Skip Bayless drops controversial comments about Robert Griffin III

Written by  //  August 21, 2012  //  NFL  //  5 Comments

I have been asked three times today about a certain topic that I was going to avoid because it seems silly to fan the flames of a garbage related situation.

But here goes. ESPN’s Skip Bayless decided to step onto TV and play the race card in regards to the quarterback situation in Washington.

 Before we get to him, I like many felt that when the Redskins drafted Kirk Cousins right after they pulled Robert Griffin III, it was a setup.

I felt that way not because of race but because Mike Shanahan has not been loyal to a single quarterback that has graced his door since he landed there.

Shout out to John Beck.

Directly after the draft flare-up the entire Redskins organization came out and showed RG3 so much love that the world-at-large forgot who Kirk Cousins was.

The Skins drowned the world in RG3. They made it their personal business to drive the point home that this was their guy.

The Redskins are not based in Washington State. There is no gunslinger duel in Washington. D.C.

Shout out to Tavaris Jackson.

There is nothing there except for the feeling of relief that the team may once again be competitive in the extremely tough NFC East.

That brings me to Bayless and his comments. I saw them as they were broadcast. At the time, I said to myself ‘LeBron James is out of the picture for a minute and there is only so much Tim Tebow to around, he’s really fighting for his act today.’

Here’s what he said.

“Some foolish Redskins fans — fans, foolish, doesn’t that go together, right? — they’re gonna sit back and say, ‘God, RGIII was struggling. He fumbled, he threw a couple of bad passes. Maybe Kirk Cousins is better right now. Maybe we should go with Kirk.’ NO! I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to set up that dynamic.

“I’m going to throw it out there,” Bayless continued. “You also have the black/white dynamic and the majority of Redskins fans are white and it’s just human nature if you’re white to root for the white guy. It just happens in sports. Just like the black community will root for the black quarterback.

“I’m for the black guy. I’m just saying I don’t like the dynamic for RGIII. It could stunt his growth in the NFL.”

Shout out to Rush Limbaugh.

Now, here is the thing about Skip Bayless.  He is playing a role. It’s a role that works for the network and it keeps people talking and tuning in to his daily gig on First Take.

With Bayless it has become less about sports analysis and more about what controversial remark that he can make that will encourage a reaction from the viewer.

Whether it’s the men that he loves or the men that he despises or even the rappers that he pretends to adore, Bayless is an actor whose alias could easily be Lightning Rod.

Shout out to Lil Wayne.

He bows down to Tim Tebow simply because most people in his world don’t.  Let the experienced professionals discuss Tim’s mechanics and ability, Skip’s going to drop the zingers about his alleged love for the man as he wields his velvet hammer in his defense.

Let the true basketball people discuss LeBron James in a competent and fair manner because Skip’s assignment is to spew as much anti-LeBron propaganda as he can because it fires people up.

Now that James is off the world’s hit list as he has grown comfortable in his own skin, Dwight Howard will be Bayless’ next target of his unrequited love.

90-percent of the reason that I personally watch First Take is because Steven A. Smith manages to bring an air of dignity to the whole affair.

Since he’s become almost a daily staple, First Take has become less…tacky.

It must be admitted that Bayless’ gimmick does makes for good TV.  There is probably some sort of genius in how he took the most obnoxious traits of reality TV’s most celebrated villains and applied it to the sports realm.

When you take him for what he is, Skip Bayless is no different than the silliest hood-rat from the VH-1/Bravo show of your choice.

Shout out to Evelyn Lozada.

So when he says ‘I’m for the black guy’ it lands with me with same amount of force that a certain self-hating character from Aaron McGruder’s animated comedy The Boondocks does.

He’s a joke that is not meant to be taken seriously yet he’s a sad commentary on the platform that he has come to represent.

Shout out to Uncle Ruckus.

Twitt

About the Author

Adrian Glover is Players View's Editor-In-Chief. He has spent his days as a newspaper columnist,magazine editor, freelance writer and as somebody's father. ;) Follow him on Twitter at @playersview.

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  • Omar

    Excellent piece…

  • Stu

    The comments by Skip Bayless are just ignorant and not in touch with Sports, see his personal sport pedigree. It may be true in some individual’s minds who cannot accept diversity in the modern day era of sports; however we know that certain intermediaries still promote their rhetoric and agendas. Mike Shanahan was trying to cover his six. RGIII is will be a great quarterback as long as they provide opportunity and room for growth. They should build on his strengths like other organizations like the colts in the past, the Patriots and Packers and Saints as of late. Now we can discuss Tim Tebow. It is a great story for a quarterback that is hailed as the ideal leader and athlete when he played at Florida. Tebow was not better than Chris Leake and we certainly can validate that he is not better than Cam Newton two Gators he played with. It is about the coach and organization having faith and believing in their players. Give RGIII the same opportunities and chances that others have had. One example is what if RGIII was at Florida with Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, Hernandez, Demps and Rainey on his Team?

  • http://gravatar.com/sportsbaron1 sportsbaron1

    Making due allowance for ESPN’s mandate to boost ratings and given Skip Bayless obvious part in that, it’s often still hard to take him seriously. Skip’s slant on Mr. Griffin is just the latest example of how “schtick” can get in the way of common sense. But the network apparently doesn’t care HOW they expand viewership, –as long as the ratings remain high. Personally, Stephen A. Smith–cogent as he generally is with his observations–isn’t enough to keep me tuned in to “FIRST TAKE”. That’s partly (no, make that MAINLY) because of their blind insistence on making Tim Tebow the subject of every other segment they air, seemingly, to the point (for me, anyway) of abject nausea. And now that Tebow is a fixture in the media capital of the entire planet, I can only expect the inane trend to continue, which will result in me tuning in to ANY OTHER talk show host that might be airing between 7AM and 9AM instead…

    Ruefully,

    Clifford
    Santa Monica

  • chuck

    its not racism,its the fact.people root more for people of their color.i wouldn’t say all but a large amount.its just the way life is.

  • C.W.

    You have to remember that the show is based on debate. What good is a debate show if everyone takes the same position. Sometimes you have to take a position on the topic you don’t believe in because of this. Who the heck knows what his real feelings on any subject are. The show is just a form of good cop, bad cop with Skip being better at being the bad cop. Astute observation on him just playing a role. That said The Redskins look great at QB with 2 excellent and super talented rookies. Would you prefer we sign another over the hill veteran like we have soooo many times in the past just to stink up the place again? Hail Skins, Dallas sucks!

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