When Shannon Sharpe Used His Own HOF Speech To Lift Brother Sterling Whose NFL Career Was Cut Short By Neck Injury

Shannon Sharpe's brother Sterling Sharpe was a huge prospect until his career ended with a neck injury which he could never recover from.

By Blesson Daniel

Published on Jul 21, 2024 | 10:01 AM IST | 40.2K

Shannon Sharpe [Credit-Instagram@shannonsharpe84]

In this Article

Does Sterling Sharpe deserve a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame?
What does Shannon Sharpe do now?

Shannon Sharpe is without a doubt one of the best tight ends in NFL history. His groundbreaking skillset not only helped John Elway and the Denver Broncos win two consecutive Super Bowls but also redefined his position.

His distinct abilities and charming demeanor helped him get inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, but he feels someone else close to him deserves the honor as well. On X account MLFootball, they released a highlight tape of Sharpe's older brother Sterling, who played wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers before a neck injury caused him to retire at age 29.

Does Sterling Sharpe deserve a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame?

Sterling Sharpe's stats and honors justify his place as a probable Hall of Famer, even though he only played seven seasons and did not make the playoffs until the sixth. Sterling Sharpe has 595 catches and 65 touchdowns with the Green Bay Packers in seven seasons, totaling 8,134 yards. From those figures, he topped the league in several statistics many times:

1990 - receptions (55)
1992 - receptions (108), receiving yards (1,461), and receiving touchdowns(13)
1993 - receptions (112)
1994 - receiving touchdowns (18)

In that time, he earned five Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro first teams. In terms of career length, Shannon Sharpe's Denver colleague Terrell Davis played just seven seasons but was inducted in 2017 for his tremendous body of work, which included two Super Bowl championships, including MVP in the first, a regular-season MVP award, and other honors.

Playoff success is also not taken into account. Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions won only one playoff game between them, while Cleveland Browns 2023 entrant Joe Thomas was frequently, if not always, one of the NFL's laughingstocks throughout his 11-year tenure.

What does Shannon Sharpe do now?

Shannon Sharpe has had multiple lives over his 21-year career as a TV figure. He was the spark plug on CBS's The NFL Today before hitting his stride on FS1's Undisputed, capitalizing on his affable personality to become one of sports media's most vocal personalities.

Sharpe left Undisputed in June after his relationship with co-host Skip Bayless deteriorated, and the Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion joined ESPN's First Take in September, where he collaborated with friends Stephen A. Smith and Molly Querim for the show's distinct brand of high-volume debate.

Sharpe, like some of his ESPN colleagues, has expanded his image outside his on-air work since creating Club Shay Shay, a podcast in which he interviews various celebrities and sportsmen.

He launched the program in 2020, but it quickly rose to the top of the pop cultural debate at the start of this year, when his now-infamous sit-down with comic Katt Williams went viral, garnering 70 million views to date and growing.

He also presents Nightcap, a podcast with Chad Johnson, an 11-year NFL veteran and six-time Pro Bowler. Sharpe believes the publicity has increased his visibility to a degree he was not expecting.

Also Read: Shannon Sharpe Reveals Terrifying Reason Why He Avoids Sleeping Over at Women’s Homes