It’s official: Shannon Sharpe is headed to ESPN. According to Andrew Marchand and Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Stephen A. Smith’s well-documented interest in having Sharpe join the roster of personalities on the morning debate show will end up coming to fruition, as Sharpe is slated to appear on the show on Mondays and Tuesday. Their reporting indicates that this will happen during the football season, and it is unclear if this partnership will continue beyond February.
Sharpe recently left Fox Sports, where he and former First Take personality Skip Bayless went head-to-head on their own debate show, Undisputed. While his former show is apparently putting together a roster of names to debate Bayless when it comes back to the airwaves in the coming weeks, Smith was not shy about his interest in having Sharpe come on his show, although he made it a point to say he did not want him to become a permanent co-host.
“I welcome Shannon Sharpe to First Take, but it would be in the mix of being a part of the family,” Smith said on his podcast. “I like the potpourri of contributors. I like the action and the action and the fun on the show. Adding people into the mix is one thing, changing the complete makeup and formula of the show is entirely different, and that ain’t happening for anyone.”
There’s no word on when Sharpe will start to appear on First Take.