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Brace yourself for the dumbest New England Patriots story you’ll read all week. Maybe all year.
Alright, so, last Friday, “First Take” co-host Cam Newton continued his anti-Patriots bit by calling his former team, which is 9-2 and atop the AFC East, “fool’s gold.” He wrote off New England’s success by pointing toward its soft schedule and the “sorry scrubs” it’s played against.
None of it really was that big of a deal, as Newton’s remarks were on-brand for himself and for “First Take”. Plus, it’s fair to point out the Patriots’ relatively weak schedule.
Nevertheless, the comments became a thing at Gillette Stadium this week. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about them on Monday during his weekly WEEI appearance, and Maye asked about them on Wednesday during his own WEEI interview. Vrabel said nothing noteworthy, but Maye, seemingly trying to say nothing, gave an answer that wound up angering Smith.
“I don’t even know what show he’s on,” Maye said of Newton. “I think they get paid to make remarks and make certain comments. So, I just worry about what people in our organization think, and worry about we think and what my teammates think. People are going to have different opinions. I’m just going out there on Sunday and worrying about ourselves.”
That brings us to Thursday, when Smith responded to Maye’s remarks by going totally off the rails.
“He’s also a s a liar,” Smith said, in his usual pro-wrestling style. “He’s also a liar. ‘Pardon the Interruption’ is the number one show on ESPN, spanning 20-plus (years). ‘First Take’ is the number one morning show, 13 years and counting. April will be 14 years. Don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that. Don’t tell me you a athlete and you don’t know that Cam Newton ain’t on this show. You lying.”
First of all, the ego on this guy.
You can’t have it both ways, Steve. You can’t produce transparently hyperbolic, low-brow television, then grandstand on athlete-media ethics when somebody allegedly acts like they don’t know or care about your show. Just laugh it off and move on.
But, second of all, it’s entirely plausible that Maye truly didn’t know what show Newton is on.
ESPN rotates various talent — ex-pro athletes or otherwise — through its deluge of programming with such frequency that it’s impossible to keep up. Maye surely knew that Newton was doing this kind of work, but if you told him that Newton was just a contributor on “Get Up!” or something, he’d probably believe you. You probably could’ve convinced him that Newton is sparring with Nick Wright on FS1 and not with Smith on ESPN. It’s not like Newton has been doing this for that long.
Believe it or not, that wasn’t even the dumbest part of Smith’s rant.
The 40-million-dollar man then gaslit his co-hosts, his audience, and maybe even himself into believing something happened that didn’t really happen, and that order had to be...
