Former Chicago Bears receiver crushed Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s ‘First Take’

First, an admission: I have an autographed photo of Tom Waddle at my desk.

Chances are, many people don’t know who Waddle is, but he was one of my favorite Bears when he played years ago (I grew up outside of Chicago). Waddle was a receiver for the Bears from 1989-94, and is now a sports-talk radio host in Chicago and does some work as an analyst for ESPN.

Waddle was on ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday and talked with Stephen A. Smith about the future of quarterback Jay Cutler. You’re not going to believe this, but Smith was flabbergasted that Waddle thought Cutler would start at least eight games in the NFL next season.

As Smith ranted, he wanted to know what people in Chicago think when Waddle says such things. Then Waddle dropped the hammer.

It was, in my opinion, a thing of beauty.

To his credit, Smith did say that “I played the game” response from Waddle was fair. You can watch more of the interaction here.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 11:04 AM.