After flopping on the NBA Finals, ESPN is shoehorning Stephen A. Smith is Monday Night Football.

PublishedSeptember 22, 2025 4:55 PM EDT•UpdatedSeptember 22, 2025 4:30 PM EDT

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ESPN drew widespread criticism in June for adding Stephen A. Smith to its coverage of the NBA Finals. Even usually friendly sports media blogs bristled at his incessant shouting, his belittling remarks about the cities of Indiana and Oklahoma City, and his lack of interest in the games themselves. One fan caught him playing solitaire during the second quarter — an unmistakable symbol of disinterest.

That won’t be an issue this season, as ESPN has licensed TNT’s Inside the NBA for Finals studio coverage. But Smith has already been reassigned. This week, he announced he would join Monday Night Football’s pregame show for at least three editions this year, beginning with tonight’s Ravens–Lions matchup.

While ESPN understandably wants to justify its $20 million annual investment in Smith, this assignment is a profound misuse of its most valuable property.

Smith at least had some credentials to cover the NBA Finals. He has covered the NBA for more than 30 years, beginning with the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1994. He still appears in arenas, speaks with players, and breaks stories (though not always accurately).

The NFL, however, is a different matter. Smith’s only consistent connection to pro football is a cartoonish bit trolling the Dallas Cowboys. He has openly admitted that football is less interesting to him than the NBA and boxing, and he has mocked Americans for their “football obsession.” Unsurprisingly, he has repeatedly misidentified which teams NFL players are on.

Take a look:

Adding Smith to NFL pregame coverage underscores how disconnected ESPN leadership has become from sports fans. While competing networks rely on Terry Bradshaw, Tony Gonzalez, Matt Ryan, JJ Watt, Rob Gronkowski, and Tony Dungy, ESPN has chosen to put Smith on set with Ryan Clark, a racially obsessed buffoon.

ESPN and chairman Jimmy Pitaro seem convinced Smith is a superstar because of his role on First Take. In reality, that show draws just 450,000 viewers in a late-morning slot when most Americans are at work. The overlap between that audience and Monday Night Football’s is negligible.

As a rule, programming for social media buzz rarely translates to success on television. It’s why NBA Countdown has failed despite endless reinventions. ESPN is now making the same mistake with the NFL, a property whose viewers are even less aligned with the interests of X and TikTok.

This isn’t Pat McAfee on College GameDay. McAfee played football at the highest level and brings genuine energy. At this stage, Smith’s relationship with sports feels transactional. He routinely muses about leaving sports altogether for late-night television, politics, or acting. He views sports as a platform beneath him — yet one that keeps paying him.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – AUGUST 31: From left, former NFL and Miami Hurricanes player Ray Lewis and ESPN host Stephen A. Smith stand on the sidelines before the college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the University of Miami Hurricanes on August 31, 2025 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Smith’s ascent shows how rigged the entire industry is. As Jason Whitlock exposed, Smith wrote a memoir riddled with inconsistencies, illogicalities, and falsehoods. Smith responded by calling Whitlock a “fat bastard,” “a fat piece of shit,” “a fat son of a bitch,” and “the seed of the devil.” As for the lies Whitlock exposed, Smith had no comment.

Put simply, Stephen A. Smith’s rise is built on fooling people in power. He has parlayed his schtick into a $40 million-a-year empire spanning ESPN, SiriusXM, and YouTube. He has also convinced conservatives like Steve Bannon that he is a realistic 2028 presidential candidate and the hosts of The View that he is the voice black America needs.

Truthfully, Smith has no qualifications for any of this. NFL analyst? Political talk show host? Presidential candidate? A year ago, he was discussing DEI with Fox News host Will Cain and admitted he didn’t know what the term “equity” entailed. Max Kellerman was the lone person to challenge his knowledge of complex issues on-air, and Smith responded by having him removed from the show.

Smith’s career has proven that there’s no trait more valuable than faithfully articulating the message of the people in charge.

However, the average American isn’t as easily fooled as corporate leaders. NBA fans realized Smith was not fit for a seat at the table during the Finals. NFL and political junkies are about to realize the same.