Shannon Sharpe reveals he would be open to a reunion with ESPN, Stephen A. Smith: 'I would love to go back'

From late 2023 to early 2025, NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe served as a recurring panelist on ESPN’s ‘First Take,’ alongside the ever-polarizing Stephen A. Smith. Sharpe joined the list of strong personalities to be paired up with Smith on ‘First Take‘ over the course of its run, including Skip Bayless and Max Kellerman.

Sharpe and Smith were an extremely entertaining duo, debating about anything from the NFL and the NBA to events happening in America. This partnership worked like a charm for nearly a year, until Sharpe took a leave of absence from the network in April 2025 after being named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit by a sex worker.

He eventually departed from the network and put all of his focus on his podcasts, ‘Club Shay Shay‘ and ‘The Nightcap,’ which he hosts alongside fellow former NFL All-Pro Chad Ochocinco. Sharpe and Stephen A. reunited during this week’s Super Bowl LX festivities on Radio Row, where Sharpe revealed that he would be open to a reunion with Smith and ESPN.

“That’s not my call,” Sharpe said. I would love to go back if they were to call. … I want to tell you, I appreciate the support. When a lot of people ran away, you ran to me. And I appreciate that.”

Since Sharpe’s departure from the show, Super Bowl Champion Ryan Clark, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, and 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton have served as recurring panelists alongside Stephen A. Smith. Shae Cornette recently took over as the host of the show.

Shannon Sharpe spent nearly a year alongside Stephen A. Smith on ‘First Take’

‘First Take‘ first began in 2007, when it was hosted by ESPN’s Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson. Five years later, however, Skip Bayless was given an elevated role on the show. This led to Stephen A. Smith‘s arrival in 2012, setting up many clashes between the pair.

Bayless left ESPN in 2016 to create ‘Undisputed‘ on FS1, a ‘First Take‘ clone that Bayless had full control of. The show was hosted alongside Sharpe, who remained on ‘Undisputed‘ until making the jump to ‘First Take‘ in 2023 following personal issues between himself and Bayless.

The final edition of ‘Undisputed‘ aired in late 2024. It was replaced by ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd‘ and ‘First Things First‘ with Nick Wright, Kevin Wildes, and Chris Broussard.

There is certainly a path for Shannon Sharpe to return to ‘First Take‘ eventually, as his sexual assault lawsuit was resolved out of court. Sharpe and Smith remain friends and would most definitely work together again if the possibility were there.