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Michael Penix Jr. named his personal favorite quarterbacks of all time. Two years later, the internet still cannot slander it.
On Friday night, B/R Gridiron resurfaced a 2024 clip of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. listing his top five favorite QBs. Detroit account Lil Woadie (@iHateYeahTeriq) quote-tweeted it with a four-word concession that immediately took off: “LMFAO my bad bro you slander proof.”
Michael Penix Jr. Names His Top Quarterbacks
The question in the original video was specific: personal favorite five quarterbacks of all time. Penix did not hesitate.
His list: Michael Vick, Teddy Bridgewater, Patrick Mahomes, Warren Moon, and Lamar Jackson.
That is not a Mount Rushmore of the position. It is something more interesting.
Why the list hits different
Penix grew up in Tampa watching Vick rewrite what a quarterback could look like in Atlanta. Vick was the first elite dual-threat star of the modern era, a left-handed cultural icon who made defenders miss in space the way few pocket passers ever have. For a young lefty who later ended up in the same city, the connection is obvious.
Mahomes and Lamar Jackson need little explanation. One is the best player of this generation. The other is the best dual-threat quarterback alive. Both belong on almost any “players I loved watching” list from someone Penix’s age.
Warren Moon is the history pick. Moon was a pioneer — a Black quarterback who dominated in the CFL before proving himself in the NFL, Hall of Famer, cannon arm, and one of the players who expanded what was possible at the position.
Then there is Teddy Bridgewater.
That is the name that makes people pause, laugh, and then decide they cannot actually roast it.
Bridgewater was a first-round pick out of Louisville, a high-school legend in Florida (Penix’s home state), and a player whose career was defined as much by resilience as production. He survived a gruesome 2016 knee injury, bounced around as a high-floor starter and backup, and became known as “Teddy Two Gloves.” He was never a superstar. He was a guy a lot of people rooted for. Putting him next to Vick, Mahomes, Moon, and Lamar is the kind of personal, regional, slightly unhinged choice that feels more honest than another recycled Brady-Montana-Manning ranking.
Replies to the viral post immediately zeroed in on it. “Teddy Two Gloves mentioned.” “You ight Penix.” The joke writes itself, and then it stops being a joke.
“Slander proof” is the point
Sports Twitter loves roasting bad lists. This one is hard to roast because Penix never claimed these were the five greatest quarterbacks who ever lived. He said they were his favorites. That distinction matters.
A greatest-of-all-time list invites arguments about rings, passer rating, era adjustments, and whether you value peak or longevity. A personal list invites questions about who you actually watched, who you wanted to play like, and who felt like they belonged to you. Penix’s answers track with a left-handed kid from Florida who grew up on Vick, admired another Florida product in Bridgewater, and then watched Mahomes and Lamar take over the league.
The 2024 comments section already had the usual complaints: no Brady, too many Black quarterbacks, Teddy does not belong. The 2026 reaction is different. People saw the same clip and mostly shrugged, then laughed, then admitted the list has a kind of integrity. You can disagree with it. You cannot really dunk on it without looking like you missed the assignment.
That is what “slander proof” means here. The take is so specific to the person that attacking it just reveals you wanted a different conversation.
The timing is not accidental
The clip first dropped in May 2024, right after the Falcons drafted Penix eighth overall. B/R Gridiron recirculated it in late September 2026, during a season in which Penix is still fighting for the job in Atlanta after injuries and a competition with Tua Tagovailoa. He had just played in a win over Green Bay. The old interview suddenly felt like a reminder of who he is when he is not being evaluated snap-to-snap.17
Penix has never been a conventional prospect. Left-handed. Injury history. Drafted over the objections of people who wanted the team to stay with Kirk Cousins. His favorite-QB list fits the same pattern: not optimized for approval, just his.
Most quarterbacks give safe answers in these interviews. Penix gave Vick, Teddy Two Gloves, Mahomes, Moon, and Lamar, in that order, with no hedging. Two years later the internet is still watching the clip and deciding it cannot be slandered.
Sometimes the most interesting list is the one that was never trying to win the argument.
