Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill took a shot at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith after the latter said that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa isn’t the NFL’s clear-cut MVP at the moment.
Smith recently returned the favor by clapping back at Hill.
.@stephenasmith responds to Tyreek Hill commenting on his thoughts about NFL MVP 👀
"To accuse me of not watching the games, Tyreek Hill, please watch your mouth. You don't know what you're talking about." pic.twitter.com/gZpS5k9Tlu
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 20, 2023
“Everything is not said to be taken literally,” Smith said.
“Of course I was not trying to say that Tua Tagovailoa can’t throw the damn football.
“I certainly wasn’t implying that he wasn’t an MVP candidate.
“This is the first time that I’ve had to come to my own defense because I’ve been called out by a guy I consider to be the best in the world.
“The discussion was that Tyreek Hill is so electrifying…the dude is phenomenal.
“What I was trying to say was, you can throw him a three-yard pass and this brother could take it to the house. I was not trying to say ‘that’s all that Tua does.'”
Smith then went on to explain that he learns more and more about the game of football from the people that he works with every week.
“I report on the sport,” he said. “I watch it. I learn from brilliance.
“All these brothers [in the studio]…they teach me the game. Every single week.
“The reason why ‘First Take’ is No. 1 is not because of me. It’s because I hand-picked these brothers to come on the show and educate me and our viewers.”
Hill is fresh off of one of his best performances of the 2023 regular season against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 15. He racked up 163 receiving yards on six receptions — which equates to a whopping 27.2 yards per reception — and one receiving touchdown in a game the Dolphins won by a final score of 42-21 to improve their record to 5-1. Also, the wide receiver’s longest reception against the Panthers was for 47 yards.
The 29-year-old has totaled 814 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns through the first six games of Miami’s regular season, both of which currently lead the NFL. On top of that, Hill is averaging 19.4 receiving yards per reception and 135.7 receiving yards per game.
Before joining the Dolphins franchise ahead of the 2022 season, Hill spent the first six seasons of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team that drafted him with the No. 165 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. He earned a Pro Bowl appearance in each of his six seasons in Kansas City.
Tagovailoa is currently one of the top contenders to win the league’s MVP award this season. After all, he is leading the NFL in numerous passing statistics, including passing yards (1,876), passing touchdowns (14), touchdown percentage (7.1), yards gained per pass completion (13.4) and passing yards per game (312.7).
Hill and Tagovailoa will hope to earn the Dolphins their third win in a row against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road on Sunday. Miami owns a 2-1 road record on the season.
