ESPN Gives Stephen A. Smith 1-Week Suspension for Ray Rice Comments

Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended two games by the NFL in the wake of a domestic violence incident that left his future wife unconscious in an Atlantic City elevator.

Not surprisingly — though terrible disappointing — sports networks like ESPN did not deal with this issue well. In fact, on the morning debate shoe First Take, shit got out of control. Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith aren't exactly known as pillars of inspirational, intelligent debate. But you can't say stuff like this, Stephen A.

He basically suggested that Rice's fiancée "provoked" a response from Rice. The text version:

"But what I’ve tried to employ the female members of my family, some of who you all met and talked to and what have you, is that again, and this what, I’ve done this all my life, let’s make sure we don’t do anything to provoke wrong actions, because if I come, or somebody else come, whether it’s law enforcement officials, your brother or the fellas that you know, if we come after somebody has put their hands on you, it doesn’t negate the fact that they already put their hands on you. So let’s try to make sure that we can do our part in making sure that that doesn’t happen."

Today, ESPN announced that Stephen A. Smith will not appear on First Take or ESPN Radio for the next week. This was his awkward apology:

Frankly, we don't care if Stephen A. never comes back. Take Skip with you, bruh.

[via ESPN Front Row]