Fox Sports 1 host apologizes for tweet but stands by what he said and won’t take it back
The argument stemmed from a controversial tweet from Bayless on Monday following the collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damer Hamlin. The 24-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest after being hit during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin received CPR on the field for several minutes before being taken to the hospital via ambulance.
“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how?” Bayless tweeted before the match was officially postponed. “At the end of this season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the outcome of the regular-season … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? At the end of the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the outcome of the regular-season… which suddenly seems so irrelevant.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
After facing a quick backlash for the initial comment, Bayless wrote in a follow-up tweet: “Nothing is more important than that young man’s health. That was the gist of my last tweet. I’m sorry if it was misunderstood.” But his health matters. Then again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him and will continue to do so.
Nothing is more important than the health of that young man. That was the gist of my last tweet. I’m sorry if this was misunderstood but his health matters. Then, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for them and will continue to do so.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
On Tuesday’s episode of “Undisputed,” Bayless issued another apology.
“I apologize for what we’re going to do here today if it offends anyone, because we’re going to try to carry on with the show as usual,” he said. “I’ll admit up front that I’m still in shock over what happened last night with Damar Hamlin. In fact, I’m still devastated. In fact, I’m not sure I’d be able to do this show today. “
Sharp left Tuesday’s show, but returned on Wednesday and quickly brought up Bayless’ tweet.
Sharp said during his opening monologue, “I’ve never seen anybody have to be revived and fight for their lives on the field.” “Skip tweeted something, and although I disagree with the tweet, and hopefully Skip will delete it. But I didn’t want to…”
Bayless immediately interrupted, saying that he would not delete the tweet because he stood by what he said.
Sharp replied, “I can’t even get through a monologue without you interrupting me,” before trying to direct the conversation back to Hamlin.
“I was under the impression you weren’t going to bring it up because nobody here had a problem with that tweet,” Bayless fired back.
The conversation went on for about a minute regarding the tweet.
On Thursday, the NFL formally canceled the Bills-Bengals game.
“It’s been a very difficult week,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We continue to be focused on Dahmer Hamlin’s recovery and are encouraged by the improvement in his condition, as well as the outpouring of support and care for Dahmer and his family from across the country. We also incredibly appreciate the amazing work of the medical personnel and appreciate each and every one of them.
In making the decision, the NFL cited the fact that the game would not affect post-season standings, as no team would be eligible or eliminated based on the game’s outcome. In addition, the replay of the game would delay the post-season play by one week.
The NFL acknowledged that canceling the game could have negative effects on other teams in the playoffs. During a special meeting on Friday, the teams considered a recommendation by league management to hold the AFC Championship Game at a neutral site “if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both could be the number one seed and the number of games was hosted All AFC clubs played a full 17-match regular season.
Bill rescues Hamlin from injury while he recovers from the incident. Meanwhile, cornerback Christian Benford was activated from the injured reserve list.
TheWrap Ross Lincoln and Sharon Knoll contributed to this report