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Michael Penix Jr. waited nearly 10 months to get back on an NFL field. On Thursday night in Green Bay, the wait ended with a statement.
Making his first start since tearing his left ACL in Week 11 last season, Penix completed 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards, one touchdown and one interception as the Atlanta Falcons rolled to a 35-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The win was Atlanta’s first of the season and a sharp contrast to the offense’s struggles in the first two weeks.
Penix Returns From ACL Rehab, Beats Packers
Penix was not ready for the preseason finale in August. Teammates recalled him becoming emotional in the locker room because he knew his body still needed more time. On Thursday, that patience paid off. After an interception on the opening series, he settled in quickly. Over the second and third quarters he went 13-of-15 with a touchdown and converted all five third-down attempts. His scoring pass was a 5-yard toss to tight end Austin Hooper just before halftime.
Drake London was the primary beneficiary, catching nine passes for a career-high 194 yards. Bijan Robinson added 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. The combination of Penix’s accuracy, London’s production and Robinson’s workload produced the kind of balanced attack the Falcons lacked while Penix recovered.
Atlanta entered the game 0-2 after scoring just 16 points combined in its first two contests. Tua Tagovailoa was slated to start Week 1 but suffered an oblique injury days before the opener; Cooper Rush then dealt with back spasms. The result was an anemic offense that failed to take a red-zone snap for 27 consecutive series to start the season. That drought ended Thursday.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski praised the work Penix put in behind the scenes—extra weight-room sessions, treatments, and field work with only trainers present. Teammates described him as eager to return and important to the locker room. Penix himself pointed to finding a rhythm after the early interception and said the group still has plenty to clean up on film.
The Falcons remain a work in progress at 1-2, but the quarterback who spent the offseason rehabbing an ACL is now back under center. For one night in Green Bay, that was enough to revive the attack.
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The Atlanta Falcons have named Michael Penix Jr. their starting quarterback for Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, marking his 2026 season debut after a long recovery from a torn ACL.
The announcement came Monday, September 21, after Atlanta dropped to 0-2 with a 34-3 home loss to the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons are the only team in the NFL that has not reached the red zone through two weeks, a symptom of turnovers and inconsistent passing play. And the 2026 schedule is about to get tougher.
Cooper Rush started both games and struggled badly against Carolina (10-of-17 for 86 yards, two interceptions, and a lost fumble) before being replaced by undrafted rookie Jack Strand.
Michael Penix Jr. to Return for Thursday Night Football
Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 draft, last started in Week 11 of 2025 before tearing his left ACL against the same Panthers team. He missed the final seven games after surgery and has been cautious in his return—this is his third major knee injury. He was cleared for 11-on-11 work late in training camp and has been a full participant in recent practices. Last week he said he was “close” and wanted to hit a few remaining technical goals before playing. Head coach Kevin Stefanski and the medical staff have now determined he is ready.
Tua Tagovailoa, signed in the offseason to compete for the job, has been dealing with an oblique injury and has not practiced since before Week 1. He is expected to be available as Penix’s backup. Rush could be inactive.
Penix’s career numbers through 12 starts: 2,757 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions. In 2025 he started nine games (3-6 record) and completed 60.1% of his passes for 1,982 yards, nine TDs, and three INTs before the injury. His low interception rate that year ranked among the league’s best. He will now operate new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ scheme with first-round weapons Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts all healthy for the first time this season.
The game is Thursday, September 24, at 8:15 p.m. ET at Lambeau Field and will air on Amazon Prime Video. Green Bay is a 7-point favorite. For a Falcons offense that has scored just 16 points in two games, Penix’s arm talent and mobility represent the clearest chance to generate explosive plays and finally reach the red zone. Whether the short week and limited live reps after a long layoff allow him to produce immediately remains the central question.
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The Atlanta Braves are NL East champions again. On Sunday, September 20, they closed out a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros at Daikin Park, swept the three-game series, and claimed their seventh division title in nine seasons.
