As the saying goes, old habits die hard. For Shannon Sharpe, that meant mixing up his old debate show co-host with his new one. The legendary tight end-turned-television personality made his debut on ESPN’s First Take on Monday and mixed up his current sparring partner, Stephen A. Smith, with his old one, FS1’s Skip Bayless.
Shannon Sharpe: “You know what, Skip [Bayless]?”
Stephen A. Smith: “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Shannon: “It’s been 7 years.”
pic.twitter.com/3JiOOSXvPT
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 4, 2023
Sharpe couldn’t help but laugh at this, because it is a pretty funny mix-up, while Smith handled the whole thing pretty gracefully. Having said that, Stephen A. Smith is an entertainer first and foremost, and after having a day to chew over Sharpe’s mistake, he figured out a pretty good way to bust his chops. During Tuesday’s edition of the show, Smith showed up with a name tag to give Sharpe a fun little reminder of who he is.
.@stephenasmith brought a name tag so @ShannonSharpe could remember his name
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 5, 2023
In a bit of news announced at the end of August, Sharpe will be on First Take twice a week during the NFL season. He came to ESPN after leaving Fox Sports, where he and Bayless went toe-to-toe on Undisputed for years. Bayless, of course, used to be the person on the other side of the First Take desk from Smith prior to his departure from Fox.