“I don’t think I got personal,” Stephen A. Smith explained Thursday of his criticism of National Organization for Women (NOW) president. Nevertheless, Smith conceded that he failed to show “sensitivity” in calling her crazy and “I apologize to her for that.”
Smith, responding to the noted football watchdog Terry O’Neill of NOW calling for Roger Goodell’s resignation, went off on Wednesday.
“I’m sorry,” Smith said of NOW’s president on ESPN’s First Take. “I think this woman is off her rocker.” For anyone who didn’t hear him, he continued: “I think she’s lost her mind. That’s right, I said it.”
The group believes Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice abuse case, in which the commissioner initially suspended the running back two games before video of him knocking out his girlfriend forced an indefinite suspension, merits his departure as the league’s head man.
“This is the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve ever heard in my life,” the ESPN talker continued. “Roger Goodell deserves to lose his job? Why are you acting like he’s Ray Rice? Roger Goodell didn’t hit Janay Palmer Rice. He hasn’t hit any women. And by the way, the last time I checked, Skip, why are we talking about the NFL as if it’s some cesspool for domestic violence?”
As Smith’s cohosts tried to calm him down as the the credits rolled, he offered “Please!” “Ridiculous!” and a “Tell ’em to call into my show” for good measure.