Horrible Sports Takes That Aged Like Sour Milk

Johnny > Lebron

Here’s another of Skip Bayless’s infamous takes but this one is a doozy. In 2014, the broadcaster wrote: “Johnny Football will one day be bigger in Cleveland than his buddy LeBron ever was.” He was writing about Johnny Manziel after the Browns drafted the former Texas A&M star (via AP News).

However, to say that this aged like sour milk is the understatement of the century. Manziel partied hard until the Browns threw him away like yesterday’s garbage. The quarterback suffered horrendous substance abuse problems and became irrelevant until a Netflix documentary in 2023.

Women Shouldn’t Fight

Everybody knows that Stephen A. Smith’s mouth and rear are interchangeable. But he infuriated the MMA fanbase when he began offering hot takes about the sport. In 2021, he said that he didn’t want to see women fighting. Several high-profile UFC champions instantly shredded him (via USA Today Sports).

Smith said on the Black on the Air podcast: “Where I jump off the bandwagon is when they try to engage physically. For example, I don’t ever want to see a woman boxing a man. I don’t want to see women fighting in the octagon and stuff like that, but that’s just me.”

Where’s Larry?

Max Kellerman had one of the worst takes ever when he spoke about Larry Fitzgerald’s Hall of Fame credentials. He said: “Larry Fitzgerald is like a Vince Carter. He might make the Hall of Fame because of longevity and the way he was willing to keep playing without being an MVP kind of level guy anymore (via 12 News).”

This made no sense because Fitzgerald was an outstanding player. The 11-time Pro Bowler is second all-time in receiving yards. He also has more tackles than drops and played brilliantly with 19 quarterbacks. Kellerman’s hot take aged like sour milk because it was so dumb.

Why Claudio?

Didi Hamann was a great player but that doesn’t mean he knows everything about soccer. In 2015, Leicester City appointed Claudio Ranieri as their new head coach. This didn’t impress Hamann who tweeted his opinion to the masses. Unfortunately, this came back to haunt him because it aged like sour milk.

The German predicted their relegation as he wrote: “Can’t believe Leicester appointed Ranieri. Great club, great fanbase but I’m afraid MK rather than Old Trafford season after next.” Leicester duly won the Premier League in one of the biggest fairytale stories ever (via Planet Football).

Check Swing Rule

Jon Heyman had one of the worst baseball takes ever in 2021. He said on MLB Now: “If a guy starts to swing it should be a swing in my opinion. I think they should revamp the whole thing.” His words related to check swings, a common practice in the sport.

This was one of the dumbest ‘educated’ conversations that baseball fans ever heard. The sport has plenty of problems but no one is complaining about check swings. Heyman was talking for the sake of it and it aged as well as sour milk (via Outkick).

Heads-Up Messi

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer player ever but former England coach Terry Venables disagreed. He believed that Cristiano Ronaldo was a superior player when they met in the Champions League Final. In the end, his hot take did not end well as Messi ran riot.

Venables told Sky Sports: “Messi is wonderful on the right but Ronaldo is terrific on the right, the left, and through the middle as well. He also scores goals with his head, which Messi couldn’t do even if they put a top hat on him.” Karma struck because Messi scored the game-winning header.

Tebow Time

We don’t know how Skip Bayless says some of these things with a straight face. In 2011, he tried to say that Tim Tebow would be a better quarterback than Cam Newton. Bayless tweeted: “Again, I think Cam can be a good NFL QB. But I think Tebow (given Cam’s opportunity and support) can be a little better.”

This is one of the dumbest things that we’ve ever read. Newton became an NFL MVP as he helped the Panthers to a rare Super Bowl appearance. Meanwhile, ‘Tebow Time’ fizzled out and he eventually turned his attention to baseball. This was bad even by Bayless’s poor standards (via The New York Post).

Fall Off A Cliff

In 2016, Max Kellerman made an infamous statement on a ‘First Take’ segment. He said: “Tom Brady’s just about done. It could be his next game, it could be a year from now, but he is going to fall off a cliff. Tom Brady is going to be a bum in short order.”

Kellerman’s words came back to haunt him because Brady won two more Super Bowls. Father Time didn’t touch him until his retirement in 2023. One of those victories came when he completed a fairytale move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Boston.com).