Terrell Owens and Stephen A. Smith have been feuding since 2019. A lot has been exchanged between the two since then. Years later, sitting down with Max Kellerman, who also happens to be a subject of the fight, Owens explained where he was coming from.
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“I think we were talking about the Colin Kaepernick situation, and there were some other topics that African-American and the black community, topics that we were discussing and you were giving your takes and point of views about, and so was he,” Smith said on the Game Over podcast. “… But what I gathered based on the information that Stephen A., his points he were making and you were making, and I told him when I said it and he got upset about it. I said it tongue-in-cheek because I was actually kind of laughing about it, but he took offense to it.
“Based on the information that you were giving and things that we were discussing, it almost seemed that you were more educated and knowledgeable about the topic as if you were in the community, as if you were a black person.”
Both Terrell Owens and Stephen A. Smith have fired multiple shots at each other since that 2019 incident. For the uninitiated, Owens was a guest on First Take during the time when Colin Kaepernick was reportedly trying to return to the NFL. During the discussion, Owens told Smith, “Max almost seems blacker than you, Stephen A.”
The veteran broadcaster didn’t hold back.
“Timeout. With all due respect, my brother, I’m a check you right now. You done crossed a line,” he said. “First of all, like I said, you, Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, any of y’all that want to debate me in front of black people and talk about what’s best for black people, name the time and place. I’ll show up.”
Smith further challenged Owens by bringing up the fact that he came from the neighbourhood of Hollis in Queens, New York City. He just wasn’t a supporter of Kaepernick’s stance.
Since then, both parties have fired shots at each other on social media, for the world to see. Smith threatened to expose what Owens allegedly did to the Black community “behind the scenes.” The former wide receiver has always challenged Smith to present evidence and has always been up for the challenge. The feud got so big that Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving stepped in and urged the two to take their fight off the internet.
What complicated matters was that Max Kellerman was taken off the show in 2021 and was let go by ESPN in 2023. Kellerman revisited that departure on Bill Simmons’ podcast and alleged that Smith was afraid of debating him on the show.
Owens, resharing that clip on X, wrote, “He knows he can’t hold a candle to Max.”
Smith retaliated to the claims raised by Kellerman.
“Debating is about point-counterpoint, and the audience is watching,” he said. “Do I need to bring up the names of the inordinate amount of people that will come on the air and say, ‘Max, what are you saying?’… We’re talking about a debate show.”
It has been years since the feud began, but it looks like it has yet to die down. Will Stephen A. Smith respond? We will have to wait and watch.