Stephen A. Smith screwed up this Chargers-Chiefs take at every turn
This really was a first take by Stephen A. Smith.
During a preview of Thursday night’s key AFC West matchup between the Chiefs and Chargers, Smith broke down what he believed to be some important individual matchups, and it quickly became apparent he had no idea what he was talking about.
He started off by highlighting the importance of Kansas City running back Spencer Ware, saying “I’m gonna have faith in Spencer Ware and thinking he can do some things.”
“First Take” co-host Max Kellerman interrupted Smith to let him know that Ware, who didn’t practice all week, is out with shoulder and hamstring issues.
“I forgot,” Smith said. “I’m sorry.”
But he wasn’t done. He continued with, “I’m looking at the San Diego Chargers on offense.”
This was left unchecked, since Smith is hardly the first person to confuse the Chargers’ home base in their first year in Los Angeles after leaving San Diego.
But then it got worse — leading to Tedy Bruschi clearly reacting to Smith’s lack of knowledge about this game.
“I’m thinking about Hunter Henry and the way he’s played this year and as effective as he’s been,’’ Smith said of the tight end who tore his ACL during OTAs in May and has missed the entire season after being put on the physically unable to perform list.
see also
Stephen A. Smith sorry that his butt preference hurt ESPN
Stephen A. Smith will apologize for becoming a national story,…
“He’s going against Derrick Johnson. I got my eyes on that,” Smith said.
The problem with that is Johnson, a linebacker, was let go by the Chiefs in February and signed with the Raiders. He was released by the Raiders in October.
Now in completely over his head, Smith veered into more basic material, but he at least began listing some players who figure to actually be on the field.
“Here’s where I’m at with all this at the end of the day,” Smith said. “I’m looking at Patrick Mahomes; I’m looking at Tyreek Hill; I’m looking at Travis Kelce.”
The episode comes just days after Smith appeared to doze off momentarily during a boxing broadcast over the weekend before being nudged awake by partner Andre Ward. Smith later acknowledged he had messed up.
“My Brother, it’s called a MISTAKE because I was think of Virgil Green, but mentioned Hunter because I was multi-tasking,” he said in response to the tweet highlighting the errors.
“That’s what happens when you’re doing a thousand things. But I don’t blame you if you told me to “Stay Off The Weeeeeeedddddddd.!” That was a brain-lock moment.”
