Skip Bayless on Damar Hamlin: FS1 Should Fire Offensive TV Shock Jock
There are controversial sports takes, and there are bad sports takes.
Then, there are Skip Bayless sports takes.
On Monday night, following the terrifying injury to Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin - one that was so scary it forced the game to be postponed - Bayless took to Twitter, firing off one of the worst takes of his entire sports 'journalism' career.
And unsurprisingly, they were absolutely disgusting.
"No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game," Bayless tweeted. "But how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome ... which suddenly seems so irrelevant."
Bayless, without thought or compassion, confirmed that he is more concerned about the AFC playoff race, or more likely his controversial status as a public figure, than he is about the life of Hamlin.
Hamlin, who is a human being who chooses to play a sport, and whose life is monumentally more important than what time the conclusion of an NFL game is decided.
The injury occurred in the first quarter of the game when Hamlin attempted to make a tackle across the middle of the field on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin initially got to his feet but collapsed shortly after. After being down on the field for more than nine minutes, the medical staff began to perform CPR on Hamlin before he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
However, as we all know by now, this isn't the first time Bayless has popped off an insensitive and soulless tweet.
In 2020, Bayless had a similar reaction to the death of Jace Prescott, the brother of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who took his own life in 2020.
And in his equally disgusting opinion, Bayless intimated that Prescott was ill-equipped to handle a leadership role within the Cowboys franchise, and should not have shown vulnerability during his time of grieving.
“I’m going to ask our audience to go ahead and condemn me, if you choose, as cold-blooded and insensitive on this issue," Bayless said during an episode of Undisputed on FS1. "I have deep compassion for clinical depression. But when it comes to the quarterback of an NFL team, you know this better than I do, it’s the ultimate leadership position in sports. You are commanding an entire franchise. … But you’re commanding a lot of young men and some older men. And they’re all looking to you to be their CEO, to be in charge of the football team. Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy for him going public with ‘I got depressed. I suffered depression early in COVID to the point where I couldn’t even go workout.’ Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s Team.”
As happened then, and as should have been the result of such an insensitive act of selfishness, Bayless proceed to be metaphorically lit on fire by his Twitter followers, including very prominent sports figures.
Thankfully, at least according to reports that have surfaced in the hours since Hamlin's injury, things are beginning to trend in the right direction for the 24-year-old.
Currently, Hamlin is in critical condition and has normal vitals has but been put on a breathing tube, per a statement from Hamlin's marketing rep, Jordan Rooney.
Unfortunately, Bayless is likely to suffer no consequences for his actions yet again. …. Because since Bayless makes Fox Sports a boatload of money, despite his show's deplorable ratings, he will surely emerge unscathed.
Do better Fox Sports. And you too, Skip.
You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan
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