Outkick’s Clay Travis Slams Stephen A. Smith For Calling Tim Tebow’s NFL Return ‘White Privilege’: He Wins the ‘Dumbest Take Award’
Stephen A. Smith was not the first person to claim Tim Tebow’s opportunity with the Jacksonville Jaguars is an example of white privilege, but his take caught the ire of Fox Sports host and Outkick founder Clay Travis.
“The dumbest take award goes to Stephen A. Smith,” Travis said before reading the ESPN host’s quote from First Take regarding white privilege.
“When George Floyd ultimately was murdered by Derek Chauvin the cop, and you saw people rioting and protesting in the streets, it wasn’t just about him. It was about the symbolism of what transpired,” Smith said Thursday morning.
“Because Black people have repeatedly felt like we have the proverbial knee on our neck. We constantly have to scratch and claw our way. When we see someone of a different ilk, of a different ethnicity, getting opportunities we know we would never get, that’s where the words ‘white privilege’ comes from,” the First Take host explained.
“Does anyone out there think Black people don’t get an opportunity to succeed in the NFL?” Travis asked. “Because that’s what Stephen A. Smith is trying to argue in an incredibly strained, illogical, nonsensical manor in an attempt to analogize Tim Tebow to George Floyd.”
No one is making the argument that Black people don’t receive opportunities to succeed in the NFL. But would a 33-year-old Black athlete with minimal football talent receive an opportunity to succeed in the NFL? Because that’s the fairer comparison to Tebow getting a one-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Tim Tebow isn’t getting some massive privilege,” Travis argues. “He has a good relationship developed over years with the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars who believes, that Tebow could…be a helpful asset to the young Jacksonville Jaguars franchise.”
“The idea that Tim Tebow getting an opportunity to try and prove as a Heisman Trophy winner at the age of 33 in the NFL is not crazy,” Travis added.
No one faults Tebow for taking the opportunity. But as a failed quarterback who refused to try a different position nearly a decade ago, there are better tight end prospects available.
If Tebow decided to give tight end a try in 2013, or 2014, there would be no outrage. If he was trying out for Arena Football, there would be no outrage. It’s been nine years since he last played an NFL game and outside of having gigantic arms and a desire to be hit, Tebow has showed minimal skills that would translate to the tight end position. Yet here he is, getting an NFL contract to give it a whirl.
Watch above, via Outkick.
