Shannon Sharpe profile,
 Sharpe at The NFL Today pre-game show forSuper Bowl XLI | |||
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| Born | June 26, 1968 Chicago, Illinois | ||
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| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1990–2003 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1990 / Round: 7 / Pick: 192 | ||
| College | Savannah State | ||
| Professional teams | |||
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| Career stats | |||
| Receptions | 815 | ||
| Receiving yards | 10,060 | ||
| Touchdowns | 62 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Shannon Sharpe (born June 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former American Football tight end who played for the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. Sharpe is known for his creative commentary and trash talking. He was the NFL's all-time yardage leader among tight ends until Tony Gonzalez surpassed his record on October 5, 2008. Sharpe holds the distinction of being the first tight end ever to amass over 10,000 receiving yards.
See also:Michele Bundy
Early life
Shannon, the younger brother of former NFL wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, grew up poor in Glennville, Georgia. He once joked, "We were so poor, a robber once broke into our house and we ended up robbing the robber."
Sharpe graduated with a degree in criminal justice from Savannah State College (since 1996 Savannah State University). He commented: "I was a terrible student. I didn't graduate magna cum laude, I graduated 'Thank you, Lawdy!'" At Savannah State he played football and basketball and competed in triple jump.
Sharpe was a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection from 1987 to 1989 and the SIAC Player of the Year in 1987. He was also selected as a Kodak Division II All-American in 1989. He led the Tigers' football team to their best records in the program's history: 7-3 in 1988 and 8-1 in 1989. Shannon Sharpe was nicked named "The Shapeshifer" in his early years for his abilities to shape his body to any form to catch any ball. This was a comment used mostly in his college days for his great athletic abilities.
NFL career
Sharpe was drafted in the 7th round of the 1990 NFL Draft, 192nd overall, by the Denver Broncos. He had a mediocre rookie season as a wide receiver, until Broncos head coach Dan Reeves convinced him to convert to tight end. He remained with Denver until 1999, winning two championship rings in Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII in the process. After the 1997 season championship, his first, he appeared on General Mills' Wheaties boxes with four other Broncos.After a two-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens, where he won another championship ring in Super Bowl XXXV, he returned to the Broncos. He played there until 2003.Then he retired to become an NFL broadcaster for CBS.In 2009, Sharpe was named to the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame and the franchise's 50th Anniversary Team.
Career statistics
Ozzie Newsome, Hall-of-Fame tight end, Ravens' general manager, and the man responsible for signing Sharpe before the 2000 season had this to say about him, "I think he's a threat when he's on the field. He has to be double-teamed. He's a great route-runner. He's proven that he can make the big plays. That's what separates him. He's a threat." Sharpe was selected All-Pro 4 times, played in eight Pro Bowls(1992–1998, 2001) and amassed over 1,000 receiving yards in three different seasons. In a 1993 playoff game against the Los Angeles Raiders, Sharpe tied a postseason record with 13 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown. In the Ravens 2000 AFC title game against the Raiders, he caught a short pass on 3rd down and 18 from his own four-yard line and took it 96 yards for a touchdown, assisting his team to a 16-3 win. He finished his 14 year career with 815 receptions for 10,060 yards and 62 touchdowns in 204 games.
Career receiving statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Rec | Yards | Y/R | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 7 | 99 | 14.1 | 1 |
| 1991 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 22 | 322 | 14.6 | 1 |
| 1992 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 53 | 640 | 12.1 | 2 |
| 1993 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 81 | 995 | 12.3 | 9 |
| 1994 | Denver Broncos | 15 | 87 | 1,010 | 11.6 | 4 |
| 1995 | Denver Broncos | 13 | 63 | 756 | 12 | 4 |
| 1996 | Denver Broncos | 15 | 80 | 1,062 | 13.3 | 10 |
| 1997 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 72 | 1,107 | 15.4 | 3 |
| 1998 | Denver Broncos | 16 | 64 | 768 | 12.0 | 10 |
| 1999 | Denver Broncos | 5 | 23 | 224 | 9.7 | 0 |
| 2000 | Baltimore Ravens | 16 | 67 | 810 | 12.1 | 5 |
| 2001 | Baltimore Ravens | 16 | 73 | 811 | 11.1 | 2 |
| 2002 | Denver Broncos | 12 | 61 | 686 | 11.2 | 3 |
| 2003 | Denver Broncos | 15 | 62 | 770 | 12.4 | 8 |
| Total | - | 203 | 815 | 10,060 | 12.3 | 62 |
Post-playing career
Sharpe is a commentator for the CBS Sports pregame show The NFL Today, including the Sprint Halftime Report and the Subway Postgame Show, replacing Deion Sanders and co-hosting with James Brown (formerly with Fox NFL Sunday), former NFL quarterbacks Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason as well as former coach Bill Cowher.In the 2004 NFL regular season, Sharpe defeated Marino and Esiason in the pick 'em game of The NFL Today with a 53-21 record. His critics say that his broadcasting skills are hurt by his poor grammar and pronunciation of words (Sharpe has a very noticeable lisp and drawl).
