National Football League

Skip Bayless reflects proudly on ‘Undisputed’ run with Shannon Sharpe

Updated Jun. 15, 2023 1:26 p.m. ET

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Skip Bayless has a new proudest moment from his nearly seven years at "Undisputed" — the way Tuesday’s show concluded with a touching farewell from Shannon Sharpe, his co-host throughout the show’s history.

"I was so proud of what Shannon and I had accomplished together against such long odds," Bayless said. 

Skip Bayless discusses Shannon Sharpe's departure from "Undisputed"

Bayless had nothing but fond memories from the thousands of hours he and Sharpe spent debating each other at the FOX Sports 1 studio in Los Angeles on live national television.

"What a run we had together, nearly seven years’ worth," Bayless said on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Skip Bayless Show." "That’s nearly 4,300 live, on-air hours sitting across from each other at that debate desk, battling, laughing, haggling over bets on games. … When I shared that figure with my wife, Ernestine, her response was, ‘You spent more time with him than you spent with me.’ Well, not exactly true. But it did sometimes feel that way. Which meant that in a way, Shannon and I were kind of a married couple on TV."

Bayless said that for the duo’s entire run together, he did not watch a single sports event of any magnitude without thinking about what Sharpe would say about the outcome of that game and how it would affect the next "Undisputed" show.

He then recalled how he came to land at FOX Sports and launch "Undisputed" with Sharpe, tracing his journey back to his first forays into TV debate at ESPN with "Cold Pizza" and later "First Take."

Skip looks back on his first-ever meeting with Shannon

In 2016, when Stephen A. Smith had to miss a few shows one week at "First Take," Sharpe was his fill-in. Bayless started to get a feel for working with the Hall of Fame tight end, and in his words, it "felt pretty good." 

After leaving ESPN, Bayless and his new FOX Sports bosses started to consider the idea of bringing on Sharpe as a full-time debate partner. 

"I started thinking about me against an NFL Hall of Famer, instead of just a fellow journalist," Bayless recalled. "I started to like it, and we plunged. In our first staff meeting, Shannon told the group he wanted to become the first ex-athlete to prove that he could talk about all sports on TV, not just the one he played. And did Shannon ever prove that."

It was Sharpe’s ability to do so that bore what Bayless believes was one of Sharpe’s greatest assets during his time at FS1 — his love for LeBron James.

"As you probably know by now, he truly, genuinely, authentically loves LeBron James," Bayless said. "He honestly and completely and wholeheartedly believes LeBron James is the GOAT, as in greatest of all time, eclipsing even Michael Jeffrey Jordan. … Because Shannon so believed that LeBron was the best ever, he and I had TV gold."

Another big asset Sharpe brought to the table was his disdain for Bayless’s beloved Dallas Cowboys, which provided another source of friction that could be mined for great television. Bayless "unofficially" estimates he and Sharpe had roughly 9,764 Lebron-Jordan debates and 12,991 debates involving the Cowboys.

Skip Bayless reflects on leaving ESPN to join forces with Shannon at FS1

"I must admit, Shannon actually won some of those because I can't help myself," Bayless said. "I have no objectivity and sometimes no sense when it comes to my Dallas Cowboys, who by the way, will make it all the way to the first NFC Championship Game they have played in 28 years. You can book it right here, right now."

But Bayless made it clear how much he would miss those debates.

"Heck, I'm even going to miss that goat mask he used to wear after the odd, great LeBron game," Bayless said. "But the truth is what I loved most about working with Shannon was, and this is no small thing, he dedicated himself to the process of preparing for ‘Undisputed’ just like he dedicated himself to playing pro football."

Bayless spoke in awe of the way Sharpe would always come prepared like he did every day for a show that he called a "beast" that had to be fed 49 weeks per year, five days per week, 2.5 hours per day, with 10 topics per show. 

"Most debates are won the night before by doing your homework, your research, formulating your argument," Bayless said. "Shannon prepared hard, and on-air, Shannon competed even harder. Shannon never took a sick day. Shannon was never, ever late. You say, ‘Oh that's no big deal.’ No, it's a huge deal to me. Being prepared and on time is the mortar of a successful TV show. Shannon always prepared, always on time, day after day after day."

Bayless also praised Sharpe’s ability to sustain energy through each show, recalling times he would be sweating and need to get his makeup fixed from the amount of energy they were pouring into each show, or times when Sharpe would even ask for some more air conditioning during commercial breaks due to the amount of heat he had built up.

"If I can refer to Tim Duncan, Shaq used to call him ‘The Big Fundamental.’ These are the big fundamentals of ‘Undisputed,’ the essence of live TV — preparation, concentration and extreme energy. I have too much energy just because I love it to a fault. But so did Shannon," Bayless said.

"Shannon Sharpe worked hard at Undisputed. I love Shannon Sharpe for how much he gave me. I loved him for what we accomplished. I love him. I love him for making possible a very special time in my career."

As for the future of "Undisputed," Bayless referred back to his and Sharpe’s early days, when he claimed critics would write that the show would not last.

"I got news for you. ‘Undisputed’ is alive and very well, going on seven years as we look forward to our eighth NFL season. Are you ready for some football?

"I'm gonna miss my man Shannon Sharpe, and all he did for me and all he brought to ‘Undisputed.’ But I can't wait for what's next."

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Skip and Shannon: Undisputed