While there was no shortage of drama between Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless on Undisputed, Sharpe’s reported departure sent shockwaves through the sports media industry. It particularly bewildered some of his colleagues at Fox Sports, including Chris Broussard and Rob Parker.
Per the NY Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel, Sharpe and Fox Sports have agreed to a buyout agreement and the NFL Hall of Famer will leave FS1’s Undisputed “after the 2023 NBA Finals conclude in June.”
“I’m stunned by this news of Shannon Sharpe leaving Undisputed, I think it’s a huge loss for FS1,” Broussard said on Fox Sports Radio’s The Odd Couple. “I thought that he and Skip Bayless had at least gotten to a point where they could coexist, but apparently not.”
Sharpe’s Twitter likes, which can be seen below, seem to hint otherwise.
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1664085684729319429?s=20
While Sharpe liking tweets isn’t an official statement, it seems to imply that his relationship with Bayless was fractured beyond repair. Perhaps the most volatile incident between the two came in January after Bayless caught heat for an ill-advised tweet about Damar Hamlin, Sharpe no-showed the following day, raising speculation about his future with the show. The two got into a heated argument over the tweet and Bayless’s insistence he did nothing wrong.
As Parker alluded to, Sharpe and Bayless had dove into several arguments that veered into personal territory. One instance that particularly stood out to Parker was when Sharpe went full soprano on Bayless as they traded barbs over Tom Brady.
While that happened nearly six months ago, the tension had been building to a head since then.
https://twitter.com/shannonsharpeee/status/1602320855765323776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602320855765323776%7Ctwgr%5E6c2101770903d8bc2586fbcac920b7dc8b54ad17%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fawfulannouncing.com%2Ffox%2Fskip-bayless-shannon-sharpe-tom-brady.html
“The moment Skip claimed Shannon was ‘jealous’ of Tom Brady, and Shannon took his glasses off, that was the moment they were separated,” Parker said. “Skip even told him to put his glasses back on, and Skip didn’t like that at all… Chris, we’ve had our fights on the radio, but you have to be careful to not cross lines. You never want to hurt your partner to the point you hurt the show.”
Parker and Broussard are the only two sports personalities to have worked with Bayless on all three debate shows he’s been on, dating back to Cold Pizza and First Take. They are both fond of both Bayless and Sharpe, but are unclear where either personality goes from here.
[New York Post, Fox Sports, Awful Announcing on Twitter]
