Skip Bayless might not know it, but he’s had some bad takes over the years. The worst of which includes predicting Johnny Manziel would be bigger than LeBron James ever was in Cleveland.
That hot take was boisterously broadcasted by Bayless on First Take and Twitter exactly 10 years ago, May 9, 2014. Happy anniversary!
“I will go right down the list of teams that will forever regret passing on Johnny Manziel, who pretty soon will change football life in Cleveland, Ohio,” Bayless told Stephen A. Smith on First Take. “One day, I am predicting, Johnny Manziel will become even bigger in the city of Cleveland than his buddy and business partner LeBron James ever was in the city of Cleveland. One day, the passing connection of Johnny Manziel to Josh Gordon will heat up Novembers and Decembers and I’m predicting Januarys in Cleveland, Ohio.”
Thus, one of Skip’s worst takes was born—a list that includes an endless defense of Tim Tebow and claiming Derek Fisher would be a better NBA coach than Steve Kerr. But they all pale in comparison to Skip’s declaration that Manziel’s status would one day surpass that of LeBron James in Cleveland.
Two months after this take, LeBron announced he was returning to Cleveland, citing a desire to bring them a championship. Two years later, LeBron delivered that championship to Cleveland. Manziel, meanwhile, never threw another NFL pass after just two seasons and eight starts in Cleveland, none of them coming in January. Manziel would, however, throw another pass to Josh Gordon in 2021 for the Fan-Controlled Football League.
Manziel has since expressed regret for letting Bayless down by not living up to the hype, and Bayless has apologized to Manziel for fueling false expectations. But this take was as much about LeBron as it was about Manziel. Bayless lives such a false reality about LeBron’s stardom that he probably thought nothing of hitting Manziel with these unfair and unrealistic expectations.
This was peak Skip Bayless. It was finding a hill to die on with a hot take and doing it by replanting his flag as the foremost LeBron James hater on that same hill. Happy anniversary.
