{"id":123772,"date":"2026-03-10T11:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:07:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T15:07:53","slug":"stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772","title":{"rendered":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never ‘be anything’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith<\/a> opened up about the devastating comment from his father that changed his life and motivated his rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now a successful ESPN commentator and influential media voice, Smith once was told he would never amount to anything. He recalled the moment on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity”<\/a> podcast, saying he overheard his parents discussing his intelligence.<\/p>\n

“My father said, \u2018He’s just not smart. You know he’s not going to be anything, and you just need to accept that right now,\u2019 and when my mother turned around and saw me seeing him say that, she was aghast,” Smith told Hannity on the podcast’s premiere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She was appalled and all of that stuff, and he just shrugged his shoulders and turned around and walked away,” he added.<\/p>\n

STEPHEN A SMITH WARNS DEMOCRATS ‘I AIN’T GIVING YOU ANYTHING,’ CHALLENGES THEM TO EARN BLACK VOTES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Smith revealed in his memoir “Straight Shooter”<\/a> that he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia and has spoken about his struggles with reading. While he was a talented speaker, reading comprehension remained a struggle. He told Hannity the cold comments from his father came after he was held back from advancing a grade<\/a> in school for the second time.<\/p>\n

“My mother thought that was going to [be] something that was incredibly devastating for me, and it hurt. I’m not denying that it did. But something inside of me just was motivated to prove him wrong,” said Smith.<\/p>\n

STEPHEN A SMITH CALLS ZION WILLIAMSON A ‘FOOD ADDICT,’ SUGGESTS PELICANS ‘ENCOURAGED’ HIM TO RIP NBA STAR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

He also revealed he was ridiculed by neighborhood kids for being held back in school.<\/p>\n

CARVILLE DOUBLES DOWN ON URGING ILHAN OMAR TO LEAVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AFTER SHE BLASTED WHITE MALES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“That memory still stays with me because when I got left back the second time, and this time permanently held back for the whole year, I’m sitting on the back porch, and I’m crying because I’m being laughed at and ridiculed<\/a> by the kids in the neighborhood because all kids can be very cruel,” he said.<\/p>\n

Smith was the first guest on Fox News anchor Sean Hannity<\/a>\u2019s new twice-weekly podcast, released Tuesday. Also on the podcast, Smith shut down rumors<\/a> he may consider running for president in 2028. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking with Hannity, he said if he has to “give up money, it\u2019s not happening.” The Democrat also noted he would be willing to vote for Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> over some other prominent Democrats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith opened up about the devastating comment from his father that changed his life and motivated his rise.\u00a0 Now a successful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-123772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith opened up about the devastating comment from his father that changed his life and motivated his rise.\u00a0 Now a successful […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\"},\"headline\":\"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never ‘be anything’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\"},\"wordCount\":439,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\",\"name\":\"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never ‘be anything’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"description\":\"Latest News From WallStreet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"width\":537,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Wall Street PR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR","og_description":"Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith opened up about the devastating comment from his father that changed his life and motivated his rise.\u00a0 Now a successful […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772","og_site_name":"Wall Street PR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36"},"headline":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never ‘be anything’","datePublished":"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772"},"wordCount":439,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Market News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772","name":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never 'be anything' - Wall Street PR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-10T15:07:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/stephen-a-smith-reveals-devastating-moment-his-father-said-he-would-never-be-anything-123772#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stephen A. Smith reveals devastating moment his father said he would never ‘be anything’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","name":"Wall Street PR","description":"Latest News From WallStreet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization","name":"Wall Street PR","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","width":537,"height":70,"caption":"Wall Street PR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123772"},{"taxonomy":"stock_ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stock_ticker?post=123772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}