Shannon Sharpe was set to leave Fox Sports 1 - (FOX) after the NBA Finals. So on June 13, a day after the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship, Sharpe gave his final farewell.
Sharpe addressed the public on Fox Sports 1’s ‘Undisputed’ and said that the “train stops for Shannon Sharpe” after over seven years as co-host of the sports debate program across from the enigmatic Skip Bayless.
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But it was Sharpe's goodbye to Bayless that caught the most attention on social media.
The former tight end got teary-eyed during his last address to his co-host -- despite the fact that many, including Bayless’ former debate partner ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith -- believe that the severed relationship between Bayless and Sharpe was a cause for the latter’s departure.
“Skip Bayless, you fought for me brother. I’m here because of you ... ” Sharpe said before wiping tears from his eyes. “The opportunity you gave me to become what I became -- I’m very indebted to you.”
Bayless responded by praising Sharpe, calling him a “worthy adversary.”
“You dedicated yourself to this job just the way you dedicated yourself to professional football as a Hall-of-Famer,” Bayless said.
Sharpe concluded the show by saying the public will find him again “somewhere, I just don’t know where.”
The exchange between Sharpe and Bayless was a heartwarming end to an tumultuous last leg of the two’s seven-year relationship. After it was announced on May 31 by the New York Post that Sharpe would be leaving Fox, reports came out that an on-air argument between the two about a Bayless tweet from the 2022-23 NFL season triggered their fall out.
Fox has not announced a successor to Sharpe, but several in-house candidates are reportedly in the running including former NFL star LeSean McCoy, Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor, and Nick Wright. Bayless is said expected to have the "final say" on his next co-host.
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