dancing around issues. Brother, if you got something to say, say it. If you have got a problem with Stephen A., say it by name. What’s the problem? Because I certainly don’t have any problem with you.
“Let me tell you RGIII, an unknown secret that you may not have realized. You see, you come across as someone that’s bitter about being gone from ESPN. You ain’t being slick. See, we saw the reports when you got let go by ESPN and how ticked off you were. We saw people in your camp, probably you in my estimation, but I don’t this for sure, that alluded to the Jason McCourtys of the world being on ESPN in the aftermath of you being let go.
“So since you have this penchant, this proclivity to be passive-aggressive because that’s how you roll, let me show you how to be direct. RGIII, people at ESPN didn’t like you bro. They didn’t like you. You know the names. I said names as in plural. Do you know why I can say that to you RGIII? Because I’m not one of those people. I actually loved you on First Take. Every time you came on First Take, you did a damn good job. Are you ready for this RGIII? Don’t faint. The bosses would tell you I wanted them to keep you.”
Smith would go on to claim that RGIII’s passive-aggressive nature soured ESPN brass’s perception of him as an on-air talent.
“Stop with the passive-aggressive stuff, that’s weak, bro,” said Smith. “That’s exactly the reason why a whole bunch of cats at ESPN had a problem with you.”
We’ll see if RGIII responds and whether or not he takes Smith’s advice to “stop tap dancing” and speak openly.
