Club Shay Shay - Sterling Sharpe

Episode Date: September 22, 2020

Club Shay Shay is officially open! The Hall of Famer takes it back to where it all began, as he welcomes in his brother & “father figure” Sterling Sharpe  — the first time the two former NFL stars have had a sit-down interview together. Episode 1 of Club Shay Shay is the definitive history of Shannon and Sterling’s upbringing, as well their respective journeys to prominence.Shannon, 52, and Sterling, 55, grew up in a rural area in South Georgia, in a 1000 square-foot cinder block house, with no running water and a thin, leaky, tin roof. The two brothers discuss growing up together with their older sister, Libby, and their influential grandparents, Barney and Mary Porter.Sterling and Shannon detail their college careers and they both tell their sides of the 1990 NFL Draft, when Shannon was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 7th round (192nd overall). Sterling, the 7th overall pick of the 1988 NFL Draft, played at South Carolina before being drafted by Packers. The 5-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro played 7 seasons in Green Bay. The two brothers delve into Sterling’s playing days, including his career-ending injury and its aftermath. #DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                                             https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Can't get enough football? Look no further than the Good Morning Football podcast.

Join me, Jamie Erdahl, alongside Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt, and Akbar Bajabiamila for a daily breakdown of the league's biggest stories. Hey, you want to know the secret ingredient that makes Patrick Mahomes unstoppable? Or maybe which reality show best describes the Jets season? Look no further. We've got recaps, retweets, and reactions to all the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field. Make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, welcome to Club Shea Shea. I'm your host, Shea Sharp, also known as Shannon Sharp.

For my very first podcast, there was no question who my very first guest was going to be. It's the guy that's inspired me, that made me the person that I became today, be it on the field and off. He made me a better sports player. He made me a better man. He made me a better father. He made me a better TV personality. So he really doesn't need any introduction, but I give him one anywhere. My brother, Sterling Shaw. life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price wanna slice got the rolling dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life bro how you doing today give me a little update what's going on with you where are you right now in life what's going on with you beautiful columbia south carolina is hot humid sticky outside so i'm just with the you know

with covid 19 i don't get a chance to play any golf on the road. So I'm just enjoying playing here at the house with my friends. Playing your home course, huh? Yes, sir. I think the thing you and I talk when we talk often, and I think the biggest thing that we get is people like, man, when your brother's on television and he's telling these stories how much of that is real how much of that is a fiction how much is him embellishing so let's just start give us a little background because people because when I run into people people don't think I'm

telling the truth because people say man you're talking like you grew up in the 40s in the 50s you and you you grew up in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s. So how can you say when you're eating this and how you live, give the people a little background on how we grew up in rural South Georgia. Well, we grew up in, well, basically in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. But we were definitely raised old school, 30s, 40s, and 50s. You know, it was a time that that's just what we knew. And so when you repeat things that our grandmother or grandfather said, it's actually kind of comical because it takes you, you know, even in 2020, it takes you back to 1974.

It takes you back to 1979. It takes you back to 1983. So, you know, I tell people all the time, I said, yeah, Barney Porter or Mary Porter definitely said it. And I'm just shocked that he remembered because he was, he's younger than me. I'm shocked he remembered and he's repeating. I think that's the biggest thing because Libby, our older sister, we call her Libby, I think that's the biggest thing because Libby, our older sister, we call Libby, let me share, we call Libby a buck. You and I both have dropped Libby, basically call her a buck now. Right. How do you remember that? And when I tell people, I can remember everything that my grandfather ever said in my presence. I can tell you every time Granny was upset at me and I was 43 when she passed, I can remember that stuff because it was so impactful on me.

You know, it's one of those things that, and I tell people this, I try to get people to understand this all the time about memories. And I'm like, what you remember about my playing career, what I remember about my playing career is totally different. And so what you remember is, I mean, you know, in hindsight, once we left Glenville, you know, to go to college and to go on to the NFL, it was amazing that how many instances or situations we found ourselves in where we could hear our grandmother or grandfather's voice in our head. So while it may seem surprising to a lot of people, I'm not surprised because Marion Barney said a lot of profound things in ways that weren't just blatantly teachable. Like when, you know, we would be riding in the car with him and we would see a car on the side of the road and he would say that car has not enough, has too many

drivers and not enough fixtures. And, you know, it took me forever to realize that he was saying that the only person in charge of fixing that car is the driver. The rest of the passengers don't care whether he gets it fixed or not, because they just don't get with enough friends. So he, he just made it a, had a habit of saying things that were teachable moments to us that may not be teachable to other people who may have heard. Did you think at the time, because, and I tell people, and we don't, I don't talk about this a whole lot. My grandfather was in the war, World War II. He got drafted to World War II, although he didn't go overseas and fight, he was there. And he was very militaristic. He was very disciplined. It was very matter of fact.

