ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith caught flak from NFL fans Wednesday after he used “First Take” to demand action from Indianapolis Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon on her struggling team, with the pushback centered on the general manager she fired just over two weeks ago and the two Pro Bowl veterans the Colts have traded since.

Irsay-Gordon, the principal owner and CEO since her father, Jim Irsay, died in 2025, works games from the sideline in a headset, taking notes and talking with coaches, a habit that has brought her some criticism.

She fired Chris Ballard the day after an Oct. 18 home loss, 26-20, to the then-winless Tennessee Titans, and the Colts have lost both games since, falling to 2-6, most recently in Sunday’s 42-7 defeat at Jacksonville.

Stephen A. Smith Presses Carlie Irsay-Gordon to Shake Up the Colts

Smith made his case three days after the loss in Jacksonville, in a “First Take” segment that also featured ESPN analyst and former Colts center Jeff Saturday, who once served as the team’s interim head coach.

He did address Irsay-Gordon’s place on the Colts sideline, though not the way some of her critics have: “I didn’t mind her parading up and down the sidelines. That’s what she does.”

His issue instead was with the team’s play and what he believes its owner should be doing about it: “My whole point is, what the hell are you doing that for if you ain’t going to do nothing about the product you’re seeing? What you on the sidelines for? … Do something, get rid of somebody, make a change, send a message that you’re moving in a different direction because they’ve been underachieving.”

Saturday cut in at that point: “She fired a guy. She fired somebody. She did do something.”

That did not settle it for Smith, who shifted his focus to head coach Shane Steichen: “Why the coach there? Why the coach there? What’s he there for? Stop. Don’t wait. Stop it. You ain’t going nowhere. Let the people in Indianapolis know you’re moving in a different direction.”

Irsay-Gordon had kept both men after the Colts’ 7-1 start last season gave way to a 1-8 finish and no playoff berth, and Ballard is the only one of the two she has since let go.

Fans Point to the Chris Ballard Firing and Two Veteran Trades

Ballard’s firing sits at the heart of the reaction to Smith’s take.

Irsay-Gordon announced it on Monday, Oct. 19, in a statement that laid out both the reason for the move and its timing: “Our standard is to compete for championships, and I believe a change in leadership is necessary to meet that standard. Making this change during the season was a deliberate decision. Waiting would only delay the important work that needs to begin now.”

One fan wondered whether Smith knew about the firing at all, though Saturday had brought it up on the air: “She fired the GM. Does Stephen know anything?”

Another fan brought the roster moves into it as well, tying them to the firing: “Stephen A. is so out of touch. Does he not know she fired the GM and is actively trading players?”

Those trades came on Oct. 27, when eight-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson went to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder, while three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner returned to the San Francisco 49ers, where his NFL career began, for a 2027 fourth-round pick.

Both players were nearing the end of their contracts, with Nelson set for unrestricted free agency in 2027 and Buckner’s deal scheduled to void in February. The trades were made under assistant GM Ed Dodds, whom Irsay-Gordon put in charge of the personnel department for the rest of the season after firing Ballard.

Another fan cited those two deals while widening the criticism to national coverage of the Colts: “Stephen A. along with the entire national media has never had a clue about small market teams like the Colts. Just sold off 2 cornerstone pieces and fired a GM and he thinks she’s doing nothing?”

Smith’s credibility drew a broader swing from another fan: “He just speaks without facts and idiots eat it up lol.”

One fan said, “She’s literally doing a complete rebuild. How does this guy have a platform still?”

Another fan took a dig at Smith, writing, “SAS so clueless lol.”

Steichen is still the Colts’ head coach, while the NFL trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 10 gives Dodds less than a week to decide whether to add to the Nelson and Buckner trades.