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Shannon Sharpe was fired by ESPN earlier this week, a decision that came less than two weeks after he settled a lawsuit with an ex-girlfriend who accused him of rape. Sharpe said he’s “at peace” with the network’s decision but wishes the world could’ve found out on Monday.
That’s because his older brother Sterling, the former Green Bay Packers wide receiver, is set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday. While it’ll be a moment of celebration for the family, since this marks the first time brothers have been enshrined together in football heaven, the weekend festivities will be clouded by Shannon’s dismissal.
“I really want it to be about him, and I want it to be about my family,” Shannon Sharpe said on the latest episode of his Nightcap podcast. “I hate the fact that I am overshadowing my brother. First two brothers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and this is what the headline is going to be for the next couple of days.”
Shannon, a seventh-round draft pick who was the first tight end to reach 10,000 receiving yards, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. In recent years, he developed into a sports media star and a cultural voice, regularly appearing on ESPN’s sports debate show First Take. He captured viral interviews, such as his conversation with comedian Katt Williams, that took hold amid the social media boom, and the three-time Super Bowl champion has managed to achieve more fame perhaps than he ever did as a player.
But Shannon’s latest fumble, a highly publicized sexual assault case, halts that.
Green Bay Press-Gazette columnist Pete Dougherty, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, doesn’t expect the awkwardness to linger into the weekend given today’s fast-paced news cycle. The longtime Packers writer also says the unmatched hospitality that inductees and their families receive during their stay in Canton helps to enjoy the moment.
“They treat them like they’re the most important people who’ve ever lived,” Dougherty said in a phone interview. “That sort of carries the day.”
Though under ill-timed conditions, Sterling finally gets his Canton moment, with Shannon expected to be his presenter. The former five-time Pro Bowler was the lone finalist from the combined category of seniors, coaches and contributors. It’s part of a new voting format that combines the top vote-getters from those individual categories into a finalist pool of five, with candidates still needing to notch the 80% approval mark to be elected.
Those from the senior committee are chosen separately from the modern-era inductions, with each player having last played in 1999 or earlier. Sterling last played in 1994.
Sterling, a former All-Pro player who led the league in receptions for three years, only played seven NFL seasons due to suffering a neck injury during the 1994 season. The career-ending injury, an abnormality in his vertebrae that required multiple surgeries, made experts consider him a long-shot for making the Hall for years because of his relatively short career.
But Dougherty notes that since 2016, there’s been five inductees with seven seasons or fewer, including ex-Denver Broncos great Terrell Davis (2017) and former Jacksonville Jaguars star Tony Boselli (2022). With that precedence, the senior screening committee — which includes Hall-of-Famers, media members and historians — ultimately felt like seven strong seasons was enough to be etched into football lore.
“That opened the door for him,” Dougherty said. “When I started on the committee, I didn’t think he had a prayer. I just thought the career was too short and he wouldn’t make it.”
Shannon hopes his termination won’t seep into the otherwise jovial weekend focused on Sterling.
He recalled the conversation in which he repeatedly apologized to his brother: “[Sterling] said ‘stop apologizing… I’m going to love you regardless. We all make mistakes.'”
