Mike Vrabel finds it ‘hard to believe’ Stephen A. Smith’s ‘First Take’ is number one

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t believe Drake Maye, and now Mike Vrabel doesn’t believe Stephen A. Smith about First Take.

When asked about Cam Newton recently labeling the Patriots “fool’s gold,” Maye responded by claiming he didn’t even know what show Newton was on. Well, the show was First Take, and Smith took Maye not knowing that personally. So personally that he called Maye a liar.

“He’s also a liar,” Smith ranted about Maye last week on First Take. “First Take is the number one morning show…don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that. Don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that Cam Newton is on this show. You lying.”

Monday morning, Vrabel made his weekly appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show after New England beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-20 and improved to 10-2 on the season. And during the appearance, Hill jokingly said, “Stephen A. Smith wants to know if you could put First Take on in the weight room for the guys.” For the guys, but especially for Drake Maye.

“I don’t even know if the TVs work in the weight room,” Vrabel said, noting they’re getting a new building and will take a look at the request.

But when Hill facetiously pushed for the request by touting Smith’s claim that First Take is the number one show, Vrabel sounded like he would need more proof.

“Is it?” Vrabel asked. “I find that hard to believe. I find that hard to believe, it’s not the SportsCenter that I grew up with.”

Vrabel played during a pre-First Take era where SportsCenter reruns dominated morning programming on ESPN. But now sports fans are treated to First Take from 10 a.m. – noon every weekday. And according to Stephen A. Smith, enough sports fans watch the show to make First Take number one.

Smith often boasts about First Take’s ratings dominance without actually explaining what “number one” means. In terms of competing sports shows on TV, First Take is number one. But once you go outside the realm of sports, First Take isn’t the number one morning show on TV. It’s not even the number one show on cable. To its credit, however, First Take has routinely dominated every show FS1 or any other sports network has thrown against it. But much to Smith’s dismay, having the number one morning sports show still hasn’t been enough to get Drake Maye or Mike Vrabel’s attention.