First Take star Stephen A. Smith was missing in action for some weeks from his debate desk and fans finally got the answer on why. Stephen A. Smith revealed yesterday on First Take that he had a bad fight with Covid-19. Stephen A. Smith even revealed that he was hospitalized. Stephen A. said “For me personally, it hit me differently,” he said. “You’re assuming that you’ll have a fever, might have a cough, gonna have that massive headache — but you’ll get over it,” he said. “In a lot of cases that was the case. In my case it was totally different.”
“I had 103 degree fever every night. Woke up with chills and a pool of sweat. Headaches were massive. Coughing profusely. And it got to a point where right before New Year’s Eve, I was in the hospital into New Year’s Day. That’s how I brought in the New Year.”
According to Smith, had he not been vaccinated, he could’ve suffered grave consequences. “They told me, had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn’t be here. That’s how bad it was. I had pneumonia in both lungs. My liver was bad. It had ravaged me to the point where even now I have monitor my volume — get to the gym every day, walk before you run. Work your way back because I’m still not 100 percent with my lungs, but I’m COVID negative. I’m on the road to recovery.”
Smith added, “But if it wasn’t for several doctors, I wouldn’t be here. Love and respect for what they did. Love and respect for people in the sports community and ESPN executives for checking on me every single day. Dave Roberts, Norby Williamson, Jimmy Pitaro — I can’t thank you enough.”
