Skip Bayless saw Shannon Sharpe as a worthy debate adversary.
Those were Bayless’ own words, which are about the nicest thing he can say about anybody, as Sharpe had his tearful exit from FS1’s “Undisputed” on Tuesday.
Bayless further opened up about how proud he was of Sharpe’s preparation in their partnership that lasted nearly seven years, on his Fox Sports podcast, “The Skip Bayless Show.”
“I was so proud of what Shannon and I had accomplished together against such long odds,” Bayless began on Thursday’s episode.
“What a run we had together, nearly seven years’ worth. That’s nearly 4,300 live, on-air hours sitting across from each other at that debate desk, battling, laughing, haggling over bets on games.
“When I shared that figure with my wife, Ernestine, her response was, ‘You spent more time with him than you spent with me.’ Well, not exactly true. But it did sometimes feel that way. Which meant that in a way, Shannon and I were kind of a married couple on TV.”
The Post first reported on May 31 that Sharpe would be exiting the show following the NBA Finals.
On his podcast, Bayless said that, whenever he watched a big game, he anticipated Sharpe’s debate points.
Sharpe, as a Pro Football Hall of Famer, presented a different type of debate opponent than the journalists like Stephen A. Smith that Bayless had previously dueled with.
“I started thinking about me against an NFL Hall of Famer, instead of just a fellow journalist,” Bayless recalled. “I started to like it, and we plunged. In our first staff meeting, Shannon told the group he wanted to become the first ex-athlete to prove that he could talk about all sports on TV, not just the one he played. And did Shannon ever prove that.”
Bayless said he would miss debating with Sharpe about the Dallas Cowboys — even acknowledging that Sharpe won some of those debates — and LeBron James.
“Heck, I’m even going to miss that goat mask he used to wear after the odd, great LeBron game,” Bayless continued.
“But the truth is what I loved most about working with Shannon was, and this is no small thing, he dedicated himself to the process of preparing for ‘Undisputed’ just like he dedicated himself to playing pro football.”
He praised Sharpe’s work ethic on the show.
“Most debates are won the night before by doing your homework, your research, formulating your argument,” Bayless said.
“Shannon prepared hard, and on-air, Shannon competed even harder. Shannon never took a sick day. Shannon was never, ever late. You say, ‘Oh that’s no big deal.’ No, it’s a huge deal to me. Being prepared and on time is the mortar of a successful TV show. Shannon always prepared, always on time, day after day after day.”
Bayless later said that he looks forward to the next iteration of “Undisputed” as the program heads toward this upcoming football season and beyond.