Television personality and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith is facing widespread public criticism after mocking NFL star Lane Johnson’s decision to retire from the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith questioned the 36-year-old offensive tackle’s motives on ESPN’s “First Take,” drawing immediate pushback from co-host Kimberley A. Martin and sparking intense backlash across social media for dismissing serious mental health struggles.
The controversy unfolded during an episode of “First Take” on October 7, 2026, when Smith addressed Johnson stepping away from the game four games into his fourteenth NFL season. “Now he calls it quits, not before the season. Not in the offseason,” Smith said on air, before mimicking the player’s explanation with the words: “My mental health. My mental.” Kimberley A. Martin challenged her colleague on set, stating, “I feel like you’re making light of the situation.”
Public Backlash and Social Media Condemnation
Viewers and online commentators quickly condemned the remarks, arguing that the commentary minimized severe psychological challenges. One user on X wrote: “@stephenasmith dude, I’m not a hater. But you know nothing about how mental health or mood disorders work. Stay in your lane and yell about other sh*t. I’m sure there are other subjects you can rage-bait about. This one shouldn’t be one of them, though.”
Smith initially insisted he intended to criticize the Philadelphia Eagles’ chaotic season rather than mock mental illness itself. However, the remarks carried heightened scrutiny given Smith’s own history of discussing mental health publicly. In a 2024 conversation about depression, he shared the emotional toll of losing his brother in a 1992 car accident and his mother to cancer in 2017, experiences that led him to seek therapy.
Lane Johnson’s Well-Documented Battle With Anxiety and Depression
Johnson has been open about his own struggles with severe anxiety and depression during his career. A 2021 episode forced the veteran lineman away from football for three games, a period he later detailed in an interview with Jay Glazer.
“The monster kept building and building and building,” Johnson told Glazer in 2021. “It finally came to a point where I said, ‘I’m not gonna take it no more.’” Announcing his retirement, the offensive tackle emphasized that focusing on his mental health and family was critical.
On-Air Apology and Broader Health Context in the NFL
Following the intense public reaction, Smith issued an on-air apology on Thursday, October 8, 2026, acknowledging that his impact superseded his original intentions.
“I was wrong to Lane Johnson. I was wrong to the Philadelphia Eagles. I messed up,” Smith said. He voiced concern that his comments might deter others from seeking assistance, adding, “For everybody out there that’s struggling, that needs help, please, please, don’t look at me as somebody who’s trying to dissuade you from doing so. It takes courage for the Lane Johnsons of the world to speak up the way he did.”
Mental health challenges remain prevalent, with the National Institute of Mental Health reporting that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness. Within professional football, the physical demands of the sport compound these concerns. Repeated head impacts and hard hits have raised ongoing questions regarding long-term neurological conditions such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease identified by Boston University researchers in more than 90% of former NFL players’ donated brains examined in a 2023 study.
