Getty Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden
The aftermath of Stephen A. Smith’s brutal blunder on live television while talking about the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs is being felt across the sports world. Players, coaches, fans, and even teams are going out of their way to troll the ESPN analyst for his comments, and we can now add a new name to the list.
Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
As Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group revealed, Gruden threw some shade at Smith when talking about the team’s upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Jon Gruden channeling his inner-Stephen A. Smith when talking Bengals: ‘We’ve got to get ready for Dan Ross and Booby Clark. We’ve got to watch out for Isaac Curtis down the middle. We’ve got to get Tim Brown and all of our receivers ready to play.'” McDonald tweeted.
For those who missed the moment, Gruden’s reference of former players goes off Smith’s brutal pregame evaluation of the Chargers vs. Chiefs matchup on Thursday night. It featured an in-depth breakdown of players who weren’t playing in the game. Including a mention of the play of Chargers tight end Hunter Henry, who’s missed the entire season with an ACL injury.
Stephen A. Smith’s Confusing Comments
Aside from mentioning Henry, Smith began the segment on ESPN’s show First Take by referencing Spencer Ware, who Max Kellerman quickly pointed out was not playing. That was innocent enough but following that, the analyst proceeded to reference the road team as the “San Diego Chargers” and mention linebacker Derrick Johnson.
“I’m also looking at the San Diego Chargers on offense and I’m thinking about Hunter Henry and the way that he’s played this year and as effective as he’s been. He’s going up against Derrick Johnson and I’ve got to keep my eyes on that.” Smith states.
Obviously, Gruden is well aware of the fact that Johnson is no longer on the Chiefs, considering he was a member of the Raiders for a few weeks earlier this season. After the comments had wrapped up, the internet trolling began, as the Chargers Twitter account even got in on the action.
Stephen A. Smith’s Response to Segment
Not surprisingly, Smith decided to make an attempt at defending himself on social media following the incident. Unfortunately, his response to the entire thing may have just wound up making it worse.
Obviously, the only part of it that he mentions is the comment on the Chargers tight end, and even that turned into a disaster. Smith states he was actually thinking of Virgil Green, although those comments don’t make much sense either. Prior to Thursday’s game, Green hadn’t seen a single target in the three previous games.
Even including the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs in which Green caught two passes for nine yards, it only brings his season total up to 17 grabs for 198 yards and one touchdown.
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