You did not have to assume where you stood with Barney Porter. You did not have to assume what he was thinking. He told you exactly what he was thinking. At the time you were going through that, like I said, you know, Popeye passed in 1977. You were 12, about to be 12. I was eight, about to be nine. Did you think at the time that, man, this joke is really tough on, we just kids. We're not grown men. No, that was all we knew. Remember, we didn't go spend time at other friends' houses.

we didn't go spend time at other friends' houses. We didn't get a chance to see how the other family dynamic of our friends worked. We, we only were around, uh, Barty Porter who was the head of our family, uh, and our aunts and uncles. And so basically everybody was like him. And so it was interesting that we, it was, it was definitely not a democracy. It was definitely a dictatorship. But the thing about being in that situation is we didn't know anything different.

So if he said, I really wish I could get this trash out of here, he wasn't basically saying he would hope somebody would find it in themselves to go take it out. Whoever heard his voice, he wanted the trash taken out, and you wanted to take it out right then. So, no, I tell you what, and I said, you know, it wasn't hard growing up that way because that was the only way we knew. Did, when people, when I tell people how we live in the, the, the 5,000 square foot send a block home. Yeah, hey, hey, hey let me let me wish you would stop telling that story too by the way he gives me he gets very upset when we tell the story

about the thousand square foot cinder block home with no indoor plumbing uh a tin roof that you could actually lay on your back and you could see the sky from the bed that That's correct. And I told the story in my Hall of Fame speech. But growing up in that environment, what, because when I also, you know, when I tell people, I've never spent the night at a friend's house. I've never spent the night at a family member's house. And people can't believe that. Correct. And that, the first time I stayed away from home i went to 4-h camp at that uh

at cherokee i think it was yeah i think then god i was a senior it was it was a rock eagle rocky rocky yeah but i couldn't you remember the cherokee tribe i couldn't remember what it was because it was so long ago but yeah um the thing is is when you grow up that way and that's the only way you know you don't have anything to compare it to because yeah we saw our friends every day at school and some at church but you had nothing to compare it to so guess what it was our norm and our norm was you know what god i God, I wish the roof didn't leak. You know, I wish we didn't have to get up, you know, Monday through Sunday and, you know, herd hogs or pick tobacco or grind feed or, you know, I wish we didn't, but that's what we knew. And, you know, you and I used

to talk all the time about the only thing we wanted to do was play football and we knew we were going to never get the chance uh to play football because we were always working so when you know that's all you know there is no i'm gonna make it better because you're gonna make it better how all you know is farming so that was all we knew did you think when we were working the hours and i always use the term can't the can't't. And people like what the can't, they can't mean. Can you explain to people that's going to be watching this? What can't, they can't mean? You see what you're working from the time you can't see when you get up until you can't see at night. It's dark to dark.

And it's it. The job is never done. It's just you got to go home and get some sleep. It's not like, you know, it's a nine to five or I finished my work. I'm going to get off early. We never got off early. There was no such thing as, you know what, we're finished picking this tobacco and you know what we're going to do? We're going to take the rest of the day off. No, that never happened. So, but like I said, Shannon, you know, it's easy in hindsight to go back and say

how tough we had it. And it's easy in hindsight to try and make our upbringing so much different from everyone else by going, you know, living in a house that didn't have running water, rain, you know, looking at the sun, we can lay in bed and watch the sunrise, that kind of stuff. You know what it did? it didn't make us stronger it just made us we were like if it was to be we were going to have to do it and we were always like that from our our playing days is hey we were great teammates i'd like to think but if there's an opportunity to make a play coach put it on me because i can accept the success but i can also accept the failure if it doesn't go our way.

And I think that's strictly because of how we were brought up. And I say this to people, and I used to say it to young people when I spoke more all the time. It ain't by accident that two guys from Glenville, Georgia, not only graduated from college, but made it to the NFL. That ain't by accident, but it's not by design either. to the NFL. That ain't by accident, but it's not by design either. I mean, I just think that, you know, and I tell people, you learn a lot about guys. If you tell me how they were raised and tell me what their experiences are, I could tell you who they are and how we were raised. We had similar experiences from the time we left Glenville until the time you got into television. Our lives were pretty much mirror images of each other,

even though we're three years apart in age, but we're two years apart in athletics. When, give people some background of kind of some of the jobs that you and I had when we were growing up. Because I think the thing is, because a lot of times, like I said, when I'm on television and people automatically assume, if you get on television you're embellishing it you're

