Once in a while, there comes a time when we need to talk about First Take, that ESPN Show people somehow still tune into. To be fair, I find Max Kellerman a fine host since he took over for the departing Skip Bayless, and while I sometimes disagree with his arguments, I at least see the logic behind them. On the other end is Stephen A. Smith, who has a lot of fans, but he’s not doing well with San Francisco 49ers fans. Every week, it has felt like Smith has tried to come up with some reason or half-baked take on why the 49ers are overrated, and every week, he’s proven wrong. It’s not so much what he said, but how he says it. To be fair, he has given them some praise and put them up in his power rankings, but his “Porn Star Jimmy” schick has worn off and gotten very old.
The Arizona Cardinals game was the worst, where Smith referred to Garoppolo as having “pedestrian” numbers. It was like he never watched the game.
Luckily this week, the GOAT Jerry Rice dropped in to talk about his new book, America’s Game. Why Rice didn’t talk about the 49ers much is beyond me, but after his views of the Cleveland Browns and other things, Smith started in with his rhetoric of the 49ers. Rice cut him off with this:
The GOAT speaks.@JerryRice says the 49ers are going to win the Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/9kpixLwn4j
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 4, 2019
I have the entire exchange transcribed below along with the usual disclaimer never to watch First Take except for gold like this:
Smith: And not only that, the more the 49ers win, that’s only gonna help that with you
Rice: I like that—
Smith: BUT THEY’RE NOT!
Rice: Oh, they gonna continue winning.
Smith: Nah, nah, they’ll go to the NFC Championship game.
Rice: Oh no, they gonna win the whole thing. They gonna win the whole thing.
Smith: That’s emotion talking.
Rice: No, I picked them from day one. Jimmy G gonna get them to the promised land.