Atlanta Braves Win NL East Title Again
Mike Yastrzemski supplied the blow that decided it. After Ozzie Albies tied the game with an RBI single in a four-run sixth, Yastrzemski turned on a 1-2 fastball from Bryan King and drove it 373 feet to right-center for a three-run homer. Atlanta led 4-1 and never looked back.
Jose Altuve had given Houston a 1-0 lead with a homer in the fourth. Yainer Diaz added a solo shot in the eighth. The Astros left the bases loaded in the first and fifth, and Dylan Dodd struck out the side in the ninth for the save. The celebration followed immediately: hugs on the field, championship hats and T-shirts, and a team photo.
The Braves finished the day at 92-64. Philadelphia sat six games back at 86-70. Atlanta had already locked up a playoff berth on Friday; the clubhouse stayed relatively quiet then because the division title was the prize they wanted.
This one carries extra weight. Last year the Braves finished 76-86 and missed the postseason, snapping a seven-year playoff streak that included six straight NL East titles from 2018 to 2023. First-year manager Walt Weiss took over after Brian Snitker moved into an advisory role. Preseason forecasts were not kind. The roster still had to be patched together through injuries and midseason moves. They responded by taking first place on April 8 and holding it the rest of the way.
“This is what it’s all about,” Yastrzemski said. “It’s so hard to win baseball games in the big leagues because everybody is so good. It’s obviously not the end goal, but these are the times that you need to celebrate because it’s hard to get here.”
Weiss pointed to belief and competitiveness. “Coming off a tough year, I think a lot of it was getting them to believe that they were still really good.”
Starter Martín Pérez, a non-roster invitee who was designated for assignment in April, set the tone by stranding a bases-loaded jam in the first. Depth pieces such as Victor Mederos and Dodd did the rest. Yastrzemski, acquired during the season, homered three times on the Houston trip.
The title is Atlanta’s 24th division championship, tying the Dodgers for the most since divisions began in 1969. The Braves have now won the NL East 19 times in 32 seasons. With six games left, they hold the National League’s third-best record and are positioned as the No. 3 seed. That likely means a Wild Card Series at Truist Park against San Diego, Chicago, or Philadelphia. A first-round bye is still mathematically possible but would require catching Milwaukee or Los Angeles.
Pérez captured the mood afterward: “We’ve been fighting all year to get to this moment with this group of good guys and good coaches. Everything is good. And we’re not done yet.”
The champagne that sat unused after Friday’s clincher finally came out. For a franchise that has made October a habit, the work of getting back there after a lost season is complete. The next chapter starts in six days.
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T.J. Watt jumped a checkdown intended for Bijan Robinson and returned it 35 yards for the decisive score in Pittsburgh’s 20-13 Week 1 win. It could have been much worse for Robinson.
The Atlanta Falcons were down three early in the fourth quarter when Cooper Rush, starting on short notice after Tua Tagovailoa’s back issue, tried to dump the ball to his best player. Watt anticipated it, snatched the pass out of the air just after release, stumbled, popped up, and scored. That sequence was the difference in a game where Robinson produced 173 of Atlanta’s 238 total yards.
This Play Could Have Ended Bijan Robinson’s Season
“Invited on this play” is a useful way to think about it. The design asked Robinson to be the easy outlet. Watt simply declined the invitation and took the ball himself.
The Design That Put Robinson in the Flat
The Falcons used Robinson as a receiver far more than a traditional between-the-tackles back. He finished with eight catches on 10 targets for 90 yards and the team’s only touchdown—a 23-yard swing pass earlier in the game on which he split defenders.
On the pick-six, the concept was similar: a short throw to Robinson in the flat as a safety valve against pressure or a covered downfield progression. Rush had been sacked four times and was never comfortable. A quick flip to the league’s most productive running back from 2025 was the logical, low-risk answer. Robinson’s vision, elusiveness, and ability to turn short throws into chunk gains made him the obvious “invitation” target. The Falcons motioned him and used blockers (including tight end Charlie Woerner) on similar concepts throughout the afternoon.
