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Stephen A. Smith Has a Blunt Message for Tiger Woods After Latest DUI

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Rachel Schneider | Last updated Apr 1, 2026 10:29 AM ET

In an appearance Monday night on NewsNation's Cuomo, sports media personality Stephen A. Smith had a lot to say about Tiger Woods' latest DUI charge — his third driving incident in less than a decade — and said the public's patience has run out.

"In a lot of people's eyes in America, he's gotten away with a lot," Smith told host Chris Cuomo. "And they're sick and tired of it because they're saying, what is it going to take? Is he going to kill someone?"

'Most of Us Would Be in Jail'

Smith traced the frustration back further than Friday's rollover crash in Jupiter Island, Florida. He pointed to Woods' 2017 arrest, when officers found him asleep at the wheel, and his 2021 crash in California — after which, Smith noted, authorities never administered a breathalyzer or blood test.

"Most of us would be in jail," Smith said.

He also pushed back on any suggestion that Woods' physical struggles — seven back surgeries, over twenty leg operations — fully explain the pattern. The issue, Smith argued, is a clear and unaddressed addiction that has now played out three times behind the wheel of a car.

"You had this problem in 2017. You had this problem in 2021. You had this issue again last Friday," Smith said. "All three times you're inebriated and you're behind the wheel of a car."

Smith was particularly struck by the timing of Friday's crash — 2 p.m. on a residential road.

"This ain't some late night after he was at a party or something," he said. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon."

His ask of Woods was direct: before seeking treatment, before anything else, stop getting behind the wheel.

"Could you do me a favor? Just stay away from being behind the wheel of a car. Stop putting other people in danger. That's all anybody's asking right now."

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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