Shannon Sharpe Candidly Reflects on Heated On-Air Confrontation With Skip Bayless

As Shannon Sharpe continues his transition to ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith, the former NFL star discussed his relationship with his former Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless in an eye-opening episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show.

Smith recalled the moment that Sharpe and the longtime sports personality entered a heated debate about a poor performance from Tom Brady in December. At the time, Sharpe felt Bayless took a personal jab at him when he stated during a segment that Brady was still playing at a high level at 45, while the three-time Super Bowl champion’s career ended at 35.

Sharpe, the newest addition to First Take, said he felt disrespected and that it took everything in him to not go to blows with Bayless.

“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.”

In that moment, Sharpe felt he could no longer tolerate Bayless’s disrespect after the heated Brady segment. However, the 55-year-old took some blame in the situation, saying that “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?”