Stephen A. Smith Rips Browns Rookie QB Dillon Gabriel for ‘Stupid’ Comment

Andy Nesbitt | Aug 18, 2025

Dillon Gabriel is battling for the starting QB job in Cleveland. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel made waves over the weekend when his comment during an in-game interview went viral with fans thinking he was taking a shot at fellow Browns rookie QB, Shedeur Sanders.

After the game Dillon addressed his comment and said it didn't have anything to do with Sanders, but rather it was about the media that covers the team.

Gabriel's viral comment and explanation to the media

"There are entertainers and there are competitors, and I totally understand that. My job is to compete and that's what I'm doing...It's something I'll get used to, and I just want to be the best teammate that I can, and create an environment where we can all get our best work in."

Gabriel said this after the game:

"Well, all you in this room are entertainers and you have a job to do and I respect it, right? And I'm a competitor so I have a job to do as well. And I think just understanding that that's how I've lived by, and I've said that multiple times, so definitely not a new quote, but something that I've definitely said before."

On Monday, Stephen A. Smith addressed Gabriel's comment, calling it "dumb" and "stupid."

"I totally believed him when he said he was talking about the media... having said that, Dillon Gabriel, respectfully, it was stupid. A very dumb comment to make," Smith said on First Take. "First of all in every walk of life far beyond the parameters of the football field people are competing. We compete here on television. You compete with radio shows. You compete on Wall Street. You complete on Madison Avenue. Everything, especially in America as it pertains to a capitalistic society, involves competition. To the victor goes the spoils."

Smith added:

"When you go out there and compete like trash, because you will have days when you look like that, we're going to remember those comments."

Here is Stephen A. Smith's full take on Dillon Gabriel's comment

Stephen A. Smith on Dillon Gabriel's "entertainers and competitors" quote: "I totally believed him when he said he was talking about the media... having said that, Dillon Gabriel, respectfully, it was stupid. A very dumb comment to make... when you go out there and compete like… pic.twitter.com/u2O5VUZ4u5

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 18, 2025

Gabriel, who the Browns picked in the third round of this year's draft, is fighting for the starting job in Cleveland, with the winner of that job set to be named sometime this week.

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