Bobby Burack
Videos by OutKick
Thursday night, Stephen A. Smith joined Bill O’Reilly on The First, the OTT service that airs O’Reilly’s No Spin News.
Smith and O’Reilly agreed more than one would imagine. Particularly on Colin Kaepernick going too far by irresponsibly denouncing the country on July 4.
O’Reilly raised a strong point: if the NFL is going to allow Black Lives Matter, it should also permit “protect the police.” As O’Reilly accurately notes, political sports leagues need balance; Smith didn’t argue.
However, Smith claimed the players’ political statements don’t interfere with broadcasts during the game. That’s incorrect. Excluding pregame, social messages appear on players’ helmets, “End Racism” is read in the end zones, and last night, the broadcast booth and halftime show led with non-football topics. Not exactly the escape Americans are seeking.
.@BillOReilly is joined by @stephenasmith to debate "taking-a-knee" and discuss the recent trend of politics saturating the sports world.
But they agree that @Kaepernick7 has taken things too far and that the @NFL should employ some "balance" to their social justice initiatives. pic.twitter.com/XP9zAanqRH
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) September 11, 2020
Later in the segment, O’Reilly came in hard with flashes of the O’Reilly Factor. Per the former cable news juggernaut, the NFL is going to lose “billions.”
“Put your money where your knee is,” he explained.
The highlight of the interview came late when O’Reilly declared the NBA as “MSNBC territory.” That is also correct.
"Put your money where your knee is," says @BillOReilly as he shares his prediction with @stephenasmith that the @NFL is going to lose BILLIONS.
Bill contends that the @NBA is in no better shape as they enter "MSNBC territory" with less than 2 million views of many playoff games. pic.twitter.com/am8iwQSOuP
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) September 11, 2020
Intriguing exchange. Is anyone surprised to see Stephen A. Smith on The First? I was.
Did not know about The First. Screamin’ A agreeing with BO on anything is surprising.
I can recall Stephen A being on the O’Reilly factor a couple times and being shocked by his willingness to appear and his common sense takes while on the show.
I can’t believe they both agreed that having BLM sticker and “Respect the Police” sticker on the same helmet was a good idea. This is an awful idea. You are going to piss off both sides of the aisle having both stickers, whereas having only one sticker only alienates one side. The logical conclusion is to not have any stickers.