Jay Williams The Latest ESPN Employee To Be Triggered By The 'Mount Rushmore' Metaphor

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You can now add Jay Williams to the list of ESPN employees who are offended by Mount Rushmore. During Thursday's edition of 'First Take,' Williams pleaded that we stop using the metaphor sports fans have been using for decades because it triggers him.

The Mount Rushmore talk started after Stephen A. Smith declared on Wednesday's show that he would replace LeBron James on his Mount Rushmore of NBA greats with Steph Curry if Curry went on to win his fifth NBA championship this summer.

Not only did Williams have an issue with Smith's take, but he also has a problem with society using Mount Rushmore as a metaphor.

The 41-year-old Williams is triggered by four former Presidents' faces chiseled on the side of a cliff.

Why? Because those aren't even the four greatest Presidents in U.S. history, mainly because of the restrictive voting laws that were in place when they were in office, according to Williams.

Williams' snide "that's our metric for success" comment brings the issue full circle.

No, Mount Rushmore isn't a "metric of success" it's a metaphor someone used in a sports discussion a long time ago and it stuck. The Mount Rushmore metaphor has nothing to do with the four Presidents, it's just a term we've adopted as a society when we're discussing the Top 4 of any subject.

I would be willing to bet an exorbitant amount of money that among the three-man panel of Brian Windhorst, Smith, and Williams that at least one of them couldn't name the four Presidents that even make up Mount Rushmore. The overwhelming majority of Americans couldn't name all four Presidents on the mountain.

Jay Williams Joins The Anti-Mount Rushmore Club Of ESPN

Believe it or not, Williams isn't the first ESPN employee to whine about four President's faces on the side of a cliff.

In August 2022, Jalen Rose called the Mount Rushmore term "offensive" and racist.

“Can we retire using ‘Mount Rushmore?’ That should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans, Indigenous people who were the first people here before Christopher Columbus,” Rose said.

“So, I call for you and for myself — I’m owning this, too — let’s stop using the term ‘Mount Rushmore’ when we’re talking about our favorite rappers, talking about our favorite movies, talking about our favorite players,” Rose continued.

I'd suggest for the folks over at ESPN to maybe focus on sports, but that ship sailed years ago, the network is now in the business of being triggered by anything it can wrap its liberal fingers around.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.