Shannon Sharpe Says He Wanted To "Put Hands" On Skip Bayless

Shannon Sharpe left Undisputed for First Take’s greener pastures, but that’s not stopping him from talking about that moment that seemingly broke the camel’s back.  Now one of the many co-hosts across from Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s popular sports debate show First Take, Sharpe sat down with his new television partner virtually for an episode of Smith’s bubbling podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show. During the episode, Smith, who has also used his avenue to talk about his former partner, Skip Bayless, asked Sharpe about the fateful moment when Bayless disrespected him on national television, and the Hall-of-Famer got really candid about the situation. Smith recalled the moment when the Tim Tebow / Brady stan took what Sharpe felt was a personal dig at him while debating a poor performance from the then Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback during an NFL game in December. Things got heated during the show when Bayless suggested Terrific Tom was still playing at a high level in the NFL at the age of 45, while Sharpe’s career came to an end at the age of 35. The All-Pro tight end was BIG MAD — and understandably so — and the debate went left with Sharpe removing his glasses in anger, for he felt at the time was a personal shot at him.

Sharpe Reveals He Was Ready To Fight

Smith asked his new First Take co-host to reflect on the moment, and Sharpe revealed that it took everything for him not to get physical with Skip Bayless at that moment. Per Sports Illustrated: “In all of my TV career, that probably was… I remember going home, calling my sister, I called my brother … It took a lot for me to not put my hands on him, it actually did,” Sharpe said on the podcast. “Why would I be jealous of Tom Brady. …Tom was like me, given an opportunity. He made the most of that opportunity.”

Sharpe Took Some of The Blame For The Moment

The Super Bowl Champion did place all of the blame on Bayless. He shouldered some of it on his massive shoulders, adding, “There were times that led up to that I felt shots were taken, and I let it go.” “He [Skip] felt that he could go over the top in that situation,” Sharpe said. “Whatever the relationship is, once one partner has no respect for the other, the other partner then in turn loses respect for said partner, then I think it is only a matter of time because I felt in that moment he had lost all respect for me. …This is Undisputed. Skip and Shannon. This is not yours. So, it really, really hurt me. Had I attacked him personally live on television, what would’ve happened?” Welp. Sharpe also revealed besides what we saw on our television screens daily, there were barely any interactions between himself and Bayless. You can watch the entire interview and see how social media is reacting below.  

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