Cris Carter likely wasn’t too disappointed when Skip Bayless departed from Undisputed. On his Fully Loaded podcast, the Hall of Fame wide receiver recounted a heated encounter with the controversial sports media pundit that led him to threaten physical violence against Bayless.
This incident occurred over a decade ago during an appearance on First Take when both Carter and Bayless were working for ESPN.
Carter recalled that he frequently joined the show because of his friendship with Stephen A. Smith, but he had no personal connection with Bayless. “I didn’t know Skip personally, and I’m gonna be honest with you: Skip Bayless is not one of my favorite people,” Carter admitted (h/t Awful Announcing).
The tension boiled over during a segment discussing the Tim Tebow “phenomenon.” Bayless was known for his relentless praise of Tebow, even going so far as to claim he would prefer Tebow over Tom Brady with the game on the line. This hyperbolic stance set the stage for a fierce exchange.
“We’re trading barbs and everything. We go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And then I just level said it and was like, ‘Listen, if throwing the football is important in the NFL, Tim Tebow will never be a starting quarterback in the NFL.’ So, he got defensive and then he came back and said, ‘Well, that’s why you didn’t win a Super Bowl,’ which got nothing to do with nothing,” Carter recounted.
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The comment about not winning a Super Bowl struck a nerve. Carter removed his earpiece, confronted Bayless, and abruptly left the set. “I told him, ‘I’ll never be on your show again, and if you ever say anything like that to me again, I’ll punch you right in the f****ng face,'” Carter revealed.
Carter also criticized the nature of debate shows, likening them to wrestling in that the arguments are often predetermined. According to Carter, Bayless or Smith would choose a stance, forcing guest panelists to take the opposing view regardless of their true opinions.
He expressed skepticism about Bayless’s authenticity, asserting that there’s “no way” Bayless believes everything he says on air. Carter suggested that Bayless, despite his on-screen persona, is actually quite intelligent. “I never thought he was authentic,” Carter said of Bayless. “I never thought that I should take him serious … I’ve seen these arguments that are — you’d have to be a lunatic to believe what you’re saying.”
Carter’s reflections offer a candid glimpse into the behind-the-scenes dynamics of sports debate shows and highlight his disdain for the disingenuous nature of some on-air personalities.
