Maybe it’s time for us all to ignore Skip Bayless and let him float off into oblivion.
The loud-mouthed FS1 personality set the internet ablaze Thursday night with his comments about Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott that were universally ripped for being insensitive to Prescott’s mental well-being. Prescott’s brother died in late April, and the QB recently revealed his brother committed suicide.
“I don’t have sympathy for him going public with, ‘I got depressed, I suffered depression early in COVID to the point I couldn’t even work out.’ Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s team,” Bayless said Thursday.
Bayless, no stranger to being dragged for bad opinions, was on the receiving end of a virtual beating Thursday afternoon and night. FOX Sports felt obligated to release a statement Thursday night, condemning Bayless’ “insensitive comments.”
All that being said, it seemed like an absolute lock for Bayless to open Friday’s “Undisputed” with an apology — even if he didn’t believe what he was actually saying. Instead, he opened on a familiar note (ripping LeBron James) before eventually getting to Prescott and the fallout.
Given the (arguably undeserved) chance to apologize, Bayless’ message was, well, disappointing.
“I want to reiterate some points I made yesterday on the show about Dak Prescott and the depression he discussed. As I strongly stated, I have great compassion for anyone suffering clinical depression, which is very real. If you are suffering from any form of depression, please seek help.”
Bayless then tried to clarifiy his comments — after apparently being told his comments were “misconstrued by many” — by parsing the types or stages or timing of Prescott’s depression.
“The only Dak depression I addressed on yesterday’s show was from an interview he taped with Graham Besinger,” Bayless said. “Dak said that depression happened soon after the pandemic, early in the quarantine. I said yesterday that if Dak needed help for pandemic depression, he should have sought counseling then.”
It probably doesn’t need to be said how dumb that is, but depression is depression. Like, does it really matter the source of one’s depression? And where exactly are we drawing the line from feeling that depression — going public with your battle — and how it affects your ability to lead a locker room of football players?
Again, anyone expecting Bayless to be better probably hasn’t paid attention to his career. He’s made a very nice living off asinine hot takes that often border on callous, mean-spirited or, in this case, downright dangerous. He quite clearly lives in an alternate reality where he believes he is some sort of sports talk gladiator and expects the rest of the world to ascend to his level of grit and determination.
It’s actually kind of sad. Perhaps we should feel bad for Bayless, even if that’s showing more empathy than he’s ever displayed himself.
Thumbnail photo via Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports Images
