Stephen A. Smith told ESPN he wants Shannon Sharpe back

ESPN might not be ready to welcome Shannon Sharpe back, but that’s not going to stop Stephen A. Smith from continuing to try.

On the heels of Smith’s highly publicized reunion with Skip Bayless on First Take last week, Awful Announcing reported Sharpe’s return to the show “is not under consideration,” per a source familiar with the situation. But that doesn’t mean Smith hasn’t asked ESPN to consider it.

Smith recently joined former Memphis Grizzlies teammates Zach Randolph and Tony Allen on their Out The Mud podcast, where he was asked about Sharpe. And Smith didn’t shy away from explaining it’s not his fault Sharpe hasn’t been welcomed back to First Take.

“I’m always going to want him back. The company knows I want him back,” Smith said. “Now, y’all going to do what y’all got to do because I’m the executive producer, but I’m not an executive VP of the company. I have bosses to answer to. They have to make that decision. But they already know I want him back. If we can get him back, I want him back, I ain’t apologizing for that to nobody. He was great for me. He was great to me, and I’m not gonna forget that. He was great for the show.”

It’s been more than a year since Sharpe was accused of sexual assault and ultimately stepped away from his ESPN responsibilities. Sharpe has since settled the $50 million lawsuit against him, but ESPN still decided against bringing the Pro Football Hall of Famer back to First Take, a decision Smith doesn’t appear to agree with.

Two months ago, Smith referred to Sharpe’s potential ESPN return as a “work in progress,” which implied he’s trying to bring him back. Now Smith is making it clear that ESPN is aware of his desire to work with Sharpe on First Take again.

As the face of ESPN, Smith obviously has a lot of say over First Take’s talent roster. Smith made that abundantly clear five years ago when he forced ESPN to bump Max Kellerman off First Take. And he made it clear again last week when he opted to bring Skip Bayless back to ESPN for the first time in 10 years. But any potential reunion with Sharpe appears to be out of his control.

Sharpe may have been “great for the show” as Smith noted, but he was also a headache for ESPN. From going on Instagram Live during a sexual encounter to being live on First Take when news broke about a sexual assault lawsuit against him, Sharpe’s tenure with ESPN didn’t exactly align with the Mickey Mouse brand.

The question is whether ESPN will eventually feel enough time has passed on those transgressions to welcome Sharpe back. And while the answer has remained no, Smith appears to keep asking ESPN to reconsider.