‘It’s Special’: Stephen A. Smith Goes On Odd Tangent About Softness of His Hands During First Take Discussion About the Kansas City Chiefs

It took less than 15 minutes on Thursday for Stephen A. Smith to turn a normal sports debate on First Take into a discussion about himself.

The panel — which included Smith, Molly Qerim, Kimberley Martin, and Dan Orlovsky — opened the show talking about Thursday night’s NFL season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. More specifically, they discussed the possibility of star Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce missing the game due to a recent knee injury.

Smith argued that because it’s just one game in a 17-game season, Kelce shouldn’t risk making the injury worse by rushing back.

That’s when Orlovsky simply handed Smith a tissue.

“Let me give you some tissues,” Orlovsky said.

A confused Smith asked him why.

“Because that’s soft,” Orlovsky said. “Don’t be soft.”

In response, Smith turned to his left and asked Qerim to shake his hand.

“See how soft those hands feel?” Smith said to Qerim, prompting laughter from Martin and Orlovsky.

Martin jokingly responded with, “I hate you.”

“So I don’t mind being a little soft sometimes,” Smith continued while a bewildered Qerim questioned the point of him bringing it up. “It’s not about soft. It’s about where you’re soft. My hands … It’s just like … What can I say? It’s special.”

Smith tried to steer the conversation back to the Chiefs, but Qerim was still beside herself.

“I feel violated,” she said. “I feel violated right now!”

Watch above via ESPN.