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Steelers Player Slams Stephen A. Smith After Controversial Comments

The Pittsburgh Steelers speedster wasn't having it with the ESPN commentator.

Noah Strackbein

Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III isn't having it with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. After comments about the city of Memphis, Austin took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his thoughts about the star commentator and his words.

Smith went on a rant about how the city of Memphis is unable to attract top NBA talent because it's not a safe city. Therefore, it's unable to sign players like Jimmy Butler and other top-end free agents.

"The people in Memphis,” Smith said. “It’s a great sports town. Great fans. Great people. But there’s an element there where cats like Jimmy Butler and others don’t feel it’s the safest environment. I’m talking to the local authorities in Memphis. You got to clean some of that stuff up because it’s dissuasive to NBA players. They have talked about it. I know. They’ve told me... It’s moving in the right direction, but it’s still recognized as one of the worst cities in America. To the point where the head of the FBI has called it ‘the murder capital of this country’ per capita. That’s on the record."

Austin, who went to the University of Memphis and is a Memphis native, wasn't pleased with the comments. He responded by telling everyone not to listen to Smith, and that ESPN needed better ratings.

"Please just ignore dude, disney said he needed some more engagements cause ratings were looking," Austin wrote on X.

Austin acknowledged later in the comments that he knows Smith is "smiling" seeing the engagement on the post, but he wasn't pleased about the situation. This isn't the first time Smith has been called out by a professional player, but it may be the a first for Austin.

Smith did later apologize for his comments about the city after being invited by the Memphis Mayor and accepting the invite. However, Austin wasn't accepting of Smith's apology.

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher for On SI, covering the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. A Jessup, PA native, Noah attended Point Park University, where he fell in love with the Steel City and everything it has to offer. You can find Noah's work at Steelers On SI and weekdays as the hosts of All Steelers Talk.

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