Dolphins GM Dismissal Sparks Debate: Stephen A. Smith Weighs In

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ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is a three-trick pony. His commentary consists of three very obvious threads in his work: acting as if he hates the Cowboys, as if it’s a WWE angle; hating on LeBron James; and driving a racial wedge into just about every story that comes along.

One of those tricks backfired spectacularly recently.

The Miami Dolphins mutually parted ways with longtime general manager Chris Grier after a dismal 2-7 start to the season, a decision announced by owner Stephen Ross on Friday morning. It marks the end of Grier’s nearly 25-year tenure with the organization.

Much to everyone’s surprise, head coach Mike McDaniel remains in place amid ongoing efforts to salvage the year. And on that, Smith decided there had to be some racial motivation behind the story.

“This is BS. That’s the first fire? Really? That’s what we’re doing?” Smith railed. “It was about Tua (Tagovailoa), it was about Mike McDaniel. And the brother gets fired first?”

Stephen A. Smith couldn’t help himself

Using the term “brother” here is no accident. By doing so, Stephen A. Smith is clearly trying to point out that Grier is black and, therefore, the Dolphins decided he needed to be the first to go after a disastrous start to the season.

Aside from the fact that the Dolphins GM has been with the organization for 25 years – roughly a quarter of a century – and it would seem absurd to assume that the team suddenly decided, ‘Hey, let’s drop him because he’s black’ after all that time, there’s another major problem with Smith’s comments.

McDaniel is proudly biracial.

In fact, Stephen A. would have known that if he just Googled some of his network’s own coverage – particularly an article from 2022 about his hiring with a massive headline reading: New Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel: ‘Extremely proud’ to be biracial.

“First and foremost, I’m biracial. My mom’s white, my dad’s Black. I’ve been extremely proud of that my whole life,” McDaniel told ESPN in the article.

The report goes on to point out that McDaniel was himself a victim of bigotry as a child. And yet, in Smith’s worldview, he somehow managed to escape firing while the “brother” in the front office was let go.

Dumb.

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Denies making it about race

Having just made the firing of Dolphins GM Chris Grier about race, Stephen A. Smith was confronted by Outkick on the matter, where he … denied making it about race.

“I didn’t imply a damn thing. I said what I said, and I meant it. I’m fully aware McDaniel is black. What I said was that I didn’t like the fact that they fired the Brother — without making sure McDaniel went with him,” Smith told the outlet.

“Don’t waste my time coming to me with implications. I said what I said. I meant it, and I’m not backing up from it. Grier should be gone! So should McDaniel!”

If only there weren’t a history of Stephen A. making NFL team decisions into a racial canard. It wasn’t all that long ago that Smith accused the Washington Commanders of hiring Kliff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator because he’s not black.

“From a historical perspective, we look at a guy like Kliff Kingsbury, and you know what we see as black folks? This is the kind of stuff that don’t happen for black folks,” Smith said at the time.

It’s all about race, until it isn’t. This time, the baiting to draw in clicks and views for ESPN backfired in spectacular fashion. But then, that’s Stephen A. Smith’s career in a nutshell.