Skip Bayless Says the Tweet He Got Slammed for Following Damar Hamlin’s Collapse Was ‘Widely Misconstrued’
Fox Sports host Skip Bayless clarified what he called his “widely misconstrued” tweet that set off Twitter Monday night after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field.
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was given CPR on the field after he made a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals during Monday’s game. He was rushed to a local Cincinnati hospital, where he was intubated and listed in critical condition. Before the NFL decided to postpone the game, Bayless cam under fire over a tweet which critics blasted as insensitive.
“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how?” Bayless wrote. “This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”
Bayless was ripped to shreds on Twitter for the tweet and later apologized. Tuesday morning, the Undisputed host clarified what happened and why he tweeted about the game itself. He explained that he previously tweeted prayers for Hamlin and his family for the scary situation, but it was his follow-up tweet that set people off.
“And then came my third tweet, which I believe was widely misconstrued, misinterpreted,” Bayless said. “I don’t follow what’s happening on Twitter, I just tweet, but my boss here at Fox called and said, ‘hey, people are really reacting strongly to your tweet. Maybe you should clarify.’ Which I immediately did.”
Bayless, who hosted Undisputed by himself Tuesday, claimed he tried to put himself in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell‘s shoes to figure out a solution to how the NFL could finish the game at a later time.
“I made a point that this late in the season, with a game of this magnitude, it’s very difficult to postpone it, yet the end of my tweet was, ‘all of which suddenly seems so irrelevant.’ For the first time in the history of the NFL, my point was it was all rendered irrelevant by what was happening on the football field in front of all those football players, Bayless added.”
Bayless adamantly stated that he did not mean any harm and read his apology tweet that followed the tweet that got him in hot water.
“I did pray for Damar and his family soon after it happened and again before I went to sleep last night,” Bayless continued. “I didn’t sleep much, knowing that we did have a show that we might or might not do.”
Watch above via Fox Sports 1.
