31 Facts About Skip Bayless

Skip Bayless is well-known for his work as a commentator on the ESPN2 show First Take with Stephen A Smith, a show which he left in June 2016.

John Edward Bayless II was born in Oklahoma and was raised in Oklahoma City.

The name instantly stuck, and Bayless was never called John by his parents, to the point that he eventually had his name legally changed to Skip.

Skip Bayless's parents owned and operated the Hickory House restaurant in Oklahoma City, which specialized in barbecue.

Skip Bayless worked in the restaurant in his youth, but never considered it as a career path.

Skip Bayless was the salutatorian of Northwest Classen's graduating class of 1970.

Skip Bayless was a two-year member of the National Honor Society and president of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.

At the urging of one of his English teachers, Skip Bayless became the primary sports columnist for the school newspaper his junior and senior years.

Skip Bayless was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, serving two years as the chapter's "rho".

Skip Bayless was the sports editor of The Hustler, the university's student newspaper, and spent the summer of 1969 interning under sports editor Frank Boggs at The Daily Oklahoman.

Skip Bayless went directly from Vanderbilt to The Miami Herald, where he wrote sports features for a little more than two years.

Skip Bayless then took a position at the Los Angeles Times in August 1976.

Skip Bayless won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Newspaper Writing in 1977 for his coverage of Seattle Slew's Triple Crown victory.

At 26, Skip Bayless was hired by The Dallas Morning News to write its lead sports column, and three years later, joined the Dallas Times Herald.

Skip Bayless was voted Texas sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association three times.

In 1989, Skip Bayless wrote his first book, God's Coach: The Hymns, Hype and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry's Cowboys, about the rise and fall of Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys.

Hell-Bent caused a stir, in part, because in the course of writing about the conflict between Cowboys coach Barry Switzer and star quarterback Troy Aikman, Skip Bayless reported on speculation by Switzer and people close to him within the Dallas organization that Aikman was gay.

In 1998, Skip Bayless left Dallas after 17 years and become the lead sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

Skip Bayless's work has appeared in various national sports publications, including Sports Illustrated.

Soon thereafter, Skip Bayless began co-hosting a weekend show on ESPN Radio with former SportsCenter anchor Larry Beil, which aired until 2004, when he moved full-time into television.

In 1992, Skip Bayless became a member of the original debate team on NFL Prime Mondays "Knights of the Roundtable" segments with Mitch Albom and Michael Wilbon.

In 2001 and 2002, Skip Bayless appeared regularly on Jim Rome's show on Fox Sports Net, The Last Word.

Skip Bayless made frequent appearances during the same period of time on Fox's The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

When Rome moved to ESPN in 2003, Skip Bayless became a fixture on Rome is Burning.

Skip Bayless was criticized for remarks he made on September 10,2020, about Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, such as saying that Prescott's statements about suffering from depression were a sign of "weakness".

In March 2021, Skip Bayless signed a four-year, $32 million contract with Fox Sports.

Skip Bayless opines that Balboa "was completely overrated" and mocks his age.

Skip Bayless appeared in the 2010 ESPN 30 for 30 film, Pony Excess, about the Southern Methodist University football scandal involving gross violations of NCAA rules and regulations.

Skip Bayless covered the Mustangs while writing for both The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald.

Skip Bayless appeared in the 2011 ESPNU documentary, Herschel, about University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker.

In 2008, Skip Bayless was selected to the Oklahoma City Wall of Fame recognizing outstanding alumni of Oklahoma City public schools.