Happy New Year 2025

Tag: ESPNs

  • ESPN’s Adam Schefter under fire for using Patrick Mahomes as reference for possible NFL change

    ESPN’s Adam Schefter under fire for using Patrick Mahomes as reference for possible NFL change

    ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter faced criticism on Saturday for his report about the league possibly considering using replay assist when it came to quarterback slides.

    Schefter wrote on X, “For all those complaining that Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls, relief soon could be on the way.” The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was criticized for the late slide against the Houston Texans that led to an unnecessary roughness penalty after linebacker Henry To’oTo’o hit him right after he dropped to the ground.

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    Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes slides against Houston Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o during the AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Jan. 18, 2025. (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

    Amid the controversy over the slide, head referee Clay Martin defended the call. He said there was forcible contact to Mahomes’ “hairline” on the other unnecessary roughness call.

    NFL fans were upset with Schefter for using Mahomes as a reference point. Still, Schefter used statistics to back up his point. He compared penalties between the Chiefs and their playoff opponents over the course of their eight-game winning streak.

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    Adam Schefter in Mexico

    Adam Schefter of ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” on the sideline prior to the game between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Nov. 21, 2022. (Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports)

    According to researcher Paul Hembo, Kansas City’s opponents have been flagged for roughing the passer six times compared to zero times for the Chiefs. When it came to unnecessary roughness, Kansas City’s opponents have seen four penalty flags and only one against the Chiefs.

    Still, fans were outraged.

    Actor Eric Stonestreet, a huge Chiefs fan, called out Schefter on NFL Network.

    “He calls out Patrick Mahomes in his tweet like Patrick Mahomes is the only one on the beneficiary end of a roughing the passer call,” he said. “He’s got the biggest reach in all the NFL and here he’s out implying and furthering this conspiracy theory that the league is rigging the game.”

    Mahomes was asked about the alleged favoritism during the week.

    “I don’t feel that way,” he said. “… I just try to play football at the end of the day. The referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and proper as best they can.

    “For me, it’s go out there, play hard, try to do whatever I can to win the football game, and then live with the results based on my effort and how I play the game, and that’s what we preach here in Kansas City.”

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    The Chiefs play the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

  • ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says he feels like a fool for voting for Kamala Harris

    ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith says he feels like a fool for voting for Kamala Harris

    ESPN host Stephen A. Smith admitted that he and others who voted for Kamala Harris in November’s election feel like “d— fools,” during an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday. 

    Smith made this declaration when discussing comparisons between Harris’ campaign and Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. The sports pundit argued that the fact that Harris was not nominated via a legitimate primary, and the fact that she performed so poorly during her short stint in the 2020 Democratic primary, made her undesirable to voters.

    Harris dropped out of the 2020 primary in 2019, before even reaching the Iowa caucus. She never received a single primary vote before being anointed the nominee in 2024.

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    Oct. 23, 2024; Inglewood, California: Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome.  (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

    “Kamala Harris, who didn’t resonate during the primaries in 2020, couldn’t even get to Iowa, suddenly is the Democratic nominee, then you roll up to the convention in Chicago and everybody is like ‘She’s a rockstar!’ So it’s like ‘How’d that happen?” Smith said. 

    “Yes I voted for her, a lot of people voted for her, but in the end, we end up feeling like d— fools, because we supported it, we fell for the okiedoke as they say. If you had a primary, the likelihood is she would not have been the Democratic nominee.” 

    Smith has been a harsh internal critic of the Democratic Party during and after the 2020 election. 

    During Friday’s appearance on Maher’s show, he scolded liberals for choosing not to campaign on issues that the American people were most concerned about, while admitting that Trump did, and was the closer candidate to the center of the political spectrum. 

    STEPHEN A. SMITH REGRETS BACKING VP HARRIS, ‘OPEN’ TO VOTING GOP: ‘NOT INTERESTED’ IN THE ‘FEAR MONGERING’

    Stephen A. Smith and VP Harris

    Stephen A. Smith grilled Vice President Harris over her avoiding serious media interviews since the start of her campaign. (Jim Cowsert/NBAE | Andrew Harnik / Staff)

    “Here’s the deal: the man was impeached twice, he was convicted on 34 felony counts, and the American people still said, ‘He’s closer to normal than what we see on the left,’” Smith said. 

    During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity days after Election Day, Smith insisted that the results were a referendum of the Democratic Party.

    “I think that in light of those results we have to look at this election as a referendum on the Democratic Party. And America’s saying we’re not feeling where you are, we’re not feeling where you tried to go, we want no part of it, we’re not having it – and they made their choice and we all have to accept it,” he said. 

    During an interview on “The Will Cain Show” on the Thursday after the election, Smith delivered a scathing critique of the Democratic National Committee and its message ahead of Election Day and pointed to transgender issues as one of its weak points. 

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    Smith looks on before the game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 12, 2024 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. 

    Smith looks on before the game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 12, 2024 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.  (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

    “It’s such a strong tilt to the progressive left where we are talking about transgender issues and culture wars and identity politics and all of this stuff. We are sick of all of that. That makes total, total sense to me, and I’m good with it, even though I didn’t vote for [Trump]. I’m not as taken aback and feeling like nothing but gloom and doom and the world is coming to an end because the person I voted for didn’t win,” Smith said. 

    Smith has said multiple times that he would consider running for public office. After the results of the election, he has been one of the few figures in the liberal media to embrace the outcome of Trump’s victory and has been heavily critical of left-wing figures like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Kimmel in their portrayal of Trump. 

    Smith also did not rule out a possible presidential run for himself during an interview on “The View” the week after the election.

    “I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator. But if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it,” he said.

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    Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.