embellishing yeah make yourself look good yeah five six seven years old so give the people a little backdrop of kind of some of the jobs you and I had well well we we had a family remember it was our grandmother grandfather be you and our sister not to mention our aunt Jane our aunt Sherma Dean our aunt Gladys and sometimes our Aunt Marynell living in that 1,000-foot cinder block house too. Correct. It wasn't like there was a lot of room, but our job- Also Dietrich. Dietrich, our nephew was there. So guess what? It wasn't like we had chores and we could finish

our chores. We definitely had to go to school and church. Those two things were a must. Correct. chores. We definitely had to go to school and church. Those two things were a must. Correct. We were at school. We were at church. But then there was the tobacco picking and the, you know, planting my grandmother's garden. There's also the moving and the situating of the hogs that we had, grinding of the feed. So when hogs got out, it wasn't like, you know, hey, we got, we lost a hog, oh well, we got to go search for it. So we were going through hell and high water in situations where I am to this day, I am still amazed that none of us ever got bit by a snake and none of us ever died because of snake bite. Because I can remember our times wrapping our hands around

tobacco stalks and there'd be eight foot rattlesnake wrapped under, sitting under a leaf, or we were walking through swamps in the day of the summer and never got bit by a moccasin. I'm amazed. But we had, and not to mention, and I'll talk just about you and I, when we were in high school, when I was in high school, you would have been in middle school, we would get up and go to school, go go to practice go home and as soon as we got home from practice we had to get in uh earl bacon or our uncle james's truck to go catch chickens where we were making a dollar a thousand and we would you know it's hard to go back to that because how much were we making if you call it how much money dollar we're making a dollar a dollar a thousand so you for every thousand chickens that were in that house each individual got paid one dollar so imagine working from 11 to 2 catching uh

14,000 chickens you made 14 or 10,000 chickens you made 10 dollars right and so you get home at three and you had to clean yourself up, try to get as much sleep as you can because seven o'clock and on the way to school was happening the next day. And like I said, as tough as it seems or sounds now, wasn't that bad back then because guess what? We got to be with our friends or our cousins. We were making money money so it was a good deal for us well the school was was the easy part it was the summer when you had to work in tobacco and then you come home remember we would come home not only did we play during the lunch break we would eat play basketball grand like boy come in here y'all will have a heat stroke and i'm like hold on you said it's too hot

to play basketball but it's not too hot to work in the field. And we were in a long-sleeved shirt. We were in a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans in the field. It wasn't like we were dressing cool. We got a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans on dressing in that tobacco field. So, yeah, those were some definitely different times for us growing up. But I definitely believe it definitely helped shape how we were from the time we left Glenville until the time we got to television. I'm about to tell a story about how

like we were working to back a field and then we would play and then we had to get ready to get on that chicken truck that night. So we were working and I remember, I remember because you at, at the time I was making five bucks a day. You remember, you remember what I told time, I was making five bucks a day. You remember when I told Granny I was making five bucks a day? It's too much. Hold on. Let me tell you this. Let me tell Granny that Lanny and I, Lanny is our first cousin,

that all Granny and Shannon did was play. What did Granny tell me? If he making five bucks a day, it's too much. It's too much. She said it was too much money. And I agree because all you and Lanny were buying were Diet Cups and Honey Buns anyway. Okay. Let's tell the story.

Mr. Joe, who was our boss at the time, Joe Tatum, he just passed recently. He set us up a line of credit at the convenience store. We could go in there and get anything we want on credit knowing that Mr. Joe was going to bring us in there. We were going to cash our check and we can pay. When Mr. Joe said he was going

to the town, going to the store, what would I always get? I was probably six or seven years old 300 bonds 300 bonds and three coats three soaps i'm like he couldn't get one at one this show bring me 300 bonds and three coca-cola every time he had to go it was three and three it was it was three it was three and three it was three and three but do you remember also, Mr. Joel, he had a farm. And he had cattle.

And cattle eat hay. Somebody had to bail that hay. Mr. Joel had a big farm. He had peanuts. He had watermelons. We had the broader second year. He had okra. He had tomatoes.

