Fox Sports could hire former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman for its flagship TV talk show Undisputed as the network eyes a suitable co-star next to Skip Bayless. The role opened after Shannon Sharpe departed amid a rumoured rift with Bayless.
Sherman once tore into Bayless on-air when the veteran host worked at ESPN — but that tension makes him an attractive candidate, according to the New York Post. The sports debate show requires lively, sometimes ridiculous arguments.
Bayless' track record of butting heads with prior co-hosts, including Sharpe, reportedly makes Fox Sports' search more challenging. Some candidates don't want to work with him.
Given Sherman's desire to elevate his stature in sport media, though, the five-time Pro Bowl nominee could brush aside any of those concerns to advance his own career. Sherman has already been a part of several media projects, including Amazon's Thursday Night Football pre and post-game shows and the Stars on Mars reality series.
It's added that Sherman held an in-person meeting with Bayless at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, earlier this week. An observer called the get-together polite.
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In 2013, Sherman appeared on Bayless' old show, First Take, and repeatedly insulted the host. The defensive back echoed many athletes in calling out Bayless for relentless negativity and uninformed arguments.
"Whenever you speak to me or whenever you address me, address me as All-Pro Stanford graduate," Sherman said in the segment. "Because those are some accomplishments you will never accomplish. You have never accomplished anything.
Richard Sherman appeared on Thursday Night Football last season as he ramped up his media ambitions following his NFL career. (Getty Images)"I am intelligent enough and capable enough to understand that you are ignorant, pompous, egotistical . . . and that's really what it comes down to. And I'm going to crush you on here in front of everybody because I'm tired of hearing about it."
Bayless has since criticised Sherman's approach, saying on his podcast, "He personally attacked me. Unrelentingly attacked me. So much for 'please no controversy today.' I immediately felt ambushed, bushwhacked, set up, blindsided. I was suddenly…forced to fight without fighting. I had to defend myself with both hands tied behind my back."
Sherman often engaged in heated trash talk with opponents as an NFL player. After making a game-winning pass deflection in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, Sherman ripped San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree live on air.
"I'm the best corner in the game," Sherman shouted. "When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you gonna get! Don't you ever talk about me!"
Later in the interview, he added, "Crabtree. Don't you open your mouth about the best, or y'know I'm gonna shut it for you real quick!"
Sherman later apologised for the outburst, but the moment came to define his fiery approach to the NFL. One would assume he'd bring a similar level of competitiveness to debating sport topics on Undisputed, but he and Bayless must determine whether they can handle each other.
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