Stephen A. Smith Comments on Patriots QB Drake Maye: ‘I Was Funny’

It looks like the saga between Stephen A. Smith and Drake Maye has come to an end.

A day after calling the young Patriots quarterback a “liar” on ESPN, Smith clarified his comments on his Sirius XM show “The Stephen A Smith Show” on Friday, saying he was just “being funny.”

“I was being funny because it wasn’t that big of a deal.” said Smith. “In other words, Cam Newton is on national television. And your response was, ‘I don’t even know where he works.’ I just didn’t believe that. That’s it. I didn’t call him a liar anywhere else. Just that he didn’t know where Cam works. But you’re right, I don’t know Drake Maye, I’ve never spoken to him. Again, I was being funny. I wasn’t serious at that point.”

Smith’s apology ended a strange saga revolving around the Patriots and ESPN’s “First Take.” It started when Cam Newton appeared on the program and called New England “fools gold” for the weak schedule played over eleven weeks.

Maye was then asked about those comments, and although the core message of his response was not to listen to outside noise, Smith took exception to Maye saying he did not know which show Newton was on. Smith responded to his quote with a tirade, calling Maye a “liar” for not knowing which show Newton appears on.

While Smith still seems to believe that Maye would or should know who is regularly on First Take, he apologized for the uproar the whole situation caused.

“If people want me to apologize for that, that’s fine,” Smith said. “I didn’t mean he was lying – I don’t know if he was lying or not. I just said, don’t tell me you don’t know where Cam Newton worked. You don’t know he’s on First Take twice a week? I don’t believe that. I just don’t believe that.”

Ironically, Smith himself doesn’t seem to view the Patriots as fool’s gold the way his co-host does. The same week Newton made that claim, Smith ranked the Patriots as his third-best team in the NFL and the best team in the AFC. He too had high praise for Drake Maye individually after New England’s eighth straight victory.

“He’s passed for over 200 yards in every game he’s played at quarterback this year, which is a testament to him,” Smith said. “I have to give credit where credit is due… he is incredibly impressive.”

Maye and the Patriots have a chance to become the first NFL team to record 10 wins this season if they can defeat the Bengals on Sunday at 1 p.m.