I saw this week that ESPN has purchased the NFL Network and the weekly pro football mosh pit, The Red Zone.

At first blush, this is the equivalent of the Cartoon Network taking production control of 60 Minutes or PBS. Upon reflection, the Cartoon Network was beaten to that task by the current Trump Administration. Damn! I was rooting for the Cartoon Network.

I spent nine years working for ESPN, and what I’ve always said about that network is that it’s a good place to be from. During my tenure, SportsCenter was the hub of the broadcast day, and was held together by an entertaining cast with plenty of news of the day and also a generous amount of good-natured horse play. My job was doing play-by-play of every event from boxing, football and basketball, to the Tour de France, the World Track and Field Championships, and the French Open. We provided the fodder for the SportsCenter guys.

The very best part of my job was that I rarely had to go to the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn., which has now grown to be roughly the size of Hartford.

Early on, the ESPN philosophy was “Do the event you’re assigned to and toss it to the SportsCenter gang when you’re done.” They encapsulated everything that happened in the sports world that day, got off a couple of nifty one-liners, then said goodnight before segueing to the next game.

Over the years the philosophies changed. Games and events are announced from a broadcast booth that generally has one too many voices in it. What happens in the game or event is secondary to the two “analysts” taking a “yay or nay” stance on what might or might not have happened in the previous 30 seconds.

SportsCenter is now on life support. Nobody needs to know the news of the day any longer because they get it on their phones seconds after it happens. And that is what created the very foundation of ESPN, the “take.” And that’s why Stephen A. Smith is making $15 million a year.

I know Stephen A. Smith, and frankly I like him. He’s a smart guy with a New York edge that has made him into the most known talent ever at the network. And, like a long ago predecessor, P.T. Barnum, he understands the lowest common denominator.

Stephen A. Smith gets “outraged” more often than I brush my teeth. And he does outrage really well. An old friend of mine coined the phrase “driving a tack with a jackhammer.” And that is Stephen A. Smith.

And when he’s outraged — which he is at least twice daily — it becomes fodder for every sports talk show in America.

The letters ESPN stand for Entertainment and Sports Program Network. One of the original thoughts of the network’s founders was that they would not only do sports, but also entertainment.

Before gobbling up the NFL Network and Red Zone — not to mention a 10 percent share of the NFL entity itself — the “S” was in jeopardy (Unless it stood for “Smith”).

And, lest we forget, ESPN is owned by the good folks at Disney, whose stock has been in gradual decline. So, were it not for Stephen A. Smith, Goofy might be doing the morning show on Fox.

How this ESPN buy-in to the NFL works remains to be seen. I see NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith as birds of a feather — just from a different nest. Goodell seems to me to be a guy who tries way too hard to look like “everyman,” and Smith tries way too hard to have credibility while wearing a pink suit and a pocket hanky the size of a table cloth.

Who’s got the influence in this venture might not be known until we hear Goodell announce the first pick in the 2026 NFL draft:

“With the first pick in the 2026 draft, the New York Jets select some bum who I had going in the sixth round and who I think will take this franchise all the way to the bowels of the Indoor Football League.”

Now that’s a “take!”

And, while I’m at it, here are a few takes that I snatched from Stephen A. Smith’s in-box:

I think the Golden State Warriors should jump on a sign and trade deal with Dallas.
Here’s my proposal: Jonathan Kuminga to Dallas for Micah Parsons. Might not do much to help the Warriors or Mavs, but when the W’s cut Parsons, the 49ers should be able to swoop right in.
Stanford’s prospects for the upcoming football season might not be shining brightly.  The Cardinal were picked to finish 17th in the 17-team ACC.  Cal was selected 15th.
Yeah but the women’s water polo and rowing teams were national champions.  Oh!  And they all graduate.
Texas Tech has decided it wants to win championships like the big kids. To that end it now has a bigger athletic budget than the likes of Ohio State. And they did it the old-fashioned way. They bled their alums dry. And what kid wouldn’t want to play in Lubbock, Texas?
The field at the home of the Red Raiders, locals proudly say, is the only place in America where you can stand in mud up to your knees and have wind blow in your face. I’ve been there, so you don’t have to be.

Next week: The gripping story of the Rodgers triplets: Tyler, Taylor, and Aaron.

Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native.  Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.

Originally Published: August 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM PDT