Stephen A. Smith Embarrasses Himself In Misguided Racial Rant Towards Bucs
by Scott Reynolds
Controversial ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith caused a stir on Thursday when he railed against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for firing head coach Lovie Smith.
Why?
Apparently because Lovie Smith is an African-American head coach and race is the only topic Stephen A. Smith chose to discuss on ESPN’s First Take program.
ESPN’s Smith has made a career out of being an outspoken commentator on racial issues on the Worldwide Leader of Sports, but made himself look like a complete moron in railing against the Bucs for firing Smith – despite the fact he went 8-24, including a 3-13 mark at home in two years in Tampa Bay.
Smith’s firing was justified because the Glazers refuse to settle for mediocrity. At no point in time during his two years in Tampa Bay did Smith ever post a winning record, becoming the only head coach other than Leeman Bennett to do so in Bucs history.
But ESPN’s Smith was too ignorant to discuss facts like that.
“I’m sad for Lovie Smith,” Smith said. “I do not believe he deserved this. I think it’s a travesty that this happened to him, which is hard to say for a guy with an 8-24 record in his two years as a head coach. But the first year was a wash. We all know that. This year was Jameis Winston’s rookie year. They went 6-10 and had a lot of good moments before they tailed off at the end of the season.
“We’re hearing because of the possibility that they want their offensive coordinator to be their head coach and they didn’t want to lose him because he’s their golden boy – Dirk Koetter. So as a result, that’s why this happened to Lovie Smith. But the fact that it happened over the phone just adds insult to the insulting decision by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
Stephen A. Smith is apparently upset that the Bucs might be on the verge of replacing Lovie Smith with Koetter, who is white. That’s embarrassing, and the only logical conclusion one can draw from his take.
He then jumps to the conclusion that Lovie Smith was cold-heartedly fired on the phone before getting all the facts. Bucs general manager Jason Licht and co-chairman Joel Glazer tried to persuade Smith to come to One Buc Place for a face-to-face meeting, but once Smith realized he was going to be fired he politely declined and opted to be let go on the phone instead.
ESPN’s petulant Smith then continued with his foolish rant.
“Either you have to have a brother giving a brother the opportunity to run his own show, or you have to be an elite Hall of Fame coach secure in your stature in order to hire an African-American to lead,” Smith said. “Outside of that, every other African-American coordinator basically has a head coach on the same side of the ball. So you are essentially leading the way – even though that’s the job of a head coach to be fair – the reality is that it is giving the impression and the interpretation that black men can’t lead. As a result, we know why it’s hard for black folks to get a head-coaching job. It’s unbelievable to me that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who should be ashamed of themselves for doing this … it’s amazing to me what is transpiring.”
Does Smith realize that the Buccaneers have hired the most African-American head coaches of all 32 NFL teams? The Glazer family’s first head coaching hire was Tony Dungy, who turned the franchise around starting in 1996 and became a future Hall of Famer. Raheem Morris served as the Bucs’ head coach from 2009-11, followed by Smith from 2014-15.
Of the five head coaches the Glazers have hired since taking over the franchise in 1995, the majority of them have been African-American. Does Smith realize this?
No other NFL team can make that claim.
As it turns out, Smith’s anger at the Buccaneers is petty and misguided.
Thoughtfully talking about the lack of African-American head coaches is a worthwhile discussion, but how about the NFL franchises that have never hired an African-American head coach? Where is Smith’s anger towards the Cowboys, Giants, Rams, Seahawks, Panthers, Saints, Chargers, Texans, Titans, Ravens and Patriots?
How about the franchises that have only had African-American interim head coaches, including the Redskins (Terry Robiskie, 2000), Falcons (Emmitt Thomas, 2007), Bills (Perry Fewell, 2009), Broncos (Eric Studesville, 2010), Dolphins (Todd Bowles, 2011) and Jaguars (Mel Tucker, 2011), but none that were hired for a full season?
That’s 17 NFL franchises – more than half the league – that have yet to hire an African-American as a head coach. The Bucs lead the way with three.
The Raiders (Art Shell and Hue Jackson), Chiefs (Herman Edwards and Romeo Crennel), Colts (Dungy and Caldwell), Jets (Edwards and Bowles) and Vikings (Dennis Green and Leslie Frazier) are the only other teams that have employed multiple, full-time African-American head coaches.
The angry ESPN commentator is obviously upset to see Smith go in Tampa Bay, and is likely perturbed to see Detroit’s Jim Caldwell, another African-American head coach, may soon be out of a job, too. Never mind that neither coach has won enough games, and that the NFL is a cold-hearted business that is almost always about wins and losses – not race – when it comes to firing its head coaches.
If Caldwell is also dismissed, that would leave just Bowles in New York, Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh and Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati as the only three current African-American head coaches in the NFL – although Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is a hot commodity and has a good shot of landing a job this month.
“What we’re seeing is we’re taking steps back – not steps forward,” Smith said. “I’m sorry if folks believe that is race-baiting. It just happens to be factual. But if that’s where you want to take it, I don’t give a damn.”
Smith is definitely race-baiting, and that is the real travesty because he’s barking up the wrong tree. The Glazer family and the Buccaneers organization has been the most proactive team in the league when it comes to minority hiring.
Did Smith conveniently leave that out of his rant, or is he just a jackass that is ignorant to the facts?
I’m definitely guessing the latter, and he’s the one that should be ashamed.
http://www.pewterreport.com/articles/stephen-a-smith-embarrasses-himself-in-misguided-racial-rant-towards-bucs/
by Scott Reynolds
Controversial ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith caused a stir on Thursday when he railed against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for firing head coach Lovie Smith.
