Shannon Sharpe was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in 2011. I had an exclusive with him at CBS on NFL Media Day, back in 2014, and with the NFL preseason approaching, we’re re-publishing that exclusive now. We discussed a multitude of topics here, including his outspoken personality, some of the candid things he said about others, and how they have reacted to it.
First we give you some of the best Shannon Sharpe soundbites:
WR Freddie Mitchell: “If I had his hands, I’d cut ’em off”
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.”
After Ray Buchanan said 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?”
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.”
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.”
I asked Shannon Shape about all the things he’s said, and if he’s caught any backlash.
“I look at it like this, I played the game for 14 years, I had a level of success, and at the end of the day they judged what I did on the field as worthy of going to Canton. A lot of times when you get guys saying ‘well, how long he did he play?’ ‘Was he any good when he played?’ I get none of that,” Sharpe said.
“So when I say something, I have no axe to grind. I don’t need to say something to get on television, I’m already on television. So I’m offering my honest opinion. I’m not one of these guys who’s going to say who’s better Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? And answer I’d like to have both. That’s not what i am. You know exactly where I stand on issues,” Shannon Sharpe continued.
“If he does his job, I’m going to do my job, and everybody is going to be happy. If he doesn’t do his job, I’m going to do my job. One of us is going to be happy, guess which one that’s going to be,” Shannon said.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.