As “First Take” co-mouthpiece Stephen A. Smith continues his attempts to clarify/retract comments from last week regarding the ways female assault victims might “provoke” such attacks, the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins has had about enough, observing, “some guys can sound so dumb you’d think they had a chair broken over their head, but the first element of provocation a woman should avoid is calling them on it, whether it’s an NFL official justifying a two-game penalty for a running-back going all Flintstone on his wife, or an ESPN announcer who holds your cable subscription hostage while he tries to string two sentences together.”
The NFL seems to feel the same way as Stephen A. Smith, who said in 2012 when Chad Johnson got caught head-butting his wife, “There are plenty of instances where provocation comes into consideration, instigation comes into consideration, and I will be on the record right here on national television and say that I am sick and tired of men constantly being vilified.” Or as he tweeted when Floyd Mayweather was charged with domestic violence, “Let’s not discount the women out there who want someone like Mayweather strictly for the cash. Men ain’t wrong always.”
What you’re supposed to do for these Lords of the Loco is just put on pink rabbit ears and play nightclub hostess. Also, learn how to escape from a car trunk. Every woman should know how to get out of a car trunk, and if you don’t, it’s your own fault.
What Smith’s apology demonstrates is that half the time he doesn’t understand what he said any more than we do.