One day after Craig Carton made a Skip Bayless joke on his FS1 show, the new Fox employee became oddly complimentary of the Undisputed host.
Monday morning, Carton joked that co-host Greg Jennings was being a “hot take shock jock,” adding “what is your name, Skip Bayless?”
Usually, any sort of Fox on Fox crime that features Bayless as the victim is strictly forbidden. But with his mild joke, Carton joined colleagues Doug Gottlieb, Michael Strahan and Shannon Sharpe in their recent criticism of Bayless, highlighted by his poorly timed tweet about Damar Hamlin. Carton, however, is much newer to the Fox family, and 24 hours after the joke, he sang a noticeably different tune toward Bayless.
Craig has a very different Skip Bayless take today… pic.twitter.com/QUtgTQNwAL
— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) January 11, 2023
“The biggest Cowboy fan I know is Skip Bayless,” Carton claimed after referring to Bayless as his “main man.”
“Shout out to Skip! Like, I don’t know how you get through the weekend,” Carton said of having to wait until Monday to watch the Dallas Cowboys playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “And I’d love to sit here and mock Cowboy fans, because I like to mock people I love and people I respect.”
That’s just a friendly reminder from Carton to his audience that by mocking Bayless on Monday, he was actually showing the love and respect he has for Fox Sports’ most valued personality.
“He’s the best at what he does,” Carton added. Well now this is just getting a bit nauseating.
“But I don’t know how he gets through this weekend cause if I was a die-hard Cowboy fan, I’d be champing at the bit, but Skip, I got you buddy!” Carton said. “And speaking of Skip, I should say, that guy is my guy…and truth be told, his success at this network actually paved the way for me to be here. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna root for the Cowboys on Monday.”
On Monday, Craig Carton jokes about Skip Bayless. On Tuesday, Craig Carton loves and respects Skip Bayless. He lauds Bayless for being “the best.” He thanks Bayless for being so successful and putting FS1 on his back, building it into a network that has opportunities for hosts like Carton.
This might be the biggest flip-flop in sports since the Mets took one look at Carlos Correa’s ankle. It’s almost like Skip Bayless had someone at Fox remind Carton of his importance. But that can’t be, because Bayless has no idea Carton made a joke about him, because Bayless doesn’t scour his name on the internet.
