Skip Bayless has been a consistent fixture in the world of sports media for almost 50 years, but really made a name for himself during the ‘debate show’ era. The issue with latter part of media career is the structure and essence of why he's doing it. Most topics don’t have clear pros and cons. Many of them logically would have both hosts or an entire panel believing roughly the same concept. However, that doesn’t move the ratings needle.
For debate shows to be successful, there needs to be opposing viewpoints. It’s the Jerry Springer effect. It’s not entertaining if people aren’t loud and confrontational over who is right or wrong. But what happens when the topic is mostly one sided and has someone dramatically arguing the other side?
Bayless, for most of the last decade, found himself on the unpopular side of more topics than not. The greatest example of this wasn’t even on a show. He was the first and maybe only national media person to publicly criticize the NFL ending an important game because Damar Hamlin almost died.
It is an admitted stretch to assume that a person in Bayless’ position is playing a fictional character on TV. That notion, however, starts to seem believable when we consider some of what Bayless has said recently. His constant attack of LeBron James for years has always been strange. The strict enthusiasm for the Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma Sooners introduces a fan bias he seems to be perfectly content with.
Even recently, post-Micah Parsons trade, he has leaned hard into comments like “Parsons is fools gold”. Bayless might be the only person in the sports world that thinks trading Parsons was a net positive for Dallas. If those examples weren’t enough, Bayless decided to completely step in it, regarding Shedeur Sanders. His tweet on the night of September 8th is not only ridiculous, but also the kind of hot take that could potentially be a credibility killer.
If Shedeur had started yesterday for the Browns, they would've beaten the Bengals.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 8, 2025
Bayless felt compelled to post reveals a few things. First and foremost, there is no way he genuinely makes that statement if he actually watched the game. Further advancing a relative conspiracy theory that most debate show hosts or panelists do not watch all the games they are asked to comment on. If the previous statement is not true, then there is a much more concerning dynamic at play.
The facts of the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns game on Sunday were Joe Flacco played about as well as could be expected given the game plan. Very few big air yard passes. Managing what the defense gave him. The running game was not dominant but provided needed production. Rookies Dylan Sampson, Harold Fannin Jr and Carson Schwesinger had very good days. The defense was less than good in the first half and dominant in the second half where they held Cincinnati to 7 yards of total offense for the entire second half. Which included a run of plays where Joe Burrow was sacked or hit three out of four plays in a row.
The reason the Browns did not win comes down to two factors that Sanders at his absolute best could not have changed if he wanted to. A rookie kicker who missed an extra point and a very makable field goal, paired with two inexcusable wide receiver drops that popped up not down, resulting in interceptions.
The tone and delivery of this 13-word tweet would suggest that Sanders is so naturally awesome, that he would have positively affected things Tom Brady in his prime could not have affected. It reveals an almost fanlike delusion that should not be present in a sports media personality as experienced as Bayless. If Sanders played on Sunday, the Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman drops that resulted in interceptions would’ve still happened. If Shedeur was under center, he’s still putting those passes down and away where only the receiver can catch it.
In both cases, it was highly unlikely the receiver would’ve popped the ball up for a gift interception. If those passes are thrown higher or closer, they’re picked off without a deflected drop or otherwise incomplete. Most blame the loss on the kicker, which Shedeur would have zero impact on. It’s a rookie kicker who pushed an extra point and then made the wrong adjustment on a potentially game winning field goal.
Bayless’ take that suggests the Browns would have won that game if Shedeur had started is not only a bad take, but also devoid of any substantive football analysis. It reads like a fan who is box score watching. Low passing yards, two interceptions and a loss by one point. Resulting in the idea that QB play is what lost the game when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Raising the decade old question, is Bayless simply playing a fictional character on TV (or the internet as it were)? It’s not a crazy notion when you consider why debate shows are popular and the sheer volume of sports topics Bayless has been on the wrong side of.
The inherent problem with many of Bayless’ takes is that they are easy to see right through. For some reason, he seems to be compelled to be a Deion Sanders defender above and beyond any sort of need to be one. Maybe it’s a Dallas connection or something completely unrelated. Bayless rants like he’s a Coach Prime attack dog. Make no mistakes about it, Bayless isn’t stupid. He’s pushing an agenda that he knows has an audience. Shedeur Sanders has a built in fanbase, many of whom have been with him long before his college football days.
Like Bayless, many of them want to see Shedeur start as soon as possible and any rationale to the contrary is riddled in hate, an unfair agenda, or the Browns being categorically dumb. It’s either a fan biased perspective or retribution for a draft slide many believe to be non-football related.
Like many of those fans, Bayless seems geared up to claim conspiracy theories and soap opera narratives to rationalize their chosen conclusion. Shedeur should be starting and since he is not, that must mean he is being mishandled. In most cases, as some grand conspiracy theory against Shedeur or the Sanders family.
The truth that no one on the Sanders fan side, Bayless included, wants to accept is that the Browns are handling the Shedeur Sanders situation almost as ideally as possible. Shedeur can spin it, there’s no doubt about that. But the NFL has spit out guys who can throw with the best of them, if they are not proficient in the other areas of being a successful NFL QB.
Throwing the ball was always going to be the easy part for Shedeur. This is the portion of his career where he is being asked to learn things he never had to deal with prior. It’s not a negative. It’s not an indictment on Shedeur’s future in the NFL. It’s just something he has to work on before they are willing to put him out there. Which is the correct approach to take. There is no prize for starting first.
Cleveland has invented ways to kill QBs. The first time they have a young QB with the upside to be more than his draft position and people like Bayless are fighting the idea of not rushing him and potentially delaying his maturation. What fans and Bayless want is what ended Tim Couch’s career. It likely has ruined Dorian Thompson-Robinson. With many of the 40+ Browns QBs since 1999 being similar stories. Most of the best QBs of the last quarter century didn’t start week 1 their rookie year. The numbers are even less supportive if we look back to pre-2000.
Sanders starting early won’t undo the historic draft slide. Forcing him out there when the bulk of the operational aspects are less than second nature is not a recipe for success. Fans and analysts need to stop looking at the Shedeur situation like 32 teams were stupid or pushing a hate filled agenda.
When Shedeur is comfortable in the offense and the operational aspects are second nature, Sanders will start and play how all his supporters expect him to. The truly sad part of all this is that when Shedeur gets his opportunity to start several games, people like Bayless will swear Shedeur was always this. When the football knowledge that Bayless should have at this point, would confirm that is not remotely accurate.
Sanders does not need Bayless heckling from the cheap seats. He needs outside viewers, Skip included, to just let him work. There is nothing about Shedeur’s background or football history to this point that suggests not starting is somehow crippling his long-term career. Many Shedeur supporters desperately want him to experience a Disney sports movie like redemption story. There’s nothing that says that story must begin in week one or anywhere in the next 5 games of the current Browns schedule.
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