Stephen A Smith Got the Facts Wrong Again, and It Doesn't Really Matter

I don't listen to First Take often... I really don't. But when my Cowboys do something great, you better believe First Take is on my list of shows to watch the next morning. I LOVE watching Stephen A try and downplay Dak's clutch performance, a big win against the Eagles, or in this morning's case, an ABSOLUTE steal in the draft picking up CeeDee Lamb. 

So after an interval ride with the Buns of Anarchy crew, I turned it on, and what do you know? They were talking about my Cowboys and the pickup of arguably the best wideout in the draft. 

Let's watch him get on his bullshit. 

I expected him to waffle, I expected him to downplay, and knowing Stephen A, I expected him to egregiously fuck up who was on the roster. 

And I was not wrong. 

"You would think that when you add [CeeDee Lamb] to Amari Cooper and Terrance Wiliams, that would buffer Dak Prescott's stock." 

UM. Excuse me? 

The problem with that statement is that Terrance Williams isn't on the roster. He wasn't on the roster last year. The last time he was a Dallas Cowboy was in the 2018 season. And did he light it up? 

Let's take a look at his stats from that season. 3 games, 2 games started, 2 receptions for 18 yards. 

LOL. 

You mean to tell me a man who has been reported to make more than $10MM is out here EGREGIOUSLY making errors that a scrub who hasn't been on the team for two years is one of the elite playmakers you put in the same category with CeeDee and Amari Cooper? 

I "obviously" went off on Twitter. 

But as everyone knows, this is NOT the first time he's done this. Remember when Stephen A talked about Hunter Henry being the X factor for the Chargers when he was sitting on IR with a torn ACL? 

It's crazy that someone making that much money makes mistakes like this, right? 

Maybe not. 

Here's the thing. It doesn't matter that Stephen A Smith gets the facts wrong because when you're as entertaining as he is, the truth is THE FACTS DON'T REALLY MATTER. That's the life of a hot take artist these days. 

So Stephen A by playing fast and loose with the facts, and by being the GOAT, got me to do what he intended -- outrage tweet at him, complain online, and guess what? Every time that happens, his profile is boosted a little bit. 

I hope people understand just how good he is at manufacturing outrage. It's such a skill. You see SO MANY wannabe hot take artists out there who don't move the needle, who want to pretend that they operate in the same space as Stephen A or Skip Bayless or Colin Cowherd. Fat chance. 

Whether hot take artistry is good or bad is a debate for another day, but the bottom line is, you will travel a long road before you see someone who's as adept at pushing buttons at Stephen A Smith. And the fact he doesn't really know (or care) who currently plays on the Dallas Cowboys is basically irrelevant in the internet age. 

Guess what. Although he did apologize, he really didn't need to, because he didn't make a mistake. And that's what makes him Stephen A Smith, and most of the rest of the Hot Take Artists irrelevant.