Stephen A Smith Likens Tebow Hiring to a “Proverbial Knee” on the Neck of Black People

ESPN "First Take" host Stephen A. Smith took aim at former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow on Thursday, arguing that "white privilege" was a factor in his NFL comeback at age 33 after years out of the league.

Tebow signed a one-year contract this week with the Jacksonville Jaguars after spending the last several years pursuing a professional baseball career in the New York Mets’ minor league system. During Thursday’s episode of "First Take," Smith said he "had a problem" with the team’s decision to sign Tebow as a tight end – a position he has never played – while other athletes were left seeking their next opportunity.

"I’m happy for him, meaning Tim Tebow specifically, but when you look at the totality of the situation, If I'm gonna bring up white privilege when I brought up Steve Nash getting the job in Brooklyn, is this not an example of white privilege?" Smith said. "What brother you know is getting this opportunity?"

"That makes people uncomfortable because we’re talking about race when I say something like that," he added. "Let me be the first to say – I don’t give a damn how you feel. I mean what I say. It is white privilege because that’s not something that’s happening for any brothers out there."

Last year, Smith called out the Brooklyn Nets for hiring Nash, a Hall of Fame point guard with no coaching experience, as their head coach. The ESPN host argued the hire was an example of "white privilege" and that the Nets had passed over more qualified Black candidates.

Smith prefaced his remarks by praising Tebow, noting that he considered the former college football star a "really good dude" whose "heart’s in the right place."

Smith, who did compliment Tebow at times during the segment Thursday, made it clear he was not convinced race wasn’t a factor in the signing.

“Now that makes people uncomfortable because we’re talking about race,” Smith added. “Let me be the first to say, I don’t give a damn how you feel. I mean what I say. It is white privilege.”

“There’s no way to eradicate white privilege without white individuals giving up some of their privilege,” Smith continued.

Smith went on to link his position to the death of George Floyd last year and suggested that black people are frustrated seeing Tebow receive an opportunity they believe they are unable to attain.

“Because black people have repeatedly felt like we have the proverbial knee on our neck,” Smith said, referencing Floyd’s death at the hands of now-convicted murderer Derek Chauvin. “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.”

This man is sick for equating Tim Tebow's signing to black people having the proverbial knee on their neck.

Most peope see this for what it is, which is race baiting.

Smith's assessment that black people don't get second chances in sports is an absolute lie.