Fans have their opinions of Skip Bayless. The FS1 host its polarizing, no doubt, but plenty of people currently or formerly in the broadcast industry will speak up when others criticize Bayless.
Add Deion Sanders to that list.
Undisputed originated from Boulder, Colorado on Friday. The Buffaloes’ head football coach stopped by to visit with Bayless, Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin. Before he left and the show went off the air, Sanders wanted to make his feelings about Bayless clear.
“Thank you, because you get heat oftentimes, but you’ve given a lot of us opportunities that people look past and they don’t understand, they don’t recognize,” Coach Prime said to Bayless.
Bayless has been accused of many things. Few in the industry question his ability to recognize talent and give it a platform.
“None of us are perfect, but you have given us, you all know darn well what I’m talking about, so many opportunities, man,” Sanders said to the largely white crowd that had gathered behind the desk to watch the show. “I appreciate you for that.”
Sanders’s sentiments are similar to one expressed by Bayless’s former First Take partner Stephen A. Smith earlier this year. Smith pointed out that there are plenty of Black journalists and former players that owe Bayless a debt of gratitude for helping start or elevate their TV careers.
Bayless told Sanders he loved him and the two embraced as the show went off the air.
