How Good Was Shannon Sharpe Actually?

for all you youngsters who think Shannon sharp is just a media personality oh boy are you wrong unlike his talk show counterparts Unk could ball not only is he a Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl rings but he revolutionized the tight end position and forever change the way an NFL offense operates as one of the biggest Personalities in NFL history Shannon loved to talk on and off the field but he always backed it up so how good was he actually and where does he rank among the greatest tight ends of all time sharp was

born into a poor family in Glenville Georgia his parents split when he was just 3 months old immediately giving him adversity to overcome basic needs were not guaranteed in the rural South and neither was his family safety in fact during his Hall of Fame speech sharp explained that we were so poor a robber once broke into our house and we ended up robbing the robber to make matters worse Sharp's father passed away from cancer when he was in his early teens leaving him without a father figure for a large part of his youth luckily for

Shannon and his siblings his grandmother Mary Porter stepped in to raise them Porter also helped take care of several other extended family members see my grandmother and grandfather they raised me and I hung on everything they say but they didn't know it so everyone lived packed into one small home barely fit for a family of four you know there's no paneling in the house there's no insulation in the house it was basically cinder block it was really really cold in the winter but while the sharp family didn't have much what Shannon and his older brother

Sterling did have was sports that was going to be their way out at Glenville High School Sterling was a Superstar athlete playing basketball football and running track he became a high-profile football recruit that took his talents to the University of South Carolina Shannon had hoped to follow in his brother's footsteps and as an athlete he did he was also a star multisport athlete but in the classroom he struggled so his only offer came from the local division 2 School Savannah State sharwood continue to play multiple Sports at Savannah playing basketball competing in track and field

events and suiting up for the Tigers football team but it was quickly obvious that the grid iron was where sharp was at his best Shannon set many records while at Savannah State totaling a whopping 192 receptions for 3,744 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns over four years and while Shannon was dominating the inferior D2 competition his brother Sterling was doing the same at USC then in the NFL at South Carolina Sterling set nearly every receiving record which led to him being drafted seventh overall by the Green Bay Packers in 1988 then by jus his second year

in the NFL he was already a first team All Pro but despite his brother's instant success nobody was paying close attention to Shannon I'm the best Earle I'm better than you are you know it the NFL was Far different 30 plus years ago and tight ends were expected to be closer physically to offensive tackles than wide receivers while Sterling was the ideal NFL wide receiver Shannon was just a tweener with good stats the future NFL legend was written off and seen as a project rather than a weapon little did they know Shannon would go on

to change the course of the tight end position forever cuz after a grueling six rounds undrafted in the 1990 NFL draft that round one was off the table but I I thought I was good enough to be a second or third round draft pick the Denver Broncos took a shot on the undersized tight end and I pick up the phone and it was the Broncos and they said we selected you in the seventh round but like other teams evaluations of sharp they didn't believe he was a tight end instead they committed to playing him as

a wide receiver Denver failed over 1990 and 1991 Sharp's first two NFL seasons he totaled just 29 receptions for 421 receiving yards legendary QB John Elway was leading the offense but sharp struggled to make an impact and to make things worse this was all happening while Shannon lived in the shadow of his brother Sterling while Shannon was trying to get his footing in the NFL Sterling continued racking up all pro and pro bowl honors for the Green Bay Packers so Shannon struggling to make an impact only created a sense that one brother was meant for

NFL greatness and the other was simply a role player in 1992 sharp finally broke through expectations and never looked back Broncos head coach Dan Reeves decided to play sharp where he belonged at tight end and the results were immediate sharp exploded for 53 receptions and 640 receiving yards which led all tight ends in the league the Broncos had found something special of course the other NFL teams had talented tight ends that were putting up numbers but Denver had only scratched the surface of what sharp could become in the 1993 season sharp reached New Heights again

and as his relationship with John Elway grew so did his numbers the Broncos tight end had a whopping 81 receptions for 995 yards and nine touchdowns for the first time sharp was named First Team all pro that's a special honor for any player but it also marked the first and only time that Shannon was named to the squad during the same year as his brother Sterling Shannon was no longer living in his brother's Shadow instead they were shining together together sadly the sharp Brothers didn't get a chance to complete that feat again after Sterling suffered

