Stephen A. Smith was far from defending Jack Del Rio for referring to Jan.6 as a “dust-up,” but he did applaud the NFL coach for broadcasting his ignorance and inviting a discussion about it.

On Tuesday, Del Rio responded to a tweet about the Jan. 6 committee public hearings and said he would love to hear “the whole story “about “why the summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property is never discussed.” After igniting controversy with his tweet, Del Rio attempted to clarify his comments on Wednesday by standing in front of a camera and shamelessly referring to the deadly Capitol insurrection as a “dust-up.”

“Why are we not looking into those things — if we’re going to talk about it — why are we not looking into those things?” Del Rio told reporters Wednesday. “I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards, and if we apply the same standard and we’re going to be reasonable with each other, let’s have a discussion. That’s all it was. Let’s have a discussion.”

Labeling an attack on the U.S. Capitol that threatened democracy and led to the death of seven people was a gross display of ignorance. But Thursday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith commended Del Rio for the sentence, “let’s have a discussion,” and he implored Ryan Clark to take the Washington Commanders defensive coordinator up on the suggestion by inviting him to The Pivot Podcast.

“We have to get to a point where we look at a Jack Del Rio and what he said and actually be gratified that there was somebody that was willing to be open about their ignorance,” Smith told Clark.

Instead of excoriating Del Rio, Smith says Black people should be able to walk up to him and say ‘let’s have a conversation.’ Smith hopes Del Rio’s comments can be used as an opportunity to educate the Commanders defensive coordinator.

“I found nothing offensive about what he said,” Smith explained. “I thought it was ignorant, I thought it was ill-informed, I thought it was foolish for him to think that. But I appreciated the fact that he was honest enough to say, ‘we’re all Americans, let’s have a conversation’…He actually invited a conversation.

“You know what that means Ryan Clark? That means you and your boys, with The Pivot should go and talk to Jack Del Rio. Because he invited you! He invited you! He said ‘let’s have a conversation.’ So let’s have the conversation. Because this nation is never going to recover from the divisiveness that has plagued us from the politicians that continue to feed that divisiveness that plagues us all.”

“I can do it,” Clark told Smith.

The Pivot is a rapidly growing podcast featuring three former NFL stars as its hosts: Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor. Since launching at the start of this year, The Pivot Podcast has shown a willingness to address sensitive topics, having discussed police brutality with Charles Barkley, transgender athletes with Caitlyn Jenner and Donald Trump with Dana White.

“Now’s an opportunity,” Smith continued. “Because he said ‘let’s have a conversation.’ That gives Ryan Clark, a brilliant brother…who has credibility across the nation. That gives you…an opportunity to walk right up to him and say ‘let me educate you about this experience.’”

An open conversation with Del Rio about the Capitol insurrection would be a fascinating listen. Clark clearly seems willing to have it and if the invite does come, hopefully Del Rio doesn’t cower from his “let’s have a discussion” statement.

[ESPN]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com