Stephen A. Smith calls Shannon Sharpe’s possible return to ESPN ‘a work in progress’

ESPN parted ways with Shannon Sharpe after the sexual assault lawsuit against him, and it sounds like Stephen A. Smith would be in favor of bringing him back.

It’s been nearly one year since Sharpe was accused of sexual assault and opted to step away from his ESPN responsibilities. Sharpe settled the $50 million lawsuit against him last summer, but ESPN still decided against welcoming the Pro Football Hall of Famer back to First Take.

Monday afternoon, a listener called Smith’s SiriusXM show on Mad Dog Sports Radio and mentioned they would love for him to bring Sharpe back to First Take. And it sounds like Smith agrees, it’s just not his decision to make.

“That’s my boy, I got nothing but love for him. I wish I had him back,” Smith said. “That’s gonna always be my boy. My whole crew; Ryan Clark and Swagu and everybody in between. I got nothing but love for all those brothers, so they always know they welcome on any platform that I have, but I don’t make all the decisions. I make them here on my radio show, I make them on my YouTube channel. ESPN, not so much, that’s the challenge. But you know, it’s a work in progress.”

Referring to Shannon Sharpe’s status with ESPN as a “work in progress” implies Stephen A. Smith may have had conversations about bringing him back to First Take. When Sharpe announced he was stepping away from ESPN amid the sexual assault lawsuit against him last April, he also shared plans of returning before the NFL season. Sharpe ultimately settled the lawsuit in late July, which may have been too close to the start of the season for ESPN to truly consider bringing him back. But if Smith is still pushing for Sharpe’s return as we get closer to next football season, it’s reasonable to wonder whether ESPN will believe enough time has passed to welcome him back.

ESPN doesn’t need Shannon Sharpe, but he undoubtedly generated more attention than any other analyst currently on First Take. And Sharpe equally doesn’t need ESPN, but he should want it if they’re willing to have him. Because as successful as Nightcap and Club Shay Shay are, being on ESPN still keeps him relevant with a different audience, and serves as a great promotional tool for his own media company, just as it does for Smith’s various shows and projects away from the Worldwide Leader.

Stephen A. Smith similarly vouched for Michael Irvin to return to First Take after his latest legal issue two years ago. And this past season, Irvin began making appearances on First Take again now that he was further removed from having the lawsuit against him dismissed. It sounds like Smith might be hoping to see the same thing happen with Sharpe.