a career-ending neck injury that forced him into early retirement Sterling's career was robbed from him after just seven NFL seasons it was a grit iron tragedy that Sterling who looked destined to be a Hall of Famer could not keep playing in the NFL alongside Shannon but I played football because my brother played and man it broke my heart when he said it was over as heartbreaking as Sterling's injury was it only added further motivation for Shannon the Broncos tight end was dedicated to representing the sharp name and he would eventually get the chance to honor

his brother's playing career with the ultimate tribute however sharp was still Relentless in pursuing his ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl title by 1995 the Broncos had built a team that could match up with anyone offensively and it was time to take advantage of that but it didn't come easy the Broncos struggled in the 95 season under new head coach Mike Shanahan failing to make the playoffs at 8 and8 frustratingly for Sharp the Denver defense let them down on several occasions while the offense finished finished third in the NFL in total yards even worse

sharp missed significant time due to an injury for the first time in his career the Broncos tight end only started 12 games but still scored four touchdowns and totaled 756 receiving yards the second most of any NFL tight end that season performing at that level while injured only further proved Sharp's talent and toughness and he was rewarded for playing through injury as he was named to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive year in '96 the Broncos began to realize their potential and in his second year as head coach Shanahan leaned on Sharp As the

Broncos started the campaign with an astonishing 12-1 record they went on to outscore opponents 391 to 275 That season finishing the year 13-3 with sharp being the key reason for their offensive success in 15 games sharp brought down 80 receptions for 1,62 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns and as he was torching opponent defenses he would let him know about it the New England Patriots found that out the hard way in the middle of a dominant 34 to8 win sharp pulled out a red telephone on the sideline and infamously shouted President we need a National

Guard we need as many me as you can spare cuz we are killing the Patriots unfortunately trash talking can't come back to haunt you and for Sharp That season it did while the Patriots would go on to play in the Super Bowl Denver suffered a shocking 30 to 27 upset to the Jacksonville Jaguars in their first playoff game sharp and the Broncos were back to square one over that 96 season they had become the team to beat in the NFL and getting beat in the first round of the playoffs wasn't part of the script considering

that John Elway was Now 37 time was running out but after being humbled the Broncos had a chip on their shoulder entering the 97 season Denver won their opening six games with sharp bringing down 18 receptions for 266 yards and a touchdown not a bad start but the best was yet to come for the Broncos tight end over the next 10 games sharp crossed the 80 yd mark five times while he only reached the end zone three times in that regular season his 1,000 107 receiving yards was truly incredible in fact no other tight end

that season even came close to matching him sharp beat the next closest competitor by 320 yards in terms of pure impact his 15.3 yards per catch that season was vital to the Broncos success but Sharp's goal wasn't to lead the NFL in various stats it was to Hoist the Lombardi trophy to do that they would need to exercise the Demons of the 96 season by beating the Jags in another postseason opener and they did more than just beat them Denver dominated Jacksonville in their postseason rematch winning 42-1 17 then in the AFC Championship game they

played against the Pittsburgh Steelers sharp made multiple key receptions down the stretch in a close 24-21 win finally after eight seasons sharp was playing for a ring years and years of struggle success and falling just short had culminated in the Super Bowl 32 bout against the Green Bay Packers the Packers were the defending champs and the favorite but the Broncos got hot early jumping out to a 17 to7 lead sharp didn't get in the end zone but lway always looked at him as his security blanket targeting sharp a team high five times in a Super

