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Just Shut Up, Skip

You will not see more awkward television than Skip Bayless interrupting Shannon Sharpe to defend his Damar Hamlin tweet

January 04, 2023

By now, the entire sports world—and many beyond it—know the name Damar Hamlin. On Monday night, Hamlin collapsed during the first quarter of the MNF showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals with cardiac arrest. He was given CPR on the field as his teammates stood helpless around him for over nine minutes. He was eventually transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was intubated, sedated, and listed in critical condition. The incident caused the crucial late-season clash to be postponed and was a stark reminder to all watching that some things are far more important than football … well, almost all.

That was the tweet from Skip Bayless, sports talk firebrand and patriarch of FS1’s ‘Undisputed,' in the immediate aftermath of Hamlin’s life-and-death emergency. The tweet was immediately slammed from all sides, as Bayless clumsily equated his concern for the NFL’s scheduling logistics with his concern for a human being whose life hangs in the balance. On Tuesday, Bayless hosted ‘Undisputed’ solo, apologizing for everything but his tweet while co-host Shannon Sharpe’s seat remained empty.

Reports of a rift between the two began to circulate. On Wednesday Sharpe returned, attempting to put those rumors to bed with an opening monologue of his own. Midway through, however, he brought up Bayless’ tweet, expressing his desire to see it taken down. Bayless, a man completely powerless to the heady allure of a good interruption, interjected, leading to one of the most awkward sports television moments in recent memory. Get ready to cringe, America.

Sharpe can say what he wants about the “innuendo,” but if this isn’t confirmation that trouble is brewing in paradise, we don’t know what is. We saw the pair get heated a few weeks back as Bayless took personal shots at his co-host in defense of Tom Brady, and the Hamlin incident—along with the pointlessly hot takes it has generated across the internet—has only thrown more gas on the fire. Will Sharpe become the latest Bayless co-host to throw his hands up and quit? Could this be the end of Bayless’ reign as sports talk’s premier idiot-in-chief? Probably and probably not, but no matter the outcome, let’s not lose sight of what’s actually important here:

DAMAR HAMLIN. Get well soon, brother. We’re pulling for you.

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