Shan Shariff has gained respect for Stephen A. Smith, despite the First Take host’s continual antagonization of the Dallas Cowboys and their fans.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Awful Announcing podcast, Shariff, the host of Shan & RJ on 105.3 The FAN, showed appreciation for Smith, a newfound respect. Shariff attributes this shift in perspective to an encounter with Smith, who appeared on his show, where the 56-year-old ESPN star’s genuine demeanor and willingness to engage with Cowboys fans left a positive impression.
When Smith offered behind-the-curtain insight into his views, Shariff gained a better understanding of the motivations behind Smith’s Cowboys commentary.
This contrasts with the way he feels about Skip Bayless. Despite Bayless being a Cowboys fan himself, Shariff has genuinely no admiration for the 71-year-old.
“Skip Bayless is the worst,” Shariff told host Brandon Contes. “The biggest, poisonous, toxic, awful, impact on my profession; and I can’t wait to see him go and be off the air. But, he does have to get credit for the way these networks built all this with putting up actors…it’s all obviously fake and it’s bull****. It makes it hard to believe and listen to, right?
He admitted to having a strong distaste for Bayless and his persona.
“I feel like [Smith’s] show has become more genuine, where I’ll never, ever forgive Bayless like that, or give him any benefit of the doubt,” Shariff said. “I hate his guts and everything he stands for. I can’t say enough bad things about him. I really can’t. And really, the executives out there for allowing it to continue. I feel like it’s been a sad indictment of where our profession is with the fake garbage…”
Shariff takes an issue with Bayless portraying himself as essentially the Dallas Cowboys’ mascot. He knows a lot of people who started with Bayless and knows the real, genuine Skip.
“I know all the stories and I know all the acting, and the stupid **** he does with his dumb jersey in his little apartment…it just drives me crazy that everyone can’t see it as an act,” Shariff said of Bayless, who spent the better part of 17 years as a columnist in the greater Dallas area. “It drives me crazy that he makes $6 million a year, or whatever it is. It drives me crazy that he treated Shannon Sharpe in such a disrespectful fashion. The whole thing, I think Skip and Stephen A., have to be given credit for what the landscape is today.”
“I know it drives (Charles) Barkley crazy. Like, he can’t go on Inside the NBA on TNT without cussing…He wants to say Skip Bayless’ name every single week, but I feel like Charles still watches it, still gets driven crazy, and still lets his blood boil. I don’t watch it. I don’t pay attention to it anymore because he’s so fake.”
Shariff recounted to Contes a significant clash he had with a prominent DFW-area athlete. While Shariff held Darren Woodson, a former Cowboys safety turned ESPN analyst, in high regard, he sought to elicit an admission from Woodson that Skip Bayless’s antics at ESPN were merely a performance.
“He’s like, ‘Man, he believes it. He really believes it,'” Shariff recalled Woodson telling him. “And I’ve heard from two or three former people that work with him that he actually, genuinely believes it. And, I can’t believe it. I just refuse to believe it.”
“I saw Darren Woodson last year at a charity event. I said, ‘The only problem I had with you, is you told me that Skip Bayless is genuine and real, and I’ll never forgive you for that.’ And he didn’t triple down, quadruple down as much on it — that conversation is between me and him — but he was laughing that I still wouldn’t let it go, because I refuse to believe it.”
Those sentiments echo what Jay Crawford said about Bayless on his episode of the Awful Announcing podcast. Crawford was adamant that Bayless’ antics and theatrics were not merely an act, but somewhere in the middle. Crawford maintained that while Bayless is a showman, there’s a genuine belief and conviction to a lot of things that come out of his mouth.
Still, Shariff wasn’t buying it. And he no longer wanted to talk about Bayless because it gets him so worked up.
You also don’t need to ask Shariff if Dallas claims Bayless, because you’ll get an explicit-laden answer.
The full episode of The Awful Announcing Podcast with Shan Shariff will be released Friday morning. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.