Chris “Mad Dog” Russo took a couple of shots at the new First Take bromance in his latest “What Are You Mad About?”, his weekly rant segment on First Take. After ranting about the Giants, he took aim at the Stephen A. Smith-Shannon Sharpe bromance. “I really felt we’d come a long way since I got a text a year and a half ago saying “Doggy, can you come in and do First Take,” MD began his third point of the segment. And then all of a sudden, Shannon Sharpe is his blood brother? He takes him to Boulder, Colorado. He didn’t ask me to go.” Mad Dog’s rant became more and more unhinged as he pointed out all of the special treatment things Smith and Sharpe received while in Boulder over the weekend.
Obviously, the whole thing was in good faith and Smith was nearly crying with laughter as Mad Dog lost it more and more. However, it’s nice to see what an expanded and good-natured family First Take has become. Smith has really cultivated a good atmosphere within the Bristol-based group and it’s really paying off in both the entertainment value and the ratings.
Read More: Stephen A. defends Shannon Sharpe from haters over “Skip” slip
Smith Drops Sharpe Bombshell
However, Mad Dog’s reaction is not the only thing about Smith and Sharpe that has been making headlines. During a recent conversation with Joe Budden. During the podcast episode, Smith claimed that he doesn’t view his acquisition of Shannon Sharpe as poaching or anything like that because Sharpe “didn’t leave of his own volition”. It’s the first major behind-the-scenes claim about the atmosphere at Undisputed prior to Sharpe’s departure.
However, it makes sense. It’s an open secret at this point that Skip Bayless has been seeking more and more control over his flagship show at FS1. It’s likely that Bayless wanted Sharpe out so that he could restructure the show to once again put himself at the top of the pecking order. This is supported by the fact several people were considered and rejected to replace Sharpe and most were rejected on the basis that they would be too much of an equal opponent for Bayless. Instead, Bayless reportedly wants easy wins when it comes to his debate partners.
Read More: Micah Parsons puts the Giants on blast for keeping Daniel Jones in amid 40-0 rout
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