Watt, playing his tenth season, read the dump-off immediately. He was not fooled by the protection or the initial look. He closed the throwing window, leaped, and took the ball at the Atlanta 35. The return itself was messy—he lost his footing mid-stride—but he recovered before anyone could touch him.35
Why the Invitation Failed
Two things went wrong at once. First, Rush’s throw was late and predictable against a veteran edge who had already been disruptive. Second, the Steelers’ coverage and rush timing left Robinson as the only available option rather than a true designed mismatch. Watt simply occupied the space the checkdown was supposed to occupy.
Robinson still did almost everything else asked of him. He averaged 4.7 yards after contact on 21 carries, forced 12 missed tackles, and moved past Devonta Freeman on the Falcons’ career rushing list. The offense just could not generate enough complementary production or avoid the two interceptions that became Pittsburgh touchdowns.6
Kevin Stefanski’s first game as Falcons coach showed the same pattern many teams have against elite edge rushers: when the quarterback is under duress, the star running back becomes the default outlet. That default is usually a strength. Against Watt on that snap, it became the game’s turning point.
The play was not a mystery. It was a standard hot or checkdown concept that elite defenses exist to punish. Robinson was invited into the play because he is the Falcons’ most reliable playmaker in space. Watt simply RSVP’d first.
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PITTSBURGH — For three quarters Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons looked like a team that had no business hanging around Acrisure Stadium. Their top two quarterbacks were out. They were starting Cooper Rush on short notice. They were sloppy, penalty-prone, and kicking field goals they should have converted from closer range.
They were also within a score of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Then T.J. Watt jumped a swing pass, stumbled, got back up, and ran 35 yards the other way. Pittsburgh won 20-13. Atlanta left with a one-score loss that felt both narrow and inevitable.
A game that never quite got clean
The final margin was seven points. The afternoon was messier than that.
The two sides combined for 16 accepted penalties, three fumbles, and three missed field goals. The Steelers’ offense managed only 264 yards and went 3-for-13 on third down. The Falcons were worse on third down, converting 2 of 12, and generated just 238 yards of total offense. Neither team looked like it had spent August in midseason form.
Pittsburgh still found enough. Aaron Rodgers, opening what he has called his final NFL season, completed 24 of 40 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown to Pat Freiermuth. Chris Boswell added field goals of 43 and 28 yards. The running game never materialized — Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle combined for 61 yards on 18 carries — but the defense did not need it.
Robinson almost carried Atlanta by himself
Bijan Robinson was the Falcons’ entire offense.
He rushed 21 times for 83 yards and caught eight passes for 90 yards and the team’s only touchdown, a 23-yard swing pass in the first quarter in which he split three defenders and finished in the end zone. Those 173 yards from scrimmage accounted for most of Atlanta’s 238. Drake London had two catches for 29 yards. Almost nobody else touched the ball.
The score at that moment was 7-3 Falcons. A Jaylen Warren fumble near Pittsburgh’s 30 had set the drive up. For a stretch, the visitors looked ready to steal a road opener that the injury report said they should have lost by two scores.
They could not stay there.
Nick Folk later made field goals of 51 and 43 yards, cutting the deficit to 13-10 late in the third and 20-13 in the fourth. Two other kicks did not go. The offense never found a second act beyond Robinson. Rush finished 12 of 22 for 143 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Both picks became Pittsburgh touchdowns.
The play that decided it
Early in the fourth quarter, Atlanta still trailed only 13-10. Rush tried a quick throw to Robinson in the flat. Watt, coming off what was widely described as a down year by his standards, stepped in front of it.
He picked the ball at the Falcons’ 35, slipped on the turf, popped up, and scored. The extra point made it 20-10 with 14:05 remaining. Watt also finished with two sacks and three tackles for loss. Cam Heyward batted passes at the line. Jaquan Brisker had the other interception, which led to Freiermuth’s touchdown. Pittsburgh sacked Rush four times.
Folk’s 43-yarder made it a one-score game again. Atlanta never got the ball back with a realistic chance. Rodgers completed three passes on a late drive that burned the final 4:16. Warren’s 9-yard run near the two-minute warning finished it.
