- Shannon Sharpe was back on Wednesday's taping of "Undisputed" after skipping Tuesday's show.
- Co-host Skip Bayless was forced to do Tuesday's show alone after posting a widely criticized tweet in the wake of Damar Hamlin's injury.
Shannon Sharpe appears to be tired of Skip Bayless and the drama that comes with "Undisputed."
The tension began on Monday night, when Bayless sent out a tweet in the wake of Damar Hamlin's collapse during the Bengals-Bills game. Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital, where he was in critical condition.
In his tweet, Bayless wondered how a postponement would be possible, given how the game could impact the AFC playoff standings.
—Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
In fairness, Bayless had tweeted out two other messages before this one, addressing the unique, distressing nature of Hamlin's injury compared to the regular hard hits and violence that comes with week-to-week NFL football.
Still, Bayless is a hot-take artist, and one that has not especially earned the benefit of the doubt with regard to these sorts of statements. While wondering how the NFL would handle the potential scheduling conflict was a question of eventual interest, many felt that in the moment it was inappropriate to even mention it.
On Twitter, the response calling out Bayless was swift and overwhelming.
—Antwon Smith (@FatboiSlim_21) January 3, 2023
—Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) January 3, 2023
—Max (@MdotKnisley) January 3, 2023
On Tuesday morning, Sharpe, a Hall of Fame tight end who pivoted to commentary in his post-playing career, did not appear on "Undisputed," leaving Bayless to awkwardly handle the show alone.
He addressed his tweet in a non-apology of sorts.
—Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 3, 2023
Sharpe returned to the show Wednesday morning, when things came to a head. Sharpe began by addressing his absence from the show.
"There's been a lot of speculation of why I wasn't on air yesterday, and I won't get into speculation or conjecture or innuendo, but I will say this: Watching that game on Monday night, what happened to Damar Hamlin struck me a little different," Sharpe said.
"In the brotherhood of the NFL when injuries happen, we know injuries are a part of the game. I've seen guys suffer ACLs and Achilles tears, but I've never seen anybody have to be revived and have to fight for their life on the field, so this struck me a little differently."
Just as Sharpe was preparing to respond to Bayless' controversial tweet, Bayless jumped in to interrupt him.
"Well, timeout," Bayless said. "I'm not going to take it down, because I stand by what I tweeted."
Sharpe was not happy with the situation at all.
"Skip, let me..." Sharpe said. "I can't even get through a monologue without you interrupting me."
The back and forth created a tense moment across the desk between the two commentators.
—Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 4, 2023
Debate shows like "Undisputed" are built around loud opinionators interrupting each other, but given the stakes of the conversation, it was clear that Sharpe had wanted to say his piece before a response came in.
Bayless has made a career out of loudly saying opinions that make people angry enough to respond to him, but at the start of Wednesday's show, it appeared that Sharpe was not interested in feeding any more oxygen into his co-host's fire.