Skip Bayless has received some backlash over the reaction he shared to the shooting that took place at a building in New York City on Monday.
Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old from Las Vegas, shot and killed four people on Monday at 345 Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan, which is the building that houses the NFL’s offices. Tamura was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 33rd floor of the building.
Police believe that Tamura was targeting the NFL with his attack. The former high school football star was carrying a note in his pocket that suggested he thought he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The note made reference to former NFL player Terry Long, who committed suicide by drinking antifreeze in 2005. Long was diagnosed with CTE.
Tamura’s note accused the NFL of concealing the dangers of CTE to protect the league’s financial interests. One of the things Tamura wrote in the three-page note was “study my brain please.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said evidence suggests Tamura was targeting the NFL with his attack. It is believed that Tamura “mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank,” according to Adams.
On Tuesday, Bayless took to social media to express relief that Tamura did not make it to the floors where the NFL has their offices.
“Thank God the New York City shooter apparently took the wrong bank of elevators and didn’t make it to the NFL floors. He reportedly bizarrely blamed the NFL for what he believed to be his CTE suffered from playing high-school football,” Bayless wrote on X.
Thank God the New York City shooter apparently took the wrong bank of elevators and didn’t make it to the NFL floors. He reportedly bizarrely blamed the NFL for what he believed to be his CTE suffered from playing high-school football.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 29, 2025
Bayless was criticized because many people thought he was insinuating it was somehow better that non-NFL personnel were the ones who lost their lives.
What Bayless likely meant was that it was fortunate Tamura died before making it to the NFL offices, if the NFL was the shooter’s intended target. Perhaps Bayless is of the belief that Tamura would have killed even more people had he been able to find the NFL offices more easily.
Either way, the phrasing from Bayless invited backlash.
