NFL Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe is joining ESPN’s First Take Monday alongside Stephen A. Smith, the pair announced Thursday.
Stephen A. 🤝 Shannon Sharpe@ShannonSharpe joins @FirstTake September 4 🍿 pic.twitter.com/zsLMBIMtHc
— ESPN (@espn) August 24, 2023
“I honestly didn’t know I had an announcement to make until about 60 seconds ago,” Smith said on First Take Thursday. “It is official. Shannon Sharpe is coming to First Take.”
Sharpe, who until June was Smith’s competitor as co-host of Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed, confirmed the news on Twitter with an epic photoshop of him and Stephen A. recreating the iconic LeBron James/Dwayne Wade Miami Heat alley-oop.
GET YOUR POPCORN READY🔥🔥🔥🔥 #2HBCUALUMS #SSU #WSSU pic.twitter.com/2xoj0sSupP
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) August 24, 2023
Sharpe reached a buyout with Fox in June, leaving Smith’s former First Take co-host Skip Bayless after rising tensions on the show.
This was the moment Shannon sharpe knew he was leaving Undisputed pic.twitter.com/XD0S42XNMI
— Sam Yeezy (@samstaydipped) June 1, 2023
Bayless’ efforts to replace Sharpe have driven him to assemble his own “dream team” for Undisputed. The newcomers, he announced on Twitter, will be Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin and Keyshawn Johnson, who were let go from ESPN in the network’s late-June culling.
RICHARD SHERMAN! KEYSHAWN JOHNSON! MICHAEL IRVIN! NEW DREAM TEAM ON THE NEW UNDISPUTED. NEW LIL WAYNE INTRO SONG, “GOOD MORNING.” NEXT MONDAY. AUGUST 28. 9:30 E, FS1. BE THERE.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 22, 2023
Stephen A. Smith reacted to the news of losing his former colleagues (Michael Irvin served as an analyst on First Take as well) negatively, saying “I’m not happy,” on his YouTube channel. (RELATED: Skip Bayless Fires Back At Stephen A. Smith Claiming He Made ‘First Take’ Successful)
“I go back 20 years with Keyshawn Johnson. Just as long with Michael Irvin,” Smith said. “They are not just colleagues. They are not just friends. They are my brothers.”