‘What’s Brave About Not Being Brave?’ Buck Sexton and Clay Travis Go After Simone Biles for Withdrawing from Olympics

Simone Biles withdrew from the Team Gymnastics event at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, citing a need to focus on her mental health and wellbeing. Her decision drew plenty of support on Twitter, but Clay Travis and Buck Sexton were less sympathetic on their Tuesday radio show.

“We all have emotional and psychological struggles,” Sexton said. “That’s just a constant of being a human being. But what about your teammates?”

Having to continue the event without Biles, Team USA ended up earning a silver medal. Travis asked what the reaction would be if Tom Brady or LeBron James did the same thing, pulling themselves out of a Super Bowl or NBA Finals game because the stress level was too high.

“I feel like LeBron actually, he might do that,” Sexton joked about the NBA superstar who has become a punching bag for conservative pundits.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Biles suggested her decision was a sign of strength. “I say put mental health first because if you don’t then you’re not going to enjoy your sport and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to,” Biles said. “So it’s OK sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you really are.”

“The blue checks have already rallied to Simone Biles’s defense and said ‘oh it’s so brave,’” Travis blasted.

“Why is this brave?” Sexton asked. “What’s brave about not being brave? Cause that’s what we’re talking about here. This is ‘oh you didn’t stand up to the bully?’ So to speak…No I think that’s the not brave move.”

“I think that we have created a generation of athletes that…get influenced by the pressure and the constant drumbeat of interactions on social media, Instagram, Twitter, whatever it might be,” Travis said. “And those apps, I believe, are profoundly unhealthy for most teenagers. A lot of times, you’re listening to people who don’t understand you very well and you allow their perspective on you to overwhelm you psychologically.”

While social media criticism can have a profound impact on a person’s mental health, Biles has been open about other demons she’s fighting. In the recently released Facebook Watch docuseries Simone vs Herself, Biles discusses her dealings with sexual abuse from former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar. In 2018, Nassar received a 40 to 175 year prison sentence for sexually assaulting hundreds of young women and girls. Biles previously stated she takes anxiety medicine and goes to therapy regularly after being abused by Nassar.

“This is without precedent,” Travis continued of Biles’ withdrawal. “I can’t ever remember an elite athlete, calling out of a game and saying the stress and the pressure of the game got to be too much, I couldn’t perform.”

“This feels like the antithesis of what the elite athlete credo —,” Sexton said, before Travis jumped in to finish his thought.

“Would be,” Travis said.

Listen above via, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show