One of television’s most popular shows, ESPN’s “First Take” will soon have a new look.
Shannon Sharpe will debate Stephen A. Smith twice a week during the upcoming football season, per a report by New York Post’s Andrew Marchand and Ryan Glasspiegel.
Sharpe, who previously worked alongside Skip Bayless on FS1’s “Undisputed", is a popular figure among fans after winning three Super Bowls with the Broncos and Ravens. The 55-year-old member of the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team left Fox Sports back in May.
The Hall of Fame tight end, who is never short of strong opinions, will go head-to-head with perhaps the most opinionated personality in all of sports media.
The new dynamic pairing marks Sharpe’s return to ESPN after first making occasional guest appearances on the hit program when it was co-hosted by Bayless and Smith years ago.
Anticipating fireworks on a weekly basis, fans went wild on social media, going as far to also reshare hilarious clips of Sharpe stating that Bayless could never gain a yard in an NFL game on Jason and Travis Kelce's podcast 'New Heights.'
Might be time to find out if @stephenasmith could get a yard 😂 https://t.co/g8fDLsZP6w pic.twitter.com/rWFTyDwcVD
— New Heights (@newheightshow) August 17, 2023
Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A Smith yelling at each other every morning pic.twitter.com/KADGxPLNk6
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) August 17, 2023
Stephen A Smith & Shannon Sharpe 📈 pic.twitter.com/ltlPfAPhAq
— AuxGod (@AuxGod_) August 17, 2023
Me every morning getting ready to watch Stephen A Smith and Shannon Sharpe yell at each other for two hours pic.twitter.com/innc2y5OGu
— Mikey Cooks 🇭🇹 (@Mikey_Cooks) August 17, 2023
Stephen A Smith and Shannon Sharpe might be box office television
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) August 17, 2023
Stephen A Smith when Shannon Sharpe ask him to describe plays and routes without narrative pic.twitter.com/CTzGeQyXqO
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) August 17, 2023
shannon sharpe and Stephen a smith getting ready to carry espn pic.twitter.com/utqQ2qNzp9
— 𝙻̷𝚞̷𝚜̷ 📯 (@Theylovelus) August 17, 2023