Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless’s brief reunion for the first time in almost a decade seemed to go smoothly, but Bayless had some real concerns before their podcast appearance.
Smith joined the The Skip Bayless Show this week, and seeing the two together brought back feelings for many viewers, as well as Bayless and Smith. It marked their first show together since 2016 when Bayless left ESPN’s First Take for FS1’s Unrivaled.
Given the passage of time and the different career trajectories Smith and Bayless have experienced, many wondered how that reunion would work. Bayless told The New York Post he was very apprehensive before the podcast.
“All of the sudden, the reality hit me, ‘Gee, what if it’s not the same?” Bayless said. “What if it’s awkward or it feels like it’s something that was a relic of the past that we could never reach back and re-launch?’”
While the reunion wouldn’t be mistaken for an old First Take episode, there were some highlights, including a discussion on Tim Tebow, one of the subjects they once fiercely debated. Smith brought up the touchdown pass Tebow threw in overtime to beat Smith’s favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the AFC Playoffs in January 2012. Smith revealed he lay on the floor for two hours, and after getting up, “he couldn’t eat, couldn’t have sex, couldn’t do nothing.”
Stephen A fell to the floor and couldn’t move for two hours after Tim Tebow beat his Steelers in the playoffs pic.twitter.com/NPkSXDUK8Z
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 12, 2025
The 73-year-old Bayless said his apprehension faded “immediately” as the two talked on the podcast.
“I just immediately felt like we were still on the air together, like I had done this yesterday and the day before and the day before. It felt completely, utterly normal from moment one,” Bayless said (via The Post). “They say it’s like riding a bicycle, yeah, it was like riding a bicycle, except it was like riding the greatest bicycle ever built in sports media in a heartbeat.”
Bayless and Smith avoided some obviously touchy subjects: the 2016 split, their feuds, and Bayless’s current career and legal situation. They kept the conversation light and cordial. But Bayless told his wife, Ernestine Sclafani, on his podcast two days later that he could still feel the chemistry with Smith.
“I think what came clear from it was that the chemistry that we had and still have, is so special that you could pick it right back because it’s truly from God, to me,” Bayless said. “It is God sent, God blessed. You can’t fake it. You can’t teach it. You can’t coach it. You can’t force it. It either happens or it doesn’t.”
Bayless told The Post he’d be open to hosting Smith again. He said the podcast brought back great memories.
“We were together for a long, long time, and we did a whole lot of television and radio together, a whole lot, so I just immediately felt that competitive warmth that I always felt with him, where it’s like a brotherly competition based on love, built on love and respect,” Bayless said.
