Howard students and faculty swarmed the “First Take” cast outside of Douglass Hall last week as a 14-year full-circle moment was paid off between Stephen A. Smith and broadcast journalist Harmony Bailey live on national television.
Bailey, who interviewed Smith as a child, asking about Jesse Jackson, was one of four students who got to ask the hosts a question during their inaugural stop on this year’s “First Take On the Road” tour on Sept. 20.
Smith, who was unaware of their history, watched the old clip in awe before embracing Bailey and answering her new question: “What is your best advice for a broadcast journalism major?”
Smith’s final statement during the exchange was, “Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do.”
“First Take,” ESPN’s popular morning sports debate show hosted by Winston-Salem State University alumnus Stephen A. Smith and Savannah State University alumnus Shannon Sharpe, broadcasted live from The Yard from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. a day before the Truth and Service Classic football game pitting the Bison head-to-head with the Hampton University Pirates in the battle of the “Real HU.”
The excitement for this historic event started before 10 a.m. with students lining up as early as 6 a.m. to witness the live show.
At 10 a.m. Smith and Sharpe made their way onto The Yard with the Howard “Showtime” Marching Band playing behind them, and the crowd made their presence known. Smith acknowledged this as well.
“The brothers showed up, the sisters showed up, we here y’all … we here,” he said.
Sharpe was excited to be on The Yard, saying, “HBCU, we’re here. Y’all know what we do!” This was Sharpe’s first time at Howard. He said he was pleased to see “the pageantry and history.”
Several students made guest appearances during the broadcast, the first being All-MEAC Basketball Player Bryce Harris, a senior marketing major from Brentwood, New York. Harris asked Sharpe about LeBron James, future NBA Hall of Famer, questioning his Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T) status, which gave viewers a light-hearted exchange between Smith and Sharpe.
The second student to make an appearance was softball player Kelsie Jarrett, a junior journalism major and political science minor from Nashville, Tennessee. She also represented the Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Jarrett questioned Stephen A. Smith’s hate for her beloved Dallas Cowboys. He replied that he hates their fans, but not Jarrett, because she’s “not the typical Cowboys fan.”
“It’s so crazy because I keep saying this,” Jarrett told The Hilltop. “I literally posted on one of my Instagram pages like a month ago, and I was like, ‘my favorite day is coming back home from practice and watching ‘First Take.’’ And having the opportunity to be on ‘First Take,’ it’s such a blessing. I just think it’s nothing but God.”
The third student was Ose Esene, a senior computer information systems major from PG County, Maryland. He asked Sharpe if he would be concerned about his favorite team, the Baltimore Ravens, if they fell to 0-3 after playing the Cowboys.
The students relished the opportunity to speak to the cast. Bailey felt “really great” about being on “First Take.” She told The Hilltop about the significance of her moment on the show.
“…The fact that he was on campus, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that [Stephen A. Smith] does what I want to do. And my question was not just for me. I wanted to make sure it benefited all. And being here at the HBCU, I think that it was the perfect full-circle opportunity to keep promoting HBCU culture while also giving back to the future generations of journalists,” Bailey said.
Other students felt similarly, like Ji’Reh Williams, a senior biology major and chemistry minor from Gainesville, Florida, from the women’s lacrosse team.
“I think it’s special just because we see a lot of PWIs get this amount of attention, and it feels really nice to have them appreciate our campus,” Williams said.
The 48th Mr. Howard University, Gregory Allen, a senior supply chain management major from Stockton, California, felt the importance of what he witnessed.
“Here at Howard, I feel like it’s really a blessing and an amazing opportunity—once in a lifetime, if you will, you know? To be able to be here at Howard at a time like this. And be able to represent it with pride, and be able to get the recognition that the school deserves as well, and not only just to be over here indulging in ourselves, but also, you know, I feel like it’s a great look for the university itself”, he said.
Hampton’s Trent Boykin and Howard’s Larry Scott, head football coaches of their respective universities, made appearances as well, speaking on the nature of the schools’ rivalry and the importance of HBCUs.
Alana Gulley, a sophomore psychology major from Atlanta and a member of The Howard “Showtime” Marching Band, was grateful for the opportunity to perform on national television.
Attendees wait for the live “First Take” show. (Jacob Hanseworth/The Hilltop)
“I enjoyed being able to be a part of something like that,” Gulley said. “I know that meant a lot for us as students as well as for the university. I’m not much of a sports fan myself, but I know my dad and my mom really enjoy football and have watched ‘First Take’ religiously. They were telling me how much of a big deal this was, and having them share the importance of it made the performance that much more important to me.”
She was also grateful for the recognition her bandmates were able to get.
“I know Howard gets a lot of publicity as a school, but I never really imagined that our band would, because I know we’re not the most popular aspect of our school. So just for us to get that recognition meant a lot to me, and, you know, a lot for the band as a whole.”
The show closed with Sharpe and Smith predicting a Howard win in the Truth and Service Classic football game.
Copy edited by Jalyn Lovelady