We had to pick up pecans for the dashers. That's correct. We had a lot of jobs. And the thing was, is we would have done even more just to put money in our pockets to lessen the load on granny. At the time, she was the only breadwinner for the most part in the house or in living. And so we would have done anything to buy our own clothes, buy our own shoes, buy our own basketball, our own basketball shoes, football shoes, track shoes. We would have done just about any and everything. And as you remember, I mean, there were some times during the summer when we would have training camp, basically, where we were practicing at night that we had to make a decision whether we were going to practice or we were going to catch chickens. Because if we didn't go make money, we didn't have any money for the away games or to eat before games and that kind of thing. So

and I don't like telling the story because it's hard to understand into now day and age. But you touched on Joe and Miss, you know, Miss Joanne just passed about a month ago, Joe Tatum and Miss Joanne. And I say this to people all the time. I think we have a better understanding of white people and race because of how Joe, Joanne, Tiny, and their family treated us. Correct. Because we could have gone either way. But the way the Tatum brothers treated us and their families definitely made sure that I understood that all white people weren't evil.

It made me understood that, you know what, when you get to know someone, it's easier to get understanding from that person. So I say in this difficult racial time that we live in, I feel a certain way about it because of our relationship and experiences with definitely Mr. Joe and Ms. Joanne Tatum. When did you know you were good at sports? I never knew.

you know you were good at sports i never knew um i never really knew uh that i was good at it because remember the first time i ever touched the football in an organized game i was on kickoff return i ran it back for a touchdown it got called back and the team had to re-kick it they kicked it off and i ran it back for a touchdown but i I just thought that was – Why did the first – tell the story of why the first touchdown got called back. Celebrated before I got in the end zone. And so it was a 15-yard penalty and a re-kick. And so when they kicked it off again, I ran it back for a touchdown and I was too tired to celebrate or I might have gotten out a call back. But I never really looked at myself being good.

I always looked at it like I looked at riding a tractor or picking tobacco or shelling peas or, you know, cutting onions. There's a job to do. And I got this amount of time to do it. And I did not play high school football to go to college. I played high school football because I wanted to play high school football. I didn't play college football to go to college. I played high school football because I wanted to play high school football. I didn't play college football to go to the NFL. I played college football because I wanted to play college football. And I did those two, you know, high school and college until it was time to move on. And when I finished with college, it was time to move on. And you were with me when I got drafted and you were highly disappointed. I might tell America, he was highly

disappointed that the Green Bay Packers drafted me because he didn't want me to go to Green Bay because I wasn't going to win any games and they weren't any good. And instead of looking at it as, hey, I got drafted in the first round going to Green Bay. But I just looked at it as I wanted to play. That's the only thing in my life I've ever wanted to do was play football. I didn't have a contingency plan. You know, if I go to college and I don't make it, then I'm going to open up a business. No, it was just, I'm going to college to play football. And whatever happens after that, I'll attack that the same way I attack playing football. Well, I play football because I thought if I played football, that would get me out of some of the chores.

But Barry Porter said, if you play football, you still go cut the grass. You still got good stuff to do. So it didn't get me out of anything. All it did was give me an opportunity to get involved in an activity, but I still had work to do when I got home. Since we're airing all our dirty laundry, I figured we might as well tell America as much as we can. Remember our competition before we started playing organized sports was who could cut the grass the fastest. I mean, we got to push and lawnmower.

And we're trying to see who could cut the grass the fastest and the best. That was our competition. That was our competition. And so we basically learned competition through you and I cutting the grass or the fourth Sunday, second Sunday get-togethers with our cousins where we divided up into teams and did whatever, whether it was basketball or softball or whatever the case may be. Race. Race.

Sack races, running, backflips. Arnell and I used to. You remember when you left to go to South Carolina, the road that we lived on was still dirt. Yes. No, no, no, no, no. No, no. Because remember, our grandfather said,

I will never live to see this road paved. Right. And he died. And as a matter of fact, when they brought his body by the house, it was paved. It was paved. Are you sure? Yes. I'm sure? Yes.

I'm 100% sure. Because that was the biggest thing is he said, I will never live to see this road, Peg. And he didn't. I'm going to disagree with you. And you know, I don't like to disagree with you. But I'm going to have to disagree. Because you remember when my senior year, obviously, you were already gone. The bus didn't come by the house. I had to walk to the end of the road. Yes. to disagree because you remember when my senior year obviously you were already gone the bus

didn't come by the house i had to walk to the end of the road yes and in the process of me walking to the end of the road i walked on the side of the road because the road wasn't paid i'm almost certain i'm almost certain that it was definitely done before uh it was done before my grandpa. We got a little wage on that. All right. All right. Okay. What did, obviously, when Papa died in 1977, the dominant male figure, the head of our family, was gone. Okay. Now, you're the dominant male voice in the house for me.