New coaches, old problems
The game was a first for both sidelines in different ways. Mike McCarthy’s Steelers debut was a win, if not a statement. Kevin Stefanski’s Falcons debut was a loss that looked a lot like Atlanta’s recent Week 1 history: the franchise has now dropped nine openers in 11 years.
Stefanski’s postgame assessment was blunt. It is hard to win on the road, he said, when a team does the things Atlanta did — penalties, missed kicks, turnovers, a third-string quarterback asked to operate on a short week after Tua Tagovailoa’s back flared and Michael Penix Jr. remained out with a knee injury. Both QBs could be available as soon as Week 2 against Carolina, according to reporting around the team.25
Until then, the tape is simple. Robinson was a one-man show. The defense kept Atlanta close enough that a single mistake would decide it. Watt supplied the mistake and the answer in the same play.
A seven-point loss on the road, against a home favorite, with a backup quarterback, is not a collapse. It is also not a moral victory. The Falcons were close enough to believe. They were not clean enough to finish.
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Cooper Rush will start Week 1 for the Atlanta Falcons after Tua Tagovailoa was ruled out with an oblique injury, while Michael Penix Jr. remains inactive as he works back from last year’s ACL tear.
The Falcons’ quarterback situation turned again Friday at Flowery Branch. Coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed Tagovailoa will miss Sunday’s season opener at Pittsburgh after the former Dolphins starter grabbed his side during a Thursday throwing drill, sat on the grass, and never returned to first-team work.
Tua Out; Cooper Rush To Start for Falcons vs. Pittsburgh
Rush took every first-string snap Thursday and Friday. Undrafted rookie Jack Strand will back him up.
Tagovailoa had been named the Week 1 starter only Monday after a short competition with Penix. The 28-year-old signed a one-year deal in March following his release from Miami. He missed the first week of training camp with a back “flare-up,” then won the job once Penix said he was not yet ready for live snaps. The oblique issue is separate from that earlier back tightness, Stefanski said. Tagovailoa is listed as week-to-week.
Penix, the 2024 first-round pick, tore his left ACL in Week 11 of 2025 against Carolina and started nine games that year (3-6, 1,982 yards, nine TDs, three INTs). He was cleared for 11-on-11 work in late August and has practiced fully this week, but he told coaches he is “not where I want to be” and wants to be 100 percent before playing. He will be inactive Sunday. Stefanski said Penix was never an option even after Tagovailoa went down: “Mike will be ready when Mike’s ready.”
Rush, 32, was signed July 29 on the first day of camp precisely because both Tagovailoa and Penix were limited. The former Cowboys and Ravens backup has started 16 career games (9-7 record) and appeared in 42. Last season in Baltimore he threw for 303 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions in four games. He had taken only one series with Atlanta’s starters during camp before this week. “Every throw you throw to Drake (London), every throw you throw to Kyle (Pitts) matters,” Rush said. “The game prep doesn’t change mentally.”
For Falcons fans, this is a familiar kind of opening-week curveball. A new coaching staff under Stefanski, a veteran stopgap signed after Miami cut Tagovailoa, a young former first-rounder still rehabbing, and now a journeyman who spent seven years behind Dak Prescott taking the first snap of the season on the road against Mike McCarthy’s Steelers. Atlanta opens at 1 p.m. Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
The hope in Flowery Branch is that the offense—Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts—can stay on schedule while the quarterback room sorts itself out.
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ATLANTA — The college football season officially begins in Atlanta Saturday when Auburn and Baylor meet in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The matchup completes a home-and-home series that started last season, when Auburn defeated Baylor 38-24 in Waco. The all-time series is tied 2-2-1, dating to 1954. Auburn won the only previous neutral-site meeting, a 33-13 victory in the 1954 Gator Bowl.
Auburn and Baylor: How To Watch
- Game: Auburn Tigers vs. Baylor Bears
- Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT)
- Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
- Network: ABC
This year’s contest was originally scheduled for Jordan-Hare Stadium but was moved to Atlanta last October. The change created a first-of-its-kind NIL opportunity for Auburn players tied to ticket sales, promotions and surrounding events. Reports indicate the Tigers’ players will share roughly $6 million. Auburn received a 20,645-ticket allotment as the designated home team; Baylor received the standard visiting allotment of 3,000.
