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Skip Bayless (born John Edward Bayless II; born December 4, 1951) is an American sports columnist, commentator, and television personality. He 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. Bayless debuted his show with Shannon Sharpe on Fox Sports 1 in September 2016, which he led for eight years until he left in August 2024.
Bayless's interest in sports began at an early age. He played baseball and basketball. Bayless was the salutatorian of Northwest Classen's graduating class of 1970. He was a two-year member of the National Honor Society and president of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. He was also an officer in the letterman's club. At the urging of one of his English teachers, Bayless became the primary sports columnist for the school newspaper his junior and senior years. Prior to his senior year, Bayless represented Northwest Classen at Oklahoma Boys State. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Grantland Rice Scholarship (named for the Grantland Rice) to attend Vanderbilt University (Rice's alma mater).Frank Boggs, "Skip's B proves Nobody's Perfect", The Oklahoma Times, May 21, 1970 While at Vanderbilt, he majored in English and history, and graduated cum laude in 1974. He was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, serving two years as the chapter's "rho" (sports director). Christopher M. Hanes, "Alumnus of the Year: Skip Bayless", Maltese Cross, Spring 2012 He was also 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 Oklahoman.
At 26, Bayless was hired by The Dallas Morning News to write its lead sports column, and three years later, joined the Dallas Times Herald. This caught the attention of The Wall Street Journal, prompting the paper to do a story on the development. Bayless was voted Texas sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association three times (1979, 1984 and 1986).
In 1989, 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. Following the Cowboys' Super Bowl victory in 1993, Bayless wrote The Boys: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys' Season on the Edge, and following the third Cowboys Super Bowl win in four seasons, Bayless wrote a third book about the Cowboys, Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" 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, Bayless reported on speculation by Switzer and people close to him within the Dallas organization that Aikman was gay.
In 1998, Bayless left Dallas after 17 years and become the lead sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In his first year there, Bayless won the Lisagor Award for excellence in sports column writing, presented by the Chicago Headline Club (the Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists). In 2000, he was voted Illinois sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Bayless left the Chicago Tribune in July 2001.
Bayless's work has also appeared in various national sports publications, including Sports Illustrated. Skip Bayless, "Mail Bonding", Sports Illustrated, August 4, 1997
In 1999 and 2000, he provided commentary for the Golf Channel from the major golf championships.
In 2001 and 2002, Bayless appeared regularly on Jim Rome's show on Fox Sports Net, The Last Word. He also 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, Bayless became a fixture on Rome is Burning. He was also featured in a weekly Sunday morning SportsCenter debate segment with Stephen A. Smith, "Old School/Nu Skool".
On April 26, 2016, it was reported that Bayless had parted ways with ESPN, and would be moving to Fox Sports after his contract expired in August. His final appearance on First Take was on June 21, 2016.
Bayless is known for criticizing LeBron James and Aaron Rodgers and praising Tom Brady in both First Take and Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. He is also an outspoken defender of Baker Mayfield. Despite being a staunch Cowboys fan, Bayless has also recently been increasingly critical of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones.
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, Bayless signed a four-year, $32 million contract with Fox Sports.
On January 2, 2023, amid Damar Hamlin hospitalization for injuries sustained in the Week 17 game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, Bayless made a tweet that was widely described as insensitive, stating: "No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game - but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome ... which suddenly seems so irrelevant." The tweet was called out by several high-profile sports figures such as former quarterback Robert Griffin III and former wide receiver Dez Bryant. Less than an hour later, Bayless sent out an apology tweet saying "Nothing is more important than that young man's health. That was the point of my last tweet. I'm sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him & will continue to." The day after, Shannon Sharpe did not show up for Undisputed to avoid a possible confrontation about Bayless' tweet. Sharpe left Undisputed in 2023 following the conclusion of the NBA Finals, stemming from a personal attack Bayless made against Sharpe in defense of Tom Brady where Bayless implied Sharpe's criticism of Brady's play was motivated by jealousy over his longevity in the NFL.
Bayless re-launched Undisputed in August 2023 with Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin. He left Undisputed and Fox Sports 1 on August 2, 2024, after 8 years on the network.
On January 5, 2025, Bayless was listed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by former Fox Sports hairstylist Noushin Faraji against the network. Faraji alleges Bayless offered her $1.5 million for sex.
He 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. Bayless covered the Mustangs while writing for both The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald. He also appeared in the 2011 ESPNU documentary, Herschel, about University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker.
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