You got a little brother. So what was going through your mind about how do I make sure I'm the man of the house, but also make sure that I take care of my little brother? I knew you were watching and we learned a lot of what we learned. Remember, we learned how to drive by watching other people drive. So it was easy for us to drive when it was our turn because we had been watching, you know, our grandfather would tell us to get on this tractor and follow him and don't hit anything and you're like wait what you've been watching me you should know how to do it right really so that's how it's done yeah he didn't tell you how to he didn't tell you about about the gears or anything like that he said you watched me long enough you should be able to do it

never showed you how to do things you weren't learned by watching. The thing I thought, Shannon, was this, is that it wasn't that I didn't know right from wrong. It wasn't that I needed to step up and say, okay, I'm not a man of the house. It was we always learned by watching. And Mary Porter was still in charge And Mary Porter was still in charge. Mary Porter was still in charge. And the thing was, let's do everything in our power to make sure what she has to do or say to us is as minimal as possible. We're not going to cause her any problems.

We're not because guess what? We already know what we're supposed to do. And so when we got that, and I tell people all the time, we got to play football because our grandfather passed. That's how we got to play. Correct. Because other than that, we would have never had a chance to play because we would have still had to work on the farm.

And he made it abundantly clear because our uncles in front of us. Thurman broke his collarbone. James broke his leg. Right. So we would never get to play because his sons got hurt. So we weren't going to ever get a chance to play. Right. But I never looked at it as something we needed to change or do.

I just looked at it as I got a job to do. And my job was, you know, finish the seventh grade, get on to the eighth grade. And that was the, so it wasn't like was and i i i try not to make this comparison but i do it's not it's like being a leader everybody thinks that the team leader is the guy that says the profound thing at this time or does the profound thing sometimes the leader of the team says very little and does probably the most. And I tell people all the time, I played with two of the best kickers in NFL history in Chris Jackie and Maxon Dayhouse,

but they never called a team meeting because nobody's kicker is going to call a team meeting. So I just didn't think there was anything that needed to change except for, we're going to get a chance to play football and we need to do everything we can to lighten the load on Mary Port. Do you remember, as you mentioned, like once Papa passed, but do you remember Papa having a conversation with us

and asking us what we wanted to do about? And he says, I don't care what you do, but all I care about, do you finish what he told us? Well, I mean, that list is long because, you know, he was big on, you know, whatever you do is your life. There are going to be a lot of lives like that. And I, you know, this is my life. There are many like it, but this one is mine. And whatever you do, just make sure you do it to the best of your ability or you do your job better than anyone else does anything else. And so, you know, what I, in all those conversations where he would throw stuff at us, it was just a matter of,

I don't ever want you to do something looking for someone else to say job well done. When you do something, you do it to the point to where you look at it and you say you did a good job, which is how you and I learned to cut the grass and have those conversations. Look at how I cut. Look, Darian, I didn't leave a strand standing nowhere. Look at my lines are straight, that kind of thing. So it's just a combination of watching. And I think that's one of the biggest things that is missing from today's society is we don't have any more apprentice. We don't have people who learn to do a job before they get to do the job. Now everybody gets the job and you learn on the job. We learned, you know, we, he

was the, he was the master and we learned pretty much everything we do say and did, we learned from him. I just remember him saying, he says, boys, I don't care what you become in life. Just never have to look me in your grandma in the eye and say, I'm sorry. And that stuck with me. So no matter what, as long as I didn't have to apologize for something that I'd done, because like you said, he was big on personal responsibility yeah oh better you know wrong incorrect anyway so for me that was the whole that was the whole thing and once he passed and people like well and I tell people I was like I would really never went out in high school because once I got no we did I got done playing I came back home because

after you had gone to college so that was my thing, was to make sure I didn't cause Granny any problems. No problems. Yes. And that was the thing is, I'm like, you know, our job was to make her life easier. And if she didn't have to worry about where we were, she knew we had a game. But what time are we coming home? And, you know, granny never told us what time to come home. We never had a curfew. I'm like, I tell people all the time when we wanted to go hunting, we didn't have to ask for a gun. We grabbed one and went.

And I mean, we had six, eight, 10 to choose from. We could grab anything from a 30-06 to a 30-30 to a 22 rifle. We didn't have to ask, can I borrow them? We grabbed the gun and head out the door. And, you know, Arnell and Eugene had their.410s. And what was unique about all those guns? Every last one of them was what? Loaded.

Available. Hey, available. All the time. Every single one of them from the 16-shot.22 nine shot 30-30 to the eight shot 30-06. When they were in the house, every single one of them was loaded. And we never had an incident or an accident because- Did it ever dawn on you to be playing with the gun? No, no, no.

Because if you got a chance to play basketball or two-hand touch or tag or whatever playing with a loaded gun was nowhere near in our our future so we basically