Why?
Apparently because Lovie Smith is an African-American head coach and race is the only topic Stephen A. Smith chose to discuss on ESPN’s First Take program.
ESPN’s Smith has made a career out of being an outspoken commentator on racial issues on the Worldwide Leader of Sports, but made himself look like a complete moron in railing against the Bucs for firing Smith – despite the fact he went 8-24, including a 3-13 mark at home in two years in Tampa Bay.
Smith’s firing was justified because the Glazers refuse to settle for mediocrity. At no point in time during his two years in Tampa Bay did Smith ever post a winning record, becoming the only head coach other than Leeman Bennett to do so in Bucs history.
But ESPN’s Smith was too ignorant to discuss facts like that.
“I’m sad for Lovie Smith,” Smith said. “I do not believe he deserved this. I think it’s a travesty that this happened to him, which is hard to say for a guy with an 8-24 record in his two years as a head coach. But the first year was a wash. We all know that. This year was Jameis Winston’s rookie year. They went 6-10 and had a lot of good moments before they tailed off at the end of the season.
“We’re hearing because of the possibility that they want their offensive coordinator to be their head coach and they didn’t want to lose him because he’s their golden boy – Dirk Koetter. So as a result, that’s why this happened to Lovie Smith. But the fact that it happened over the phone just adds insult to the insulting decision by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
Stephen A. Smith is apparently upset that the Bucs might be on the verge of replacing Lovie Smith with Koetter, who is white. That’s embarrassing, and the only logical conclusion one can draw from his take.
He then jumps to the conclusion that Lovie Smith was cold-heartedly fired on the phone before getting all the facts. Bucs general manager Jason Licht and co-chairman Joel Glazer tried to persuade Smith to come to One Buc Place for a face-to-face meeting, but once Smith realized he was going to be fired he politely declined and opted to be let go on the phone instead.
ESPN’s petulant Smith then continued with his foolish rant.
“Either you have to have a brother giving a brother the opportunity to run his own show, or you have to be an elite Hall of Fame coach secure in your stature in order to hire an African-American to lead,” Smith said. “Outside of that, every other African-American coordinator basically has a head coach on the same side of the ball. So you are essentially leading the way – even though that’s the job of a head coach to be fair – the reality is that it is giving the impression and the interpretation that black men can’t lead. As a result, we know why it’s hard for black folks to get a head-coaching job. It’s unbelievable to me that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who should be ashamed of themselves for doing this … it’s amazing to me what is transpiring.”
Does Smith realize that the Buccaneers have hired the most African-American head coaches of all 32 NFL teams? The Glazer family’s first head coaching hire was Tony Dungy, who turned the franchise around starting in 1996 and became a future Hall of Famer. Raheem Morris served as the Bucs’ head coach from 2009-11, followed by Smith from 2014-15.
Of the five head coaches the Glazers have hired since taking over the franchise in 1995, the majority of them have been African-American. Does Smith realize this?
No other NFL team can make that claim.
As it turns out, Smith’s anger at the Buccaneers is petty and misguided.
Thoughtfully talking about the lack of African-American head coaches is a worthwhile discussion, but how about the NFL franchises that have never hired an African-American head coach? Where is Smith’s anger towards the Cowboys, Giants, Rams, Seahawks, Panthers, Saints, Chargers, Texans, Titans, Ravens and Patriots?
How about the franchises that have only had African-American interim head coaches, including the Redskins (Terry Robiskie, 2000), Falcons (Emmitt Thomas, 2007), Bills (Perry Fewell, 2009), Broncos (Eric Studesville, 2010), Dolphins (Todd Bowles, 2011) and Jaguars (Mel Tucker, 2011), but none that were hired for a full season?
That’s 17 NFL franchises – more than half the league – that have yet to hire an African-American as a head coach. The Bucs lead the way with three.
The Raiders (Art Shell and Hue Jackson), Chiefs (Herman Edwards and Romeo Crennel), Colts (Dungy and Caldwell), Jets (Edwards and Bowles) and Vikings (Dennis Green and Leslie Frazier) are the only other teams that have employed multiple, full-time African-American head coaches.
The angry ESPN commentator is obviously upset to see Smith go in Tampa Bay, and is likely perturbed to see Detroit’s Jim Caldwell, another African-American head coach, may soon be out of a job, too. Never mind that neither coach has won enough games, and that the NFL is a cold-hearted business that is almost always about wins and losses – not race – when it comes to firing its head coaches.
If Caldwell is also dismissed, that would leave just Bowles in New York, Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh and Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati as the only three current African-American head coaches in the NFL – although Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is a hot commodity and has a good shot of landing a job this month.
“What we’re seeing is we’re taking steps back – not steps forward,” Smith said. “I’m sorry if folks believe that is race-baiting. It just happens to be factual. But if that’s where you want to take it, I don’t give a damn.”
Smith is definitely race-baiting, and that is the real travesty because he’s barking up the wrong tree. The Glazer family and the Buccaneers organization has been the most proactive team in the league when it comes to minority hiring.
Did Smith conveniently leave that out of his rant, or is he just a jackass that is ignorant to the facts?
I’m definitely guessing the latter, and he’s the one that should be ashamed.
http://www.pewterreport.com/articles/stephen-a-smith-embarrasses-himself-in-misguided-racial-rant-towards-bucs/
, but I do like the Jets' coach