The game marks the debut of Auburn head coach Alex Golesh, who arrived from South Florida after Hugh Freeze’s firing. Golesh brought quarterback Byrum Brown with him. Brown passed for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns and rushed for 1,008 yards and 14 scores last season. Auburn also added former Baylor running back Bryson Washington via the transfer portal to complement returning back Jeremiah Cobb.
Baylor, in its seventh season under Dave Aranda, will start Florida transfer DJ Lagway at quarterback. Lagway is a Baylor legacy—his father played running back for the Bears from 1997 to 2001. New defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman is overseeing a rebuilt unit. Both teams finished 5-7 in 2025.
Heisman Trophy winners Cam Newton (Auburn, 2010) and Robert Griffin III (Baylor, 2011) will serve as honorary captains and participate in the coin toss. Auburn is making its fourth appearance in the Kickoff Game (2-1 record). Baylor is appearing for the first time and playing in Atlanta for the first time since 1993.
Auburn enters seeking its 10th consecutive season-opening victory. The Tigers will play a nine-game SEC schedule in 2026, their first under the expanded conference format. Baylor opens its 125th season looking to avenge last year’s loss and start Aranda’s campaign on a strong note.
Gates at Mercedes-Benz Stadium open at 1:30 p.m. ET. The stadium is cashless and enforces a clear-bag policy. Tickets must be accessed via mobile device. The Aflac Kickoff Game, organized by Peach Bowl Inc., remains the nation’s longest-running neutral-site season opener.
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Angel Reese reset the WNBA’s single-season rebounding standard on August 24, 2026, when she hauled in 26 boards in the Atlanta Dream’s 78-71 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. The performance also smashed the single-game record that had stood for 23 years.
Reese finished the night with 11 points, three assists and three steals. She grabbed 18 defensive rebounds and eight offensive rebounds—more than the entire Sparks team collected on the defensive glass in some stretches. The 26-rebound outburst pushed her season total to 458 through 37 games, seven more than A’ja Wilson’s 451 from the 2024 Las Vegas Aces campaign.
Angel Reese rebounding record: What To Know
The previous single-game mark belonged to Hall of Famer Chamique Holdsclaw, who pulled down 24 rebounds for the Washington Mystics on May 23, 2003. Tina Charles had twice reached 23. Reese already owned five 20-rebound games this season and now sits tied for second all-time in such performances.
Dream coach Karl Smesko noted the consistency of her recent surge: “She’s obviously been exceptional as of late. She’s had steady improvement throughout the season. You could see her every month get a little more comfortable, and I think right now she’s really hitting her stride.” Teammate Allisha Gray, who scored 20 points, added simply, “That’s a talent. I’m just in awe watching her rebound.”
This is not a one-year phenomenon. Reese led the WNBA in rebounding as a Chicago Sky rookie in 2024 with a league-record 13.12 rebounds per game (446 total) and again in 2025 at 12.57. Her 2026 average of roughly 12.4–12.5 sits third all-time—behind only her own first two seasons. No other player in WNBA history has averaged 12 rebounds per game in a season.
The 2026 campaign came after a mid-offseason trade from Chicago to Atlanta. Reese has flourished in a more competitive environment, helping the Dream stay in the playoff hunt while posting career-best scoring (16.1 points per game) alongside her usual dominance on the glass. She has already recorded a league-high number of double-doubles this year and later broke the single-season double-double record as well.35
Reese’s motor, timing, and willingness to crash the offensive glass have made her the clearest successor to the league’s historic rebounders—Sylvia Fowles, Tina Charles, Yolanda Griffith, and Wilson. At 24 and in her third season, she already owns the three highest single-season rebounding averages ever recorded and now the total-rebounds mark as well.
The record is likely to grow. With games remaining after the Sparks win, Reese continued adding to the total. Basketball-Reference lists her 2026 total at 474 through 38 games. The “Mebounds” era is no longer a nickname. It is the statistical standard of the WNBA.
