"You Can't Even Let Me Finish!": Shannon Sharpe And Skip Bayless Throw Down Over Damar Hamlin

[Ubiquitous]

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless kicked off their Wednesday broadcast of
“Undisputed” on Fox Sports 1 with a testy exchange over hospitalized Buffalo
Bills safety Damar Hamlin and the reason that Sharpe was absent from
Tuesday’s show.

Sharpe began by offering an explanation for his absence the day prior, and he
mentioned both Hamlin — who underwent cardiac arrest on the field during
Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals — and a tweet Bayless had posted
in the moments after Hamlin collapsed.

WATCH:

Skip Bayless stands by and refuse to take down his tweet that he
sent as Damar Hamlin fights for his life after making a football
tackle in which Shannon Sharpe wishes he would remove.
pic.twitter.com/BfZ4eyQGL4

— VideoMixtape.com (@VideoMixtape_) January 4, 2023

“There’s been a lot of speculation to why I wasn’t on air yesterday, and I
won’t get into speculation or conjecture innuendo, but I will say this.
Watching that game Monday night, what happened to Damar Hamlin struck me a
little different,” Sharpe began.

He went on to explain that football players understood that injuries — even
serious ones — were a part of playing the game, but that everyone had still
reacted differently when Hamlin went down on Monday. “I’ve never seen anybody
have to be revived and fight for their life on the field,” he said.

“Skip tweeted something, and although I disagree with the tweet, and
hopefully Skip will take it down,” Sharpe said then, prompting an
interruption from Bayless.

“Timeout, I’m not gonna take it down. ‘Cause I stand by what I tweeted,”
Bayless pushed back.

“I mean, I can’t even get through a monologue without you interrupting. I was
just gonna say, Skip, I didn’t want to yesterday to get into a situation
where Damar Hamlin was the issue,” Sharpe replied. “We should have been
talking about him and not getting into your tweet. That’s what I was going to
do, but you can’t even let me finish my opening monologue without you
interrupting.”

Bayless was widely criticized for a few tweets he fired off before officials
announced that the game would be suspended, as many argued that he was
focusing on the game rather than the player being rushed to the hospital.

“Not exactly sure what happened to Damar Hamlin. Players on both teams are
shaken. Ambulance out on the field. CPR administered. Can’t remember play
being stopped for this length of time. Just said a prayer for him and his
family,” Bayless began, adding, “I’ve seen so many horrific injuries suffered
on football fields yet never have I seen a reaction like this. In every other
situation I witnessed or covered, the game always went on fairly quickly. The
attitude was, ‘Hey, that’s football.’ For these players, this was DIFFERENT.”

The tweet that raised eyebrows was next, and many interpreted it as Bayless
suggesting that the game and the overall playoff picture were more important
than the still-unfolding situation with Hamlin.

“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how?
This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-
season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”

No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game –
but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial
to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023

Bayless clarified an hour later, reportedly at the behest of some at Fox
Sports, adding, “Nothing is more important than that young man’s health. That
was the point of my last tweet. I’m sorry if that was misunderstood but his
health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed
for him & will continue to.”

Nothing is more important than that young man's health. That was the
point of my last tweet. I'm sorry if that was misunderstood but his
health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I
prayed for him & will continue to.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023

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Let's go Brandon!