Shortly after Stephen A. Smith discussed a story reported by ESPN that the U.S. Department of Defense had removed a biographical article about Jackie Robinson as part of a “digital content refresh,” former network analyst and NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III posted on social media that sports shows should refrain from discussing politics. While Griffin did not talk about First Take specifically, this led to Smith criticizing the comments he made and elucidating that people at ESPN did not like him, although he affirmed that he was not part of this cadre. Griffin, who has been hosting his Outta Pocket podcast, recently had Smith on as a guest where they discussed the matter further and elaborated on different aspects of the sports media business.
Within their conversation, Griffin highlighted all of his social media posts on X since being let go from ESPN last summer that he has said about the network or Smith himself. Highlighting that he had not said anything negative about either entity, Griffin divulged that had he wanted to direct negativity towards Smith, he would have done it directly. Furthermore, he divulged that he has not said anything himself or through sources towards ESPN, leading him to wonder where Smith was discovering this presumed narrative.
“I’m saying when you look in terms of the things that have been reported, whether it was from you, your camp or anybody else, because everybody’s got their sources and everybody leaks who they want to leak to and all of this other stuff, I get all of that,” Smith said. “My point to you and my point in saying what I was saying is, “Bro, you work at a place. People have whatever feelings they have about you – that’s nothing new to you. Bosses make decisions that’s above our head – that’s nothing new,’ but I’m not that guy. If I didn’t want you, I’d have told you.”
Griffin explained that he considers calling someone passive aggressive as being an excuse to say that their reaction did not align with what was expected. On top of that, he addressed Smith saying that he had a problem with people talking behind his back, conveying that some things may have been trying to extract plausibility and draw connections. Griffin articulated that no one from his camp has put out anything about his ESPN exit and that everything he posts on X is not about ESPN or Smith.
“What I’m trying to say is you had spoken about it, you had tweeted about it an hour after my show about exactly what we were talking about on my show,” Smith said. “So I was saying, ‘Wait a minute – I’m responding to that,’ and I was reminding you in the process of my diatribe, ‘Yo bro, I’m not the enemy.’”
Smith talked about how he does not pretend to be cool with those people with whom he is not and recalls conversations he had with Griffin at ESPN about the business. Expressing later on that he was surprised no one had hired Griffin as a talent, he cited how some of the criticism might be genuine while other subsets could be borne from jealousy. When Griffin cited ratings and metrics as proof that he had performed, Smith reminded him of another discussion they had in the past.
“I said to you, ‘One of the biggest mistakes we make as talent is classifying ourselves and our performance,’” Smith explained. “We got to know what the bosses think. They don’t always go by just ratings, they don’t always go by just popularity. Sometimes there’s other things that come into play, whatever that may be – depends on the network, depends on the personality or whatever. Also sometimes it depends on the price tag.”
Smith revealed that he knows two people in the business who were let go from their jobs in the last six months because the companies decided to reallocate their money to others. Rather than being caught up in the business solely being about a meritocracy, he averred that rising cache and demand can sometimes lead to aberrations in perceptions surrounding value.
“It happens, and the only thing you can do is continue to move forward, and that’s what I feel like I have done,” Griffin explained. “I said my peace. I said I’m thankful for my time at ESPN. I’m going to miss the people that I worked with. I loved the groups that I had the chance to work with.”
Later in the conversation, Griffin cited an incident that took place 13 years ago on First Take when former analyst Rob Parker asked if he was a brother and was truly “down for the cause.” Griffin contended that the question had nothing to do with sports or on-field performance but was posed because his fiancé was white and that he thought he was a Republican. Recognizing that the show had become a place for “personal attacks and political conversations” in that moment, he shared that it has followed him throughout his professional career.
“Stephen A., that’s why I feel sports shows on television should be about sports and not made political,” Griffin said. “Sports and politics always intertwine. What you said about Jackie Robinson wasn’t making the show political. That’s what you’re supposed to talk about, but then removing it and turning it into a presidential campaign or, ‘I want to debate these guys on this or that,’ to me was emblematic or representative of what I went through with Rob Parker. That stuff sticks. It’s why, in my opinion, LeBron James was mad at you for questioning him as a father.”
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