Stephen A. Smith envisions himself working on Monday Night Football – but his ESPN teammates on the program reportedly have ‘zero interest’ in the prospect of him joining them.
Smith, the star of the network’s daily debate show First Take, has risen to extreme prominence at the network and makes a whopping $12million a year.
And while he wants to add Monday Night Football to his long list of responsibilities, a source told The US Sun that members of the show have major questions regarding his football acumen and attitude.
The source, who works on the show, said, ‘Stephen A. Smith said that he is looking to do more NFL and eyeing Monday Night Football, but I think he doesn’t realize that nobody wants him here.
‘…Nobody wants him covering football, and many of the top analysts were talking about since he did that interview where Smith said so.
Stephen A. Smith has publicly stated his desires to work on Monday Night Football
But the crew is said to have ‘no interest’ in welcoming the First Take host onto the show
‘They were laughing about it, some were saying that ‘there is no way he joins us, he is not one of us football guys and he wants the whole attention and all the spotlights.’
The source added that the perception of Smith not being a team player is a ‘huge red flag.’
‘They don’t want to work with him, as they know the reputation and the high tense environment that he created at First Take.
‘The workers talk to each other, they absolutely dislike him and don’t want to deal with him.’
Smith previously admitted that he ‘didn’t like’ working with ex-First Take co-host Max Kellerman after the latter had left the show, and it’s believed that he played a role in his removal from the program.
The US Sun report comes after Smith told Front Office Sports of his ambitions to expand his horizons past the NBA work he is known for and into NFL coverage on Monday Night Football.
‘I don’t want to insult the legacy of the great Howard Cosell, who’s somebody that I idolized. But that’s what I want to do,’ Smith told Front Office Sports.
‘When I think about the NFL, I’m not talking about being in the booth with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck,’ he added. ‘You don’t mess with that chemistry; you leave that alone.
Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, Scott Van Pelt and Jason Kelce make up the MNF studio coverage
Smith wants to try his hand at the NFL, and is also reportedly looking for a massive pay bump
Others are less convinced he could hack it on MNF, though, with the aforementioned source saying that Smith has ‘zero credibility as a football analyst.’
According to FOS, Smith is aiming to become ESPN’s highest-paid talent – surpassing the $18million that MNF color commentator Troy Aikman currently gets.
For now, Smith will have to settle for his roles on First Take and ESPN’s NBA coverage, with Jason Kelce, Scott Van Pelt, Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark providing pregame coverage of the games.
Last night, the crew was in Philadelphia as the Eagles suffered a shocking collapse to the Falcons, losing 22-21.
