It’s very easy to ignore Stephen A. Smith, but that wasn’t the case for New England Patriots fans Wednesday.In the middle of his beef with LeBron James, Smith broke down the Patriots’ Stefon Diggs signing. The “First Take” host admitted he still had respect for the All-Pro wide receiver but had one question for the 31-year-old.
“I’m just wondering about Stefon Diggs. You go from Josh Allen to C.J. Stroud to Drake Maye, you sure about that?” Smith said on “First Take,” per ESPN. “Are you sure? I think that is a legitimate question to ask because no matter what you are as a receiver, it don’t mean a damn thing if the quarterback can’t get you the football. And I understand. I’m not throwing that kind of shade on Drake Maye like the brother can’t play. That’s not what I’m implying here. I’m just saying, there’s a difference between him and C.J. Stroud and Josh Allen. And for Stefon Diggs to go from those situations to this, I’m really, really wondering about that.”
It sure sounded like Smith was throwing shade at Maye there. Outsiders could be forgiven for not watching a lot of the Patriots last season. They were a dumpster fire and largely uncompetitive in most of their games. However, Maye was the outlier and the glimmer of hope for the franchise. Even the novice NFL fan could see the star potential of the 2024 first-round pick. Smith apparently could not.
Patriots fans were, safe to say, irate over Smith’s comments. Even The Ringer founder Bill Simmons admitted his former ESPN colleague went “too far.” Diggs himself wouldn’t agree with those sentiments, as the star wideout expressed how excited he was to work with Maye, noting the similarities between him and Allen.
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It’s very easy to criticize Smith, who probably doesn’t watch as much of the sports he commentates on as he should. But he likely doesn’t care and will unsurprisingly change his tune about Maye once football season returns. That flip-flopping should be perfect for his eventual political career.
