Stephen A. Smith walked off the First Take set after clashing with Dan Orlovsky over his ‘cheap’ Hawaii vacation decision.
Orlovsky, who hinted that his future with ESPN was up in the air after the Super Bowl, returned to the network after a three-week break on Monday, March 3.
The NFL analyst’s contract is said to expire in the offseason.
Despite those reports, Orlovsky returned to ESPN’s airwaves this week and was in the studio for all two hours of Get Up before appearing on First Take, where it didn’t take him long to rile up his co-host.
As he made his comeback, Molly Qerim asked the former quarterback about his recent vacation.
“Hawaii was amazing, I would go back in a heartbeat,” Orlovsky responded.
But before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Stephen A.
“How’d you get there?” he barked, before Orlovsky responded that his whole family flew commercial.
That set Smith off, who chastised his co-host for the decision.
He said: “You flew your wife coach from the East Coast, to Hawaii, which is about 10 hours?”
“My wife, my kids, my mother in law, 12 hours,” Orlovsky responded.
“I was in row 37, the very last row. And in the middle of the flight, I’m going: ‘I don’t regret not buying first class.’”
A visibly annoyed Smith then stormed off the set, describing both Orlovsky and Chad Johnson – who agreed with his decision to fly coach – as ‘two cheap-a** people’.
“Move on with the segment, Molly, I don’t wanna listen,” he concluded.
Orlovsky’s return to ESPN came just three weeks after he said he was going to be away for a ‘long time’ after Super Bowl LIX.
“You guys know this is the end of the season for me,” he said on February 10.
“I’m taking a break, won’t be on TV for a long time. I just want to say to thank you to you guys, Stephen A, Molly, Shannon (Sharpe) for a great season. I love you all. You never know what the future holds, but I’m taking a break.
“I appreciate you guys so much.”
On Monday, a number of fans took to social media to welcome Orlovsky back to ESPN after his absence, with one asking if he is back on the network ‘full-time’.
“No, just a day or two up until draft,” he responded, suggesting he will only be appearing sparingly before the annual NFL event, set which is set to begin on Thursday, April 24 this year.
While his future is still up in the air for now, it’s likely ESPN will do everything it can to retain one of its marquee NFL analysts – especially as he provides TV gold with Stephen A.
Last week, the network locked down one of its brightest talents, Laura Rutledge, for the foreseeable future.
Stay up to date with the latest from across the NFL via our talkSPORT Facebook page, and subscribe to our Endzone YouTube channel for news, views and exclusive interviews as we build up to the NFL Draft.
