Stephen A. Smith has emerged as the face of ESPN following the departures of Skip Bayless and Max Kellerman as his running partners for First Take.
A large part of what has thrust Smith to his stardom is his willingness to share his opinion no matter how hot or controversial his takes may be. He recently showed that he hasn’t lost his fastball during an episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
A recreation of a viral Donald Trump dance dubbed the “Donald Dance” has taken the NFL by storm. Numerous players have taken to recreating the dance after scoring touchdowns following Trump’s win in the November election.
The celebration has been as controversial as Trump himself. So much so, that the NFL released an official statement stating that it would not punish players for doing the dance.
It’s this statement that Smith has taken exception to.
“Here’s why I’m pissed off, that the NFL had to even issue a statement about it,” Smith said.
“Because celebrations usually don’t warrant that. It doesn’t require a response from the league. So why was it necessary this time? You know why? Because we got a bunch of people still living with their heads in the cloud acting like they get to protest every little damn thing.
“This is America. Donald Trump won the election, rather convincingly, I might add.
“He won. There’s no debate. There’s no controversy, there’s no anything. He won convincingly. So to me, that says the American people have made their choice.
“I got news for you. Football players are usually American people. So are basketball players. So are UFC fighters, they got a right to support who the hell they want without the league needing to send in a response. I didn’t see a response from the UFC, you know why? Because Dana White wouldn’t entertain that.”
It’s clear that Smith wants the country and Trump to know that this thing has been settled, and there’s no need for people to be up in arms over it any longer. This is a surprise considering that Smith is a known liberal and supporter of the Democratic party, but it’s good to know he still respects the country’s democracy.
