Back when Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless were handling ESPN's "First Take" together, they became famous for expressing controversial takes on anything related to sports. However, there was a moment back then that had the ESPN segment placed on probation but the network's upper management. This was alluded to and addressed by both Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith in their separate shows."Once upon a time, 11 years ago, Richard Sherman came on First Take, when First Take had a special in the afternoon," Smith said. "And he flat out called Skip Bayless out. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments any of us have ever seen or experienced in television sports history.""Skip Bayless, in introducing Richard Sherman, wanted to revisit how things had unfolded and what exactly was going on at the time," Smith added. "Skip Bayless told the truth. The part that Skip Bayless did not say, is that although First Take was climbing the charts, the bosses did not care. But he left that part out about Tim Tebow."As Skip Bayless is no longer part of "First Take," he is now hosting FS1's "Undisputed" with former NFL players Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin, and Keyshawn Johnson. During a recent segment, Bayless cleared the air on what transpired in the past between Richard Sherman when he got on "First Take" with Stephen A. Smith.Bayless mentioned that the segment was placed on probation by the network's upper management due to some of the controversial takes made.From Smith's perspective, however, the upper management wasn't so fond of how he would sometimes present his takes and how Skip Bayless would incessantly talk about former NFL player Tim Tebow.Stephen A. Smith cleared the air in his "The Stephen A. Smith Show" regarding what went on during "First Take" as he felt that he and Bayless were both partly to blame for the segment being placed on probation. He mentioned that the network wanted to maintain its continuing rise in the ratings while not "causing them embarrassment or shame." Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless' relationship togetherBoth Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless gained traction together when they hosted ESPN's "First Take" together.In a Fadeaway World article written by Aikansh Chaudhary, Smith talked about how Bayless fought for him to be brought in as a co-host on "First Take.""Skip Bayless asked me to come on 'First Take,'" Smith said. "Skip Bayless permitted me to come on 'First Take.' Skip Bayless fought for me to come on 'First Take.' Skip Bayless played a role in restoring my career that I felt had been wrongly taken from me. I will never disrespect him. It will not happen."From then on, the two would debate continuously about anything related to sports, and would even place themselves in hot waters due to some of the polarizing takes they made. An example would be how they are perceived by certain players, such as former NBA player Charles Barkley."I very seldom went after reporters," Barkley said. "I go after Skip Bayless because I don't like him at all. Two things I don't like about him. Number one, he has a double standard for guys he likes and dislikes. But also, he brags about something he gets right. I hate guys like that."Whether it's through seeing a topic from a different angle or highly criticizing a certain player, the two did it all during the famous ESPN segment.At the time, the two were key figures in the rise of "First Take" when it came to ratings. In the middle of all that, there were moments, wherein, both would disagree on the other's perspective regarding a topic as how debates normally went. The two went their separate ways in 2016 when Skip Bayless decided to leave "First Take" for FS1's "Undisputed". The two have remained in a professional relationship ever since.