Sharpe also appeared on SIRIUS NFL Radio's Opening Drive on Friday mornings, but is no longer affiliated with the channel. He also writes a column on NFL.com.
Sharpe now resides in Atlanta. On the National Football League Players' Association Players Inc. Web site, while he played in Denver, he cited his hobbies as fishing, basketball, weight lifting, and spending time with his girlfriend, Shelly and their Akita, Sampson. He also played in the 2005 World Series of Poker.
Sharpe was among the 17 finalists being considered for enshrinement at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. However, he was passed over in his first year in a class that included Bruce Smith, Ralph Wilson, Derrick Thomas and Rod Woodson. On October 23, 2009, the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame announced that Sharpe would be inducted in December of that year. In addition, Savannah State University also retired Sharpe's No. 2 jersey.
In September of 2010, a restraining order was filed by a woman who claimed that Sharpe made death threats to her on several occasions, stalked her, and forced her to have sex with him. Sharpe decided to take a leave of absence from the CBS Network in order to deal with the allegations.
Memorable quotes
People Sharpe has commented on:
The New England Patriots: "Mr. President, call in the National Guard! We need as many men as you can spare! Because we are killing the Patriots! We'll call the dogs off! Send the National Guard please! (during a 34 - 8 rout vs. the Patriots on November 17, 1996)
WR Plaxico Burress: "Plexiglas"
WR Chad Ochocinco: "ocho no-show" instead of "ocho cinco"
RB Corey Dillon, "the biggest robbery since the Louisiana Purchase" (Subway Postgame Show, 2005-01-16, AFC divisional game IND 3 - NE 20)
QB Jake Plummer: "They're about to take out the 'SN' in Snake and put an 'F' in front of it." (from Movin' the Chains)
QB Kyle Boller: "You do have your teammates behind you: your fullback and your halfback, and that’s only because they have to be."
QB Kyle Boller: "I've got a better chance of winning the Kentucky Derby on the back of a donkey than they have of winning the Super Bowl with Kyle Boller."
Head Coach Tom Coughlin: "I would rather die in an abandoned building alone, and my family not know what happened, than play for Coughlin."
LB London Fletcher-Baker: "LondonFletcher-Baker.com; he's logged in."
Jacksonville Jaguars' strategy in a divisional playoff game against the New England Patriots: "Nothing cheap, nothing deep." (January 12, 2008)
CB Ray Buchanan, who wore a dog collar to Media Day and has guaranteed an Atlanta victory in Super Bowl XXXIII: "Had anybody heard of Ray Buchanan before he got to Atlanta?"
After Buchanan's assertion that Sharpe looked like a horse: "I've never called anybody ugly. Do I think people are ugly? Yeah, I think he's ugly, but I've never said that...Is he my friend? No. Did I ever view him as a friend? No. Do I view him as an acquaintance? No. Do I like him? No. If I see him in a snowstorm, his truck is broke down, mine is going perfectly, would I pick him up? No."
QB Steve DeBerg: "DeBerg is old enough to be my father, and he's still in the league. How old is DeBerg, 105?"
TE O.J. Santiago: "Santiago? Who, Benito?"
FS Eugene Robinson: "He can't out-talk me or cover me. He went to Colgate, but I'm smarter than he is. I might bump into him. I know he's not going to be covering me one-on-one. We know that's not going to happen, don't we?"
About the four people he'd invite to a dinner party: "Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Michael Jordan and Halle Berry. I'd talk to Gates, Buffett and Jordan first, and then me and Halle would go get another table in the back that's candlelit. And I'd let them discuss whatever they want to discuss."
"I won't talk about someone's mother. I won't talk about their girlfriend or their wife, but if you have a deformity, I would talk about that."
About growing up in Georgia and hating the Atlanta Falcons: "I've pretty much been in Atlanta my whole life, and I never liked the Falcons. What was there to like about them? They lost all the time. If you had a pair of cleats on and you were in Fulton County, they'd put you in the ballgame, they were so bad. For $20, you could sit in the luxury box with the owner."
About the Indianapolis Colts Defense winning the Super Bowl: "I have a better chance of hitting a home run grand slam in Yankee's Stadium with a toothpick."
On Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman's first-half performance in Super Bowl XLI: "Rex Grossman is exactly who I thought he was...inconsistent!" This was a spoof of then-Arizona Cardinals coach Denny Green, who had famously growled, "The Bears are who we thought they were!" following Arizona's infamous Monday Night Football loss to the Bears earlier that season.
On New England Patriots strategy after a Deltha O'Neal punt-return touchdown on Monday Night Football on November 3, 2003: "They can't run the ball! All they're gonna do is play-action, they can't run the ball."
(source:wikipedia)
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