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

Shannon Sharpe And Skip Bayless Their Wednesday broadcast began “Undisputed” Fox Sports 1 has a testy exchange about the safety of hospitalized Buffalo Bills 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 refuses to remove his tweet, which he sent while Damar Hamlin fought for his life after a football tackle that Shannon Sharpe wished he would take out. 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 started.

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 stated.

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

“Timeout, I’m not gonna take it down. ‘Cause I stand by what I tweeted,” Bayless was forced to return.

“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 answered. “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 after a few tweets that he sent out before officials announced that suspension would be in effect. Some argued that he was just focusing on the game and not the player being rushed into 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.”

Next came the tweet that raised eyebrows. It was interpreted by Bayless as Bayless suggesting the importance of the game and the overall playoff picture over the still-unsolved Hamlin situation.

“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 the matter an hour later, apparently at Fox Sports’ request. “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.”

The health of a young man is the most important thing. My last tweet was about this. I am sorry if this was unclear, but his health matters the most. Everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him, and will continue to do so.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023