NEW YORK – It feels a bit like the first day of school at ESPN’s new South Street Seaport studios on Labor Day – the first time that First Take is filming in its new New York studio, a gorgeous floor overlooking the East River.
If, that is, any other first day of school happened to be filled with vaguely famous people, television personalities and former athletes. Victor Cruz, who just started his new gig with the network, sits in the green room chatting with Fat Joe, who is there to do a live performance to kick off First Take‘s New York experience in the muggy heat outside.
Amid all the buzz and bustle, the show’s star, Stephen A. Smith, calls into the production meeting from a car bringing him to the studio. When he arrives in the room, mid-meeting, still on his phone, wearing a purple tie and matching handkerchief, he carefully removes his Apple earbuds, putting them in their case and then in their bag.
Mike Greenberg, whose show Get Up films before First Take stops in the conference room as he’s preparing for his own show and waits for his presence to be noted. “Just wanted to say good luck,” he says, shaking Smith’s hand. “Everyone’s counting on you.”
It’s meant as a joke, but to Smith it’s not. The new studio in New York, to him, represents the company’s investment in First Take. Which means an investment in him. And he feels more pressure than ever to carry it.
“The more shine you get, the more pressure mounts on you to produce and answer the call. And that’s my mentality, that’s the mentality I go to work with every single day,” he says.
Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images
Smith – who makes between $3 and $3.5 million per year according to reports, and also switched agents in 2016 in a move widely speculated to be driven by his desire for a more lucrative deal after Skip Bayless left for a big-money contract at Fox Sports – has long prided himself on his work ethic: He has two phone numbers, one of which is reserved specifically for sources he’ll talk to whenever, wherever, no matter what he’s doing. He sends emails about show ideas and topics late at night, before waking up to be in the First Take meeting before 8. He’ll appear on SportsCenter to talk NBA after a night game and show no signs the next day.
“You know what’s great about working with Stephen A.? When the red light goes on, he performs, every time,” Kellerman says. “Sick, going through a family tragedy, I know he didn’t sleep, I know he was on SportsCenter late last night, I never have to worry about that little red light going on.”
Earlier this year, that full-court press attitude started to crack. Smith says he has a longtime practice of budgeting his time to fit family time in around his work schedule. Yet these past 15 months – as ESPN made those bets on him – have been some of his most difficult and he’s had to spend more time off camera than he ever has. First, his mother, with whom he was very close, passed away. One of his four older sisters has been ill, he said. His father died last month.
“I’ve been dealing with a lot,” he says. “I can’t express my gratitude enough to my boss, Dave Roberts and Norby Williamson who are incredibly supportive of me and all of my loved ones and the folks in my inner circle who have been incredibly supportive of me – I’m not the type of person that I get too emotional, I just put my head down and I get on my grind. But it’s been hard. It’s been hard because I’m the patriarch of my family.” (His older brother died in a car accident in 1992.) “And to have my four older sisters, to have 13 nieces and nephews and to have people who are so close to my family lose loved ones, everybody’s leaning on me and all of that stuff. And you welcome it because you understand that role you have to play, but it doesn’t make it any less difficult.”
Exhausted this summer from the NBA postseason and the draft and his personal life, he finally was convinced to take some time off to spend with his family. “My attitude is this is the time I gotta do what I gotta do,” he said. “(My manager) was telling me that. Family first. Take care of what you need to take care. The show’s going to be here when you come back. Not to mention the fact that I have a reputation. And one reputation that I’m incredibly proud of. You have never heard anyone say that they have found anyone that outworks me.”
That work involves watching and reading about sports, and talking to sources, of course. But if there’s something that sets Smith apart, it is his ability to identify the element of any story that will ignite the most interesting debate. On this and every other day, Smith and Kellerman spend the pre-show minutes working to find different sides of any argument so they can both have a take they believe in. They carefully plot out angles to figure out where they disagree. On that Monday, one subject they choose is the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles.
While both thought it wasn’t a problem that Carson Wentz wasn’t starting (he hadn’t been medically cleared yet), they had different thoughts on whether or not fans should worry about the upcoming season. Kellerman said they should – after all, what team other than the Patriots hasn’t taken a step back after winning the Super Bowl? Smith, on the other hand, thought it was all fine. The subject of who should join LeBron James at the Lakers was more easily split: Kellerman thought Kawhi Leonard, while Smith would later go into one of his signature rants in favor of Klay Thompson.
“I want to state this for the record. ESPN and every employee at this company should be ashamed of ourselves.”
Host Molly Qerim asked: “Why?”
“Because Mychal Thompson works for ESPN,” Smith said, his voice rising one level. “He happens to be the daddy of Klay Thompson.”
His voice reached a third pitch.
“He is our colleague!” he said, fully ranting. “And the lack of respect shown to him and his son is hard to take.”
Kellerman says he never doubts Smith is saying exactly what he actually feels. The voice that brings that argument, he says, is the only part of him “putting on a show.”
“He feels that way but he’s not going to call you up and yell at you that way. I talk to him on the phone or texting and it’s not like caps lock exclamation point the whole time,” he said. “But he does recognize this is … the camera’s on you.”
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