Bowl classic Denver and Green Bay traded blows before the game was tied at 24 all in the fourth quarter that tie was broken with little time remaining as Terrell Davis reached the end zone for the Broncos at the 145 Mark in the fourth quarter Denver's defense held up on the following drive and the Lombardi trophy swapped hands to the Broncos the narratives around John Elway finally reaching the top of the mountain dominated the national media but Sharp's Journey deserved just as much press a seventh round pick out of Savannah State was now a Super Bowl

champion and sharp would finally get to honor the cut short career of his brother Sterling Shannon gifted his Super Bowl ring to Sterling and we're doing an interview with NBC and we're sitting down talking I like yeah I'm going to give him the Super Bowl ring some things are bigger than personal success and the sharp Brothers clearly understand that but what do you you do after you accomplish your ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl you do it again and you do it in even more dominant fashion after an impressive 12-4 regular season campaign in

their first Super Bowl season the Broncos followed that up with a 14-2 run in 1998 Denver dismantled their opponents initially starting on a 13-0 streak to open the season so much for the Super Bowl slump huh the stats were wild sharp and the Broncos scored 31.3 points per game establishing themselves as one of the most Dynamic offenses in NFL history in 18 total games played Denver won 15 games by two scores or more including all three of their playoff games sharp didn't cross the thousand-yard receiving Mark but he did reach 10 touchdowns for the second

time in his career for a third consecutive year sharp was named a first team All Pro and a pro bowler it was a story book ending for Elway who retired at the end of the season I just can't compete at the level in this game that I want to compete at anymore for Sharp that was a huge deal the the only quarterback he had ever really known in the NFL was gone and now the Broncos had to start again with someone new and unfortunately for Sharp it just didn't pan out he had multiple injuries in

1999 limiting him to just five total appearances by the following off season in 2000 the four-time allpro was a free agent and he was going to take his talents elsewhere after 10 seasons in Denver sharp joined a talented Baltimore Ravens team for the 2000 season the Ravens boasted two legendary running backs in Jamal lewi and priest Holmes but sorely lacked a downfield threat so that's where sharp came in Baltimore prided itself on its defense but sharp took them to a new level on offense and the numbers prove it the veteran tight end led the entire

Squad in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns with 80 yards and five scores the Ravens went from an 8-8 team in 1999 to a Powerhouse that finished 12-4 in 2000 somehow that record didn't win the AFC Central due to the Tennessee Titans going 13 and three but sharp in the Ravens would have the last laugh to open the postseason Baltimore dismantled Sharp's former team the Ravens beat the Broncos 21 to three as sharp exploded for three catches 73 yards and a touchdown now sharp and Baltimore got their shot at the Titans in the divisional round after

a fairly close game to start the Ravens broke the contest open in the fourth quarter to win 24-10 sharp only made one catch but it was a monstrous 53 yd grab that was a huge momentum shifter for Baltimore and that huge catch against the Titans was a foreshadowing of the AFC Championship clash with the Oakland Raiders in a 16-3 victory sharp made the most famous play of his career first catching a pass at the Ravens 12 yd line sharp ran all the way down the field for a 96 yard touchdown it was the only touchdown

in Baltimore's Victory and the longest score of Sharp's career after three exceptional games sharp had once again reached the Super Bowl sharp made just one catch for five yards in the big game but Baltimore defeated the New York Giants 34-7 for the team's first ever Super Bowl victory sharp would spend one more season with the Ravens going for 811 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 2001 he was named to his final Pro Bowl That season marking his eighth appearance the Ravens would not replicate their previous postseason success losing in the divisional round and it's painful

as it is to say this they have a better football team than what we got but sharp had made his Mark in Charm City and had a Super Bowl ring to show for it to wrap up his career Shannon returned to Denver to no one's surprise he was still a massive problem for opposing defenses over 28 games in his final two years sharp racked up 1,456 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns tight ends today are some of the most game-breaking weapons in the NFL combining speed and size to create the ultimate mismatch they have Shannon sharp

to thank for that being arguably the most influential player to ever play that position to this day sharp is still top five among tight ends in receptions and receiving yards he is without a doubt a top five tight end in NFL history his legacy was cemented in 2011 when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame his presence on television and social media has made sharp more famous than ever even people who don't watch football know who he is thanks to memes and clips of sharp doing his thing but it's important to remember

why he was put on TV in the first place it's because he always has had the game to go along with the gab for more of the best NFL content be sure to like And subscribe also check out some of our other videos on the screen now