Whenever Stephen A. Smith is on another podcast or you see him making a guest appearance somewhere, he knows how much of an influence that he is because of who he is and who he represents.

Smith was a guest on the most recent episode of The Pivot Podcast with Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark and told the trio that what makes him one of the most, if not the most influential person in sports media is the trust that ESPN shows in him.

“The biggest thing that makes me influential is the trust that they have in me. When I’m on a podcast or a news network, they don’t worry about me the way they would worry about other folks because they know I understand that I get the big picture,” said Smith.

“I am constantly aware of the fact that I don’t just represent me, I represent ESPN. As a result, I have to take into account what they think and what they feel… They appreciate that because I’m not throwing them into the bowl with me.”

Whenever Smith makes a point during a debate, he is very confident in what he says and it does not matter to him what any fan or player thinks.

“I’m incredibly confident in what I say. Meaning that I pride myself in being a human being,” he said. “I know I’m not trying to get personal and I know I’m just doing my job. I don’t worry about fans. Hell with that. You watch me for a reason. It ain’t the other way around. My attitude is this is my job and it’s what the hell I’m going to do.”

Sometimes, Smith can be hard on athletes for some of the things that they do. However, he says he is trying to protect those athletes from people who try to change their character off of one mistake.

“What I mean by that is I don’t try to protect players from being held accountable for what they do. I try to protect players from being character-assassinated as to who they are,” said Smith. “We have all made mistakes. What I’m not going to do as a black man in a position of influence is allow folks to look at another black athlete… I’m never going to allow somebody to look at y’all and say this is who you are because of something you did.

“For me to get in that position and forget that inherent responsibility that I believe I am supposed to have to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. To provide perspective is very, very important to me. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything. What it means is I try to articulate where you are coming from so people can understand that and judge it according to that.”

Even though Smith can show a variety of different moods away from the camera, he knows that when he’s on television, it’s about making sure that the audience is tuning in and stops flipping the channels because they want to hear him.

“I’m a multitude of things. I can be mellow, I can be loud, I can be bombastic or demonstrative, I can be quiet, I can be pissed off and mean as hell,” Smith said. “I can be very jovial and fun-loving. It all depends on what the moment calls for. None of us are truly, truly one-dimensional.”

“What I would tell you about me on television is this. I believe this in my soul. I am a winner, bro. I am not trying to lose. In television, it is about ratings and revenue. My whole position is who do you want to watch when you flip the channels?” he continued.

“When you are flipping through the channels, who are you going to stop and say let me see what this person has to say? In my mind, it is always me because I’m trying to show you that I am passionate and enthused about what we are talking about. I can’t do that if I’m mellow chilling in my house. I am projecting and asking the audience to stop what they are doing to watch me.”

Even though the show First Take was on the rise when Smith was debating Skip Bayless, he told the trio that whenever people would talk about the show to him years ago, he always gave credit to Bayless because in his mind, it was his show. Once Bayless left, it became Smith’s show in his eyes, as talented as Max Kellerman is:

“The moment Skip was gone, it was mine just like when I was there, it was Skip’s,” Smith said. “Once 2016 came, those four years that we were together, go back and read my clips. I don’t give a damn how much my star supposedly was rising. I always made it clear it was Skip’s show because he brought me there. He knew the formula for which the show would work, I followed his lead and I became what I am for First Take because of him.

“The same applies to anybody that comes to First Take now because just like he set the stage for me, I am setting the show for everybody.”