Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim Do Push-Ups On ESPN's First Take For Some Reason

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On Wednesday, Stephen A. Smith tweeted out an article from the Hollywood Reporter saying that ESPN's First Take experienced viewership growth in every month, year-over-year. How did Smith and Molly Qerim -- the two mainstays on the program -- celebrate the news?

By doing 20 push-ups each. That's the kind of thrilling content that apparently generates ratings for ESPN these days. Fascinating stuff.

First, let's talk about Molly's push-ups. They aren't very good. Her arms never go to parallel with the floor.

Which is fine. But if ESPN wants everyone to be treated equally -- men and women -- then the only non-sexist thing to do is to critique her form the same way we would critique Stephen A. Smith's form.

Which, by the way, is quite a bit better than Molly's. Now, he did arch his back a bit. We'd like to see him with a flatter back, but he definitely gets much deeper to the floor.

Why did Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith start doing push-ups on ESPN's First Take?

Why did this all come about? According to Awful Announcing, earlier in the show Chris Russo "fat-shamed" Stephen A. Smith.

“You know, Stevie? Here’s what I want you to do. We all saw the pictures. We all saw them. The world saw them. That was not a pretty sight. Head to the gym,” Russo said.

“Did you see those abs? Oh my god. I’d show you mine, but I don’t want to embarrass him. You can eat all the rice, you can eat all the carrots, and drink all the herbal tea you want, you are woefully out of shape. And you are heavy…We all saw it. Biden saw it, the world saw it.”

ESPN First Take co-host Chris Russo made fun of Stephen A. Smith's physique, so Smith and Molly Qerim did push-ups on air.

ESPN First Take co-host Chris Russo made fun of Stephen A. Smith's physique, so Smith and Molly Qerim did push-ups on air. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

The New York Post shared pictures of Smith on vacation last month. In those pictures, Smith's physique is uh ... questionable.

But to be fair to Smith, he's 55 years old. For a man in his mid-50s, he doesn't look that bad. And he can do at least 20 consecutive push-ups.

Thankfully, we know that for a fact.

Although, the irony here is that I'm making fun of ESPN for promoting First Take hosts doing push-ups on air.

Yet, I'm writing about it.

Who's the real loser?

It's me. The answer is me.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.