One of the main changes in the new ESPN contract Stephen A Smith signed a year ago was that he would swap the NBA for the NFL.
Smith departed the NBA Countdown studio show in favor of intermittent hits on Monday Night Countdown, where he could bring his particular flavor of commentary to the bigger stage of the gridiron. However, Smith only joined MNC a handful of times over the course of the 2025 season (if you could get paid $100 million to work less, wouldn’t you?)
So Smith saved his best for the biggest stage this week, joining the MNC crew live from Pittsburgh ahead of ESPN’s broadcast of a Wild Card round matchup between the Steelers and Houston Texans.
In short segments with various members of the main cast (including Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark, mainstays on First Take), Smith helped to set the stage for the juicy AFC battle, discussing Aaron Rodgers, Mike Tomlin, and some of the other big storylines from the game.
For most of the show, the star host was almost unrecognizable from his A.M. debates or his outlandish performance on NBA Countdown the past several seasons. At least, until the end.
When it came time for Smith to lead off a picks segment to close the show, vintage Smith came out.
“I am nervous, but it doesn’t matter,” Smith said, flailing and gesticulating on-field at Acrisure Stadium. “We’re in the Steel City, baby, this is what it’s all about!”
“I’m picking the Steelers to win tonight.”
In fairness to Smith, he was set up for the hype-up by fellow host Scott Van Pelt, who delivered a spot-on impression of the upper New York native.
Altogether, Smith fit soundly on MNC. If he is going to be in the mix on the NFL side more on this new contract — especially leading up to the network’s Super Bowl broadcast in 2027 — Monday showed a strong way to do it.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.