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The National Association of Black Journalists delivered a sharp public rebuke to ESPN personality and political commentator Stephen A. Smith at its 2026 convention in Atlanta, awarding him one of its “Thumbs Down” honors for what the organization called a recurring pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women.
The award was announced during the NABJ’s annual Salute to Excellence ceremony on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
NABJ Scolds Stephen A. Smith Publicly in Atlanta, Sets Off Firestorm
The “Thumbs Down” recognition is given to individuals or institutions the group believes have engaged in “especially insensitive, racist or stereotypical reporting, commentary, photography or cartooning about the Black community” or practices at odds with NABJ’s goals. Smith was one of five recipients this year—the most in the organization’s history. The others were FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, CBS News, The Washington Post, and media executive DuJuan McCoy of Circle City Broadcasting/WISH-TV.
In its citation, NABJ stated: “Smith has established a recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media. Such commentary reinforces harmful narratives, undermines the fair and respectful representation of Black women in public discourse, and stands in direct conflict with NABJ’s longstanding commitment to accurate, responsible, and inclusive portrayals of Black communities.”
The organization pointed to a series of high-profile moments rather than a single comment. These included Smith’s criticisms of former Vice President Kamala Harris, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). In late 2025, Smith drew particular backlash for remarks about Crockett’s speaking style on Capitol Hill, describing the congresswoman—whom he called “an educated, brilliant Black woman”—as engaging in “verbiage and rhetoric for the streets.” He later apologized for those comments. NABJ President Errin Haines later referenced Smith’s public comments involving Harris, Crockett, and a spat with journalist Joy-Ann Reid as illustrative of the pattern the group found concerning.
The decision stood out because of Smith’s prior relationship with the organization. The ESPN First Take host had appeared at recent NABJ conventions, including live broadcasts of his show in 2024 and 2025. Disney, ESPN’s parent company, maintains a partnership with NABJ, and Smith has previously credited the group with helping launch his career decades earlier after he attended an NABJ job fair.
Smith did not stay silent. Shortly after the announcement, he posted on X: “This is the epitome of Christmas arriving early. The @NABJ wants to call folks out, fine! You had your turn, now mine is coming. And make no mistake…..,I’m coming. Let’s see who REALLY deserves a Thumbs Down award when it comes to the Black Community, after I say my peace! Remember @NABJ, you asked for it. I’ve shut my mouth for years. Now y’all started something.”
In a subsequent lengthy response on his YouTube show Straight Shooter, Smith called the award a “personal hit job” and “the lowest” insult he had received. He criticized NABJ for failing to contact him beforehand or present specific evidence, questioning why President Haines would make the accusation publicly without a private conversation.
“This is a journalism organization that didn’t engage in journalism when it came to critiquing me,” he said. Smith, a registered independent, suggested the move was politically motivated, arguing that his willingness to criticize Democrats rather than offer unqualified praise played a role. He also appeared on Fox News’ Hannity, where he rejected the characterization as a “flat-out lie” and noted that he was raised by Black women, including his late mother and four older sisters, and has Black daughters and nieces.
The episode marks a notable rupture. What had been a cooperative relationship—highlighted by First Take appearances at prior conventions—turned into a public feud almost overnight.
NABJ framed the awards as a call for accountability and better practices, with Haines emphasizing that partnerships do not require the organization to surrender its voice. Smith, for his part, vowed to continue speaking freely on his platforms while promising a fuller accounting of what he sees as NABJ’s shortcomings regarding the Black community.
The controversy underscores ongoing tensions within Black media and public discourse about criticism, representation, gender, and political independence. As one of the most prominent and highly compensated Black voices in sports and increasingly in politics, Smith’s clashes with figures and institutions that share aspects of his identity continue to generate intense debate.
Whether the “Thumbs Down” prompts reflection, escalation, or both remains to be seen—but the Atlanta convention made clear that NABJ was willing to call out even a longtime associate when it believed its core principles were at stake.
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