After openly mocking Philadelphia Eagles star Lane Johnson for retiring due to his mental health, Stephen A Smith tried walking back his comments and saying they were a critique of the Eagles themselves.
Smith’s comments on First Take drew widespread condemnation after he criticized Johnson for ending his career four games into the 2026 season, following Philly’s 2-2 start.
Johnson, who has been publicly open for years about his mental health struggles, admitted in a statement that he tried to ‘gut it out’ for one last season, but realized his ‘personal and family priorities’ have changed, and he now needs to ‘focus on [his] mental health.’
Smith, meanwhile, pointed to the myriad of offensive injuries, issues and departures before callously saying, ‘Now [Johnson] sat up there, one of the all-time greats on the offensive line, and what he do? He went like this: ‘You know what, I’m gonna call it quits.’
‘Now he calls it quits, not before the season, not in the offseason,’ Smith continued. ‘After being subjected to this, he said life is a little bit too short. I need to focus… what did he say? His mental health? Am I making that up? Four games into the 2026 season, a dude that has been in the league forever, sits back and says I need to focus on my mental health.’
Smith’s comments did not go over well. He was lambasted from all corners of sports social media, leading him to address the matter on his Sirius XM radio show later on Wednesday.
Fans aren’t buying Stephen A. Smith’s ‘apology’ for his comments about Lane Johnson
Johnson announced his retirement from playing football Wednesday, citing his mental health
On First Take, Smith mocked Johnson and minimized his highly publicized mental heatlh battles, saying the Eagles’ offense was so bad that it must’ve forced him to call it quits
Notably, Smith did not directly apologize to Johnson, nor did he apologize for his words – only saying he was sorry that what he said was ‘misconstrued.’
The 58-year-old began his final segment on the show by saying, ‘I’m sorry that when I was on television earlier this morning… people misconstrued me minimizing mental health, I would never do that.’
Smith then began divulging his own personal story with mental health issues, saying he ‘sought and endured therapy’ following the death of his mother.
‘So trust you me when I tell you, I’m not only sensitive to mental health issues, I’m very aware of it,’ Smith said.
‘But when I was talking about Lane Johnson earlier this morning, I wasn’t talking about him and mental health. I was talking about the Eagles and how chaotic this situation is can drive you to it.’
He added, ‘I’m one of those people, and people thought I was joking. I’m not joking about him. I’m looking at the Eagles because of how chaotic it is. Now you got injuries and 9 starters go out… ladies and gentlemen, facetiously speaking, that kind of stress could take you down. That kind of stress could ravage your world.
‘That kind of stress could make you say, you know what, I don’t need this. I got a long life ahead of me. I don’t have time for this. Let me go spend time with my family. Let me live a better life than this. That’s all I was talking about.’
Smith’s attempt at an explanation was not well received as fans believed his ‘apology’ was inadequate and that he put himself at the center of the story.
Smith took to his radio show to explain his thoughts and revealed his own struggles with mental health. But he did not apologize for his words, or to Johnson, leading to further criticism
Join the discussion
Should public figures ever be forgiven for dismissing mental health struggles in sports?
‘Saying “I would not minimize mental health” is INSANE when that’s exactly what you did and there’s no way to misunderstand or misconstrue what you meant to say. The body language of those around you says it all,’ wrote one user on X.
Another said, ‘we saw the video, you absolutely did [minimize mental health]. This isn’t an apology: it’s a lie.’
‘- Be an a**hole – Get clicks and views – Backtrack and play victim instead of owning you were dead wrong (again) Rinse. Repeat,’ read another angry post.
One user wondered, ‘I must have missed it, where was the Stephen A Smith apology? He spent the first two minutes literally taking about himself in an effort to gain sympathy. You were wrong Stephen A Smith and instead of apologizing to Lane Johnson you doubled down.’
Another angry comment read, ‘I’m sorry. You think we misunderstood what the exact, clear words were that came directly out of your f***ing mouth? There anything you won’t lie about? Get f****d.’
One user advocated, ‘Fire his a** ESPN! Nobody will miss his loud mouth!!’
