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Stephen A. Smith is currently the biggest star that ESPN has to offer. He makes a reported $18 million a year and that number looks set to rise when his current contract expires in 2025.
But Stephen A. wants more. Not necessarily more money, though that is certainly a big part of it, but a bigger role than even the one he has now.
According to Smith, he wants to be at the center of ESPN’s coverage. And it all has to do with his childhood idol, Howard Cosell.
“I don’t want to insult the legacy of the great Howard Cosell, who’s somebody that I idolized. But that’s what I want to do,” Smith told Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. “When I think about the NFL, I’m not talking about being in the booth with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck. You don’t mess with that chemistry; you leave that alone. But I’m unapologetic about what I want. I would love to be a part of Monday Night Football. I would love to work with [Monday Night Countdown’s new cast including] Jason Kelce and Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark and my man Marcus Spears. I mean, two of those guys are on First Take every week.”
But Smith has little background with the NFL at ESPN. Sure, he covers it on First Take and discusses it on his unaffiliated podcast. But the majority of his coverage at ESPN is NBA-focused.
He tells McCarthy that this won’t be an issue.
“Of course, I believe that I can do it,” Smith said “When you think about Howard Cosell and what he meant to the business, do I believe I have the potential to mean nearly as much? Yes, I do. So that’s my opinion. It doesn’t mean that opinion is shared by others. We’ll find out…”
Stephen A. Smith is currently nearly everywhere on ESPN program. The one place he isn’t is on the networks regular NFL programming. But it sounds like that could change in the near future.