NEW YORK — It looks like the Tony Romo era is over and the Dak Prescott era has begun for the Cowboys.
But Skip Bayless still worries self-absorbed owner Jerry Jones will find a way to "screw" up the QB situation before America's Team makes good on Bayless' preseason prediction of the 'Boys facing Tom Brady's Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
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Sporting News caught up with Bayless, Shannon Sharpe and Joy Taylor of FS1's new "Undisputed" debate show (9:30 a.m. ET) last week before the fourth-round pick from Mississippi State led the Cowboys to a 35-30 comeback win against the Steelers on Sunday. The victory gave the NFC East-leading Cowboys a franchise record eight straight wins. They have the best record in the NFL.
Bayless, the enfant terrible of sports TV, is off to a fast start with "Undisputed," which goes head to head against his former ESPN2 show, "FirstTake," starring Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim.
FS1 executives say they've sliced the ratings gap to 3:1 from 23:1 versus ESPN networks in the 10 a.m. to noon time slot. Bayless, Sharpe and Taylor are attracting a young, diverse audience. More than 50 percent of the "Undisputed" audience is non-white, according to FS1. "Undisputed" viewers average about 10 years younger.
Bayless obviously has the attention of his former bosses in Bristol. Looking to bolster its falling ratings, "First Take" is moving to ESPN from ESPN2 early next year.
In the interview with Sporting News, Bayless talked about his worry that Jones will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He also discussed leaving behind former partner Stephen A. Smith on ESPN2's "First Take."
Sporting News: In your first promo for "Undisputed," you predicted a Cowboys-Patriots Super Bowl. How are you feeling now?
Bayless: I still fear that Jerry might screw it up by reinserting Romo. ... But Dak Prescott has changed my life and the Cowboys' life. When we did the promo, obviously in the summer, I didn’t quite see that coming. He has changed the culture. Has changed the way they play offense and defense — because the defense has fed off him. He has been more consistently though subtly dominating than Tony Romo ever dreamed of being. I used to be a Romo fan. But I would have love-hate. Because as you know he could throw five touchdown passes or he could throw five interceptions. It drove me beyond crazy. And Dak has only comforted me for eight straight games because he plays consistently high-level, trustable football. So I’ve sort of lucked into it a little bit. Because who saw this fourth-round kid from Mississippi State doing this? Love the Patriots from the start. That would be something for a movie theater promo, where I stand up and challenge Morris Chestnut on the screen, if it would stand up. But it's got a chance.
SN: Didn't you say on "Undisputed" that the Cowboys should have traded Romo at the deadline?
Bayless: I did. At the trade deadline, it made all the sense in the world to rid Jerry of his temptation. Because remember, his pride’s on the line with Tony. He game him, three years ago, $108 million; $55 million guaranteed. He staked his football pride against all conventional wisdom to say, 'I’m going to give him six years, because in that six years we will win a Super Bowl with Tony.’ So all of a sudden, Dak, in Jerry’s mind is ready to hand Tony, 7-1, 8-1, whatever it might get to. Then he wants Tony to take it home to validate Jerry giving him that contract. He said the other day that his biggest regret in his football life would be if he didn’t win a Super Bowl with Tony Romo. So what better opportunity than the one that could be handed to Tony now? So I wanted to remove the temptation as well as the $24 million cap hit of Tony Romo in each of the next three years. ... You don't think, speaking of New York, that the Jets wouldn’t have at least thought about it? Maybe you give Tony away at this point. But you also give away all that cap hit. Then you could use that available money. And maybe a draft pick you get back for Tony or a player, I don't know, probably a draft pick. Let's say you got back a second-round pick. Well why not use that to further prop up Dak as you go forward? I'm sold. I know it’s only an eight-game sample size. I have seen enough with the way he operates with such poise and presence and maturity. He handles himself off the field with noting but poise and maturity and wisdom. For a kid, he’s like a manchild to me. It feels like he’s been the starting QB for five years. So I’m ready to cut bait with Romo because you had desperate teams like the Jets who I thought would plunge. Look, Tony Romo, we all know he can light it up, when he’s on, really on. Wouldn’t he light up the back pages (in New York)?
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SN: You, Shannon and Joy have discussed the NFL's falling ratings this season. You touched on the fans angered by Colin Kaepernick, and other players, sitting or kneeling for the American flag/national anthem. Do you think some fans are boycotting NFL telecasts over the player protests?
