Stephen A. Smith has been a very popular voice in the sports industry, and he is not new to controversy for his unfiltered takes. His commentary on Lane Johnson’s retirement, though, understandably struck more than a few nerves, given that the discussion of mental health was involved.
Smith has faced heavy backlash from many in the NFL community for mocking Johnson’s retirement, with NFL legend Terrell Owens joining that chorus and calling out the ESPN personality for his continued controversial takes.
Terrell Owens Blasts Stephen A. Smith
When Johnson announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles, he explained that prioritizing his mental health had become essential. He had previously opened up during training camp about contemplating retirement and dealing with his parents’ declining health.
However, in an episode of “First Take,” Smith questioned Johnson’s decision to step away four games into Philadelphia’s season instead of announcing his retirement in the offseason.
Smith connected the timing to the Eagles’ struggles early in the campaign and even mocked Johnson while imitating his explanation, saying, “My mental health. My mental. Lord!”
Owens believes Smith’s latest controversy is hardly surprising, suggesting that ESPN was using the outspoken commentator as a “puppet.”
Owens strongly criticized Smith for making insensitive remarks about Johnson’s mental health, especially given that the ESPN personality had never played professional football.
“That’s a very sensitive topic, but to feel like you have a microphone and a platform and be reckless with your words, he’s never played football,” Owens said in the “Get TO the Point” podcast on Tuesday.
“Maybe his mental is not. I ain’t gonna say probably; it’s not the same as a football person’s mental.
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“His stresses, or whatever he’s going through, up to leading to where he is in his mind, getting paid by ESPN. That mental doesn’t even compare to a football player’s mental and what we have to go through. And to denounce or just really talk down on a guy that has made an executive decision for his personal health, his family, to say that, bro, it’s despicable. It’s not just ridiculous; it’s despicable.”
Smith initially argued his target was the Eagles’ situation rather than mental health itself. However, he offered an apology the next day on air, admitting he messed up because he “made light of the issue of mental health.”
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Owens, though, was not convinced.
“I didn’t see the apology,” Owens added. “I don’t even accept his apology. If I’m Lane Johnson, I wouldn’t even accept this apology. If I’m Lane Johnson, I gotta pop him in his mouth, and that’s what it’s probably gonna take for him to maybe put a muzzle on his mouth.
“But he’s getting reckless on an everyday basis… I don’t understand how there’s not any consequences for Stephen A.’s actions, especially with ESPN and Disney being the corporation, the business entity that they are, to speak so insensitive on a topic like mental health the way he did. Why isn’t he suspended? Why?”
In the aftermath of the Johnson controversy, Smith also maintained that ESPN had not forced him to apologize. Instead, he credited Jay Glazer, Charlamagne Tha God, Michael Wilbon, and Kimberley A. Martin with helping him recognize the issue with his comments.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.