Skip Bayless is known for being controversial. It’s what brought in viewers to First Take and does the same with Undisputed with Shannon Sharpe now. Everyone tunes in to see what kind of nonsense he’ll spout about the latest sports news.
Skip Bayless has 3.2 million Twitter followers (and doesn’t follow anyone at all on the site) and a majority of them aren’t there for his wisdom and advice. Quite the contrary, actually, as many of them are likely there for his wild takes.
Over the years, Bayless has put a lot on Twitter and said a lot on his various platforms. He has bad takes quite often, but here are a few of the most outrageous takes he’s ever had.
Skip Bayless’ Twitter is full of poor takes
How can the NFL cancel the game after Damar Hamlin’s injury?
Bayless took to Twitter amidst the Damar Hamlin injury during the Monday Night Football contest of the NFL’s Week 17. That was his first mistake. It was a sober moment, and one that genuinely didn’t need interrupting from Skip. Nevertheless, he tried it and gave a pretty poor take.
He wondered how the NFL could consider cancelling the game after Hamlin effectively died on the field. Yes, the game was an important one for AFC seeding, but this was a man’s life on the line.
Skip Bayless tried to deftly maneuver the topic and the sensitivity of the situation, but he failed as he often does. What resulted was one of his most insensitive and thoughtless tweets of all time.
Tim Tebow can be A better Player than Cam Newton
This tweet from Bayless regarding Cam Newton and Tim Tebow is an all-timer. The then-ESPN analyst has always been a huge fan of Tebow, but this take aged as poorly as any. Bayless believed that Tebow would have a better career than Newton.
As it turned out, Newton had a far superior career and it’s not even close. Newton may be done playing thanks to injuries now, but Tebow was never even close to as good as he was. The MVP and Super Bowl appearance prove that without even looking at all of Newton’s other excellent seasons.
Newton could be a Hall of Famer one day. Tebow would be lucky to get on a ballot.
Josh Freeman is better than Cam Newton
For a long time, it was clear that Bayless was no fan of Cam Newton’s. Not only did he say Tim Tebow would be better, he also said that about Josh Freeman. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback started three seasons and was out of the NFL after 2015.
Bayless said:
“Long term give me Josh Freeman over Cam. Better leader, more consistent passer, more clutch, more poised under fire, more careful with ball.”
@RealSkipBayless on Twitter
Newton has three Pro Bowl appearances and won an MVP in 2015. Once again, this take could not have aged more poorly.
Johnny Manziel > LeBron James
Skip is a known LeBron James hater, but this take took the hating to another level. Bayless once tweeted that Johnny Manziel, the electric quarterback from Texas A&M, woud have a better career in Cleveland than the NBA’s now-leading scorer, LeBron James.
Manziel flamed out of the NFL and never even looked like he would have a career as a backup. Even though James has left Cleveland twice, it’s safe to say there’s no comparison whatsoever. Manziel barely made an impact on Cleveland and James will never see an athlete replace him in that city.
Von Miller is overrated
Von Miller is probably on his way to the Hall of Fame. At the very least, he can sleep at night with a Super Bowl MVP award and knowing that he was probably the biggest reason the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50. He also won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams, so he’s had one fine career.
Rewind back to when he was a young player with the Denver Broncos and see how poorly this Skip Bayless tweet aged. Maybe Miller isn’t Denver’s MVP, but he was in the biggest game of his life, so Bayless once again couldn’t be more wrong.
More Tim Tebow love
Tim Tebow had a mediocre career with the Denver Broncos, which is why they jumped at signing Peyton Manning when he left the Indianapolis Colts. Bayless wasn’t a fan, but he did believe that Tebow could land elsewhere and finally have a real chance to become the NFL superstar the analyst always knew he would be.
Unfortunately, that never happened. Tebow was effectively out of the league after that and Manning went to two Super Bowls with Denver and won one of them on his way out of the league. Manning is a Hall of Famer and Tebow tried to play tight end recently. There’s no comparison at all.
Derek Fisher will outcoach Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr has won Coach of the Year and won three NBA Finals trophies. Derek Fisher is not even an active coach. One might think that there was no question over which coach was better. One would be wrong.
Bayless firmly believed that Fisher would end up being better than Kerr back in 2014. Just two years later, Kerr won that Coach of the Year and proved that Bayless was foolish. Seven years later, Kerr is leading the defending champion Golden State Warriors still, making the tweet look like an all time cold take.
Kerr may have the added benefit of coaching two all-time three-point shooters, but there’s no denying his ability as a coach. Mark Jackson didn’t win a Finals with the same core players.
Brandon Weeden is a star according to Skip Bayless
In 2012, Skip Bayless was convinced that the Cleveland Browns had found their franchise quarterback at long last. Brandon Weeden was their savior, according to the controversial analyst.
“Browns just stole a starting QB: Brandon Weeden. Much better than Tannehill. Will soon beat out Colt, have 6-7 good yrs. TRich AND Weeden!”
@RealSkipBayless on Twitter
Ryan Tannehill hasn’t been an MVP caliber player, but he’s still playing and starting in the NFL. Weeden isn’t and was never a good NFL quarterback. The Browns have truthfully been looking for their franchise quarterback since well before then. Maybe they’ve found it in Deshaun Watson.
Cardale Jones > Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott is potentially about to be extended by the Dallas Cowboys, but he’s at least a Pro Bowl level quarterback. Cowboys superfan Bayless believed that Cardale Jones of Ohio State University would be a better pick.
Lost in all of that is the fact that everyone, perhaps even Bayless, was clamoring over Paxton Lynch, who recently became the only quarterback to be benched in the NFL, CFL, USFL and finally, the XFL.
Skip Bayless’ Twitter is a bit of a cesspool of poor takes. He probably has one awful take per week, but some of them stand out. Which tweets from Skip deserve to be on this list? Let us know in the comments.