Bayless: I don't know for a fact. I think it plays some part. The larger issues for me as a hardcore, die-hard NFL fan is that this league has lost so much star power. Peyton (Manning) retired. Then J.J. Watt, who some people thought was the best player at any position in the league, is gone for the year. Romo has been gone for the year. Tom Brady was gone for four games and the cloud of Deflategate still hangs over him. Then we could go down to Cam (Newton), who's the MVP. For whatever reason, he’s had a rough year. Russell Wilson was a godsend in Seattle. He’s had a rough year. His QBR is way down. Looks like he’s starting to get healthier. But I could just keep going down the list. What are the story lines? What are we interested in? Are we interested in Brady returning to be the MVP? Or is it Dak and Zeke in Dallas? After that, I don't know what. Because the Steelers are a disappointment. The Eagles started hot and they’re a disappointment. The Vikings started hot and they're a dissapointment. Seattle is not quite. I'm still, as a Cowboys fan, fearful they will get it back together. But where do you turn? The AFC North is a mess. The NFC South is not very good. I thought Jameis Winston was going to announce his rise to stardom. Nope. He has not. So do I respect that some people in this country don’t appreciate that the protests are being made at the expense of the flag? Yes, I’m sure that’s true. I said on the show, from the first day, I completely believe in Colin Kaepernick’s message — 1,000 percent. Somebody needed to say what he was saying about defenseless, unarmed black men getting killed by white cops. He took a stand that has resonated nationally to the point where he ended up on the cover of Time magazine.
As a God and country guy, did I wince the first time he didn't just kneel, he sat for the anthem? Yeah, I winced. I was like, 'Gee, I like the message, but I don't love the way you're delivering.' But over time, he was so eloquent in explaining his message, I got used to it. So that doesn't turn me off. But I could see where some patriotic people ... Shannon Sharpe and I go back and forth about this. Does that mean they're racist? Or could they just really be patriots but they believe in the message? I don't know. It could be both at the same time. But I do agree there is some segment of the population ... although when I talk internally to the Fox people, who live and die with NFL ratings, they don't think that's coming into play much. If at all. Like maybe none. It's the lack of star power. It was the most polarizing election we've ever had — times 10. And now a polarizing result. It was the Cubs. Nobody really believed. It's almost like the way you say, 'There's no way Trump can win this election.' 'There's still no way the Cubs can really win the World Series.' Yes, they can really win it. ... I can tell you that baseball does not resonate in our ratings on this show. Hasn't over a five-year period. But all of a sudden, the Cubs started to resonate in the ratings. When the Cubs beat the Cowboys head to head in that Sunday night, Cowboys-Eagles, I would have bet a week's pay against that one. ... The highest-rated three games of last year where Cowboys games. Two of them featured Matt Cassel at quarterback. One of them was Romo's return. He played on Thanksgiving against Cam at Jerry World. The other two were Matt Cassel games. Matt Cassel.
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SN: What's it like competing against Stephen A. Smith — and do you want to beat him in the ratings?
Bayless: I hate to think in terms of that. From my heart, Stephen A. Smith is my brother. I love him like a brother. We stay in touch. I miss him dearly. Shannon knows I miss him dearly. It was a long partnership. Remember, we go way back before 'First Take.' We actually did shows together on the old Fox Sports Net. It was called 'Sports in Black and White.' That's how long we were together. And we're still at heart, together. I root for him. Maybe I don't root for 'First Take.' I can't watch. I don't watch 'First Take.' Because it was too much of my heart. But I came here for (FS1 programming chief) Jamie Horowitz. You understand, he turned ('First Take') around, what was it, six, almost seven years ago? He was the interim showrunner for two months. In two weeks, he took a show that was basically 'Cold Pizza,' a variety show loosely based on sports, that was the concept when I first came to it here in New York City, and they found right away that the debate segments, which they threw in to kind of save a show that couldn't even register in the ratings, they started to rate. We'd have four debate segments a day for three years. Then when they pulled all the New York plugs, including Stephen A's plug with 'Quite Frankly,' the one plug they couldn't pull was 'Cold Pizza' because it was rating, slowly but surely. And the truth was it was because of the debate. Not who was doing the debating. Just the debate. People like to watch people go back and forth with smart opinions. So Jamie Horowitz took one look and said, 'This is nuts, why are you doing cooking segments and pet segments? Just go (debate) wall to wall.' A bunch of people in charge, mid-level executives and producers (at ESPN) said, 'This will fail miserably.' He put his reputation and career on the line to turn us all debate. It didn't just work. It really worked quickly. The first year we were a rotation built around me. But we went two live hours. Then Stephen A. came in the second year. We doubled the ratings right away. Then we went triple, quadruple, whatever the next one is. Because he plunged on that.
