By Jacob Calvin Meyer - The Washington Times - Monday, June 13, 2022

“Stay off the weed” would certainly be an unconventional campaign slogan. 

That phrase, uttered repeatedly by Stephen A. Smith, is one of the many that the sports media personality is famous for yelling on ESPN. But at least one politician, according to Smith, believes the longtime sports commentator would be a compelling Senate candidate.

Smith recently said on J.J. Reddick’s podcast that former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell approached Smith 10 years ago about running for Senate. Rendell, a Democrat, served as Pennsylvania’s governor from 2003 to 2011. 

“One time I was approached by Gov. Ed Rendell in Pennsylvania. He wanted me to run for Senate,” Smith told Reddick on the “Old Man and the Three” podcast. “He said, ‘You should do it.’ I said, ‘I’m not a liberal. I’m not a conservative either.’ He said, ‘It don’t matter with you. You’re a voice that needs to be heard.’ He told me this close to 10 years ago.”

Smith, 54, was born in the Bronx and raised in Queens. But Smith’s rise from sports reporter to media icon began as a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked for nearly 15 years. He then was a regular guest on ESPN before being hired at the network full time for “First Take,” where he is still a host today. 

He also said that in 2015 CNN interviewed him for his own show on the network. But Smith added that he isn’t interested in hopping into the divisive world of politics. 

“I believe that if I were in politics, it might have got me killed because of the world we’re living in,” Smith said.

• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.

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