Athletes have called for Fox Sports to fire anchor Skip Bayless for his tweet in response to Damar Hamlin suddenly collapsing during the Monday Night Football game this week.
“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” Bayless tweeted on Monday night.
In response to the backlash, Bayless later specified that he did not mean to diminish Damar Hamlin’s deeply serious situation.
“Nothing is more important than that young man’s health. That was the point of my last tweet. I’m sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him & will continue to,” he later tweeted.
Bayless tacitly addressed the controversy on his show Undisputed on Tuesday that did not have his co-host Shannon Sharpe in attendance.
“I apologize for what we’re going to set out to do here today if it offends anyone because we’re going to try to do the show pretty much as we usually do the show,” he said.
Bayless even admitted that he was still shaken up by the whole episode and that he did not know if he could do the show per usual.
Nonetheless, people on Twitter have still been calling for the anchor’s head.
NFL Hall-of-Famer Terrell Owens likewise said on his Instagram that Bayless had the most “despicable tweet ever.”
“I would like to say I’m shocked by this tweet BUT quite frankly I’m not because of who I’ve known you to be!!” said Owens. “I hope you LOSE YOUR JOB!! For you @skipbayless, to think the magnitude of this game trumps the LIFE of a player is inhumane. I hope shannonsharpe84 puts this in a better perspective for you since you continue to say the most unimaginable stuff out of your ridiculous mouth!!
“There has to be some MAJOR CONSEQUENCES/IMPLICATIONS to this irresponsible ass tweet!!! You’re a LOW LIFE!!!!” he added.