Bart Scott is out at ESPN, and Cincinnati Bengals fans may not be mourning the loss.
Scott was among the longtime ESPN employees laid off July 21, a group that also included Ryan Clark, Karl Ravech, David Lloyd, Cam Newton and Andreas Hale.
The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker had already built a reputation with Bengals fans for the way he talked about Joe Burrow and Logan Wilson on the network.
Back in 2021, Scott went after Burrow on ESPN's "Get Up" after the Bengals quarterback finished a Week 17 win over Baltimore with a career-best 525 passing yards. That performance included a 52-yard pass to Joe Mixon with less than two minutes left.
"This dude beat Shane Falco and the replacement players, first of all. This dude wasn't playing against the Baltimore Ravens," Scott said of Burrow on "Get Up."
"And listen, I've seen this movie (in Cincinnati) before, right? … But listen, there's a culture in Baltimore.
Listen, the last thing you never want to do is poke the bear. OK, you're on a team that nobody had expectations for and you won a game.
You beat them twice. Congratulations.
You know what you won for your win? You won a lifetime career (expletive)-kicking from the Baltimore Ravens."
Scott drew more heat in 2023 when he said then-Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson used a "dirty style of tackling" on Ravens tight end Mark Andrews and quarterback Lamar Jackson in the first quarter of their Week 11 matchup in Baltimore.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor pushed back hard, calling the criticism of Wilson"completely reckless."
Scott spent most of his 11-year NFL career with Baltimore, playing for the Ravens from 2002 to 2008.
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