Cowboys star torches Skip Bayless for sick 'execute' rant

Dallas Cowboys star Quinnen Williams has publicly called out Skip Bayless for a rant on ESPN’s First Take in which Bayless said he wanted to ‘execute’ Cowboys players.

“It’s extremely crazy to say you wanted players on defense to be executed. You got to do better my guy,” Williams wrote on X, tagging Bayless directly.

The clash began when Williams used the word “execute” 32 times in a five-minute postgame press conference after the Cowboys’ 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8.

“We’ve got to execute,” Williams had told reporters, per the team website.

“We haven’t been executing this whole season. We executed for three quarters, and didn’t execute that last quarter, and the film says it all. I think the biggest thing we’ve got to focus on is execute, and continue to stack days. At the end of the day, we’ve got to execute.”

Bayless, appearing on First Take on Thursday, November 5, 2026, alongside Stephen A. Smith, seized on Williams’s word choice.

“Quinnen Williams, in a five-minute interview, used the word ‘execute’ 32 times in five minutes,” Bayless said.

“And I must tell you that during Sunday’s collapse against the Arizona freakin’ Cardinals, I wanted to execute several of my players during the game. Execute them on the field. I wanted them to be executed.”

Bayless, a 74-year-old former Dallas Morning News columnist and author of books about the Cowboys’ 1980s collapse and 1990s dynasty, has a long history of provocative commentary.

Williams, a 28-year-old defensive tackle and four-time Pro Bowler, is one of the few bright spots on a Cowboys defense that has underperformed this season.

The Cowboys are now 3-5 after the loss to the Cardinals, who were led by a backup quarterback and a third-string running back.

The team faces the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9.

Fans on social media quickly called for ESPN to fire Bayless over the comments.

“Want them executed? Tf? Why tf is this clown still on TV? Do better at who you put on TV. wtf does he mean ‘my players’? Skip you ain’t apart of the Cowboys community so stop acting like you are. I hate this dude so much,” one user posted.

“Stop putting Skip on TV. Please,” wrote another.

Bayless’s line was not original.

It recycled an infamous anecdote about John McKay, the first head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who reportedly made a similar joke during the Bucs’ early losing seasons.

Williams’s response, while understandable, has raised questions about whether Cowboys players are paying too much attention to outside commentary.

The last thing the players should be listening to is the hyperbole of First Take and engaging in a back-and-forth with Skip Bayless, one analysis noted.

Williams’s post on X shows that Cowboys players are indeed paying attention to what is being said about them on national television.