Stephen A. Smith Gets Blasted for His Latest Inexplicable NFL Blunder: Referencing a Coach from 1999
When your job is to talk on national television for hours a day, mistakes are bound to happen.
But for Stephen A. Smith, host of ESPN’s “First Take,” the blunders have been noticeable and frequent enough that fans have started to speculate: How much does the preeminent hot-take artist of our time really know about sports?
Last December, Smith did a 30-second preview of a Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game in which he highlighted an injured running back and a free agent as players to watch and incorrectly identified the Chargers as from San Diego.
In March, he claimed that a punter had started a game at quarterback for the Washington Redskins last season.
During the NFL offseason, he also said a team that already has one of the league’s best running backs should sign Le’Veon Bell.
On Monday, Smith may have found a way to top all the previous gaffes.
While breaking down the Dallas Cowboys’ recent success on offense, Smith praised the team’s new offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore. No problems there.
But what seemed like astute analysis quickly went careening off the rails when Smith declared Moore to be “clearly an upgrade from Chan Gailey.”
Stephen A Smith: With Kellen Moore, new offensive coordinator, really airing it out and showing his innovative skills as well, he’s clearly an upgrade from Chain Gailey. I don’t think that anybody would deny that based on what we’ve seen over the next two weeks.
(via @FirstTake) pic.twitter.com/WLANtHHVkO
— Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) September 16, 2019
Chan Gailey hasn’t coached for the Cowboys since 1999, when he served as head coach. In fact, he hasn’t even been in the NFL at all since 2016, when he was offensive coordinator for the New York Jets.
Predictably, the Twitter world jumped all over Stephen A.’s latest error.
When @stephenasmith finally realizes that ‘Chan Gailey’ rhymes with ‘Dan Bailey’ – AND THAT NEITHER OF THEM ARE STILL WITH THE #COWBOYS – his head is going to explode.
— mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) September 16, 2019
Chan Gailey?! WHY does ESPN continue to allow Stephen A. Smith to commentate on anything other than the NBA?
— W. Ryne Hall (@WRyneHall) September 16, 2019
And ESPN pays him how much a year ?
— Jason Moglia (@JasonMoglia) September 16, 2019
This might be Stephen A. Smith’s first big mistake of the NFL season, but it’s probably safe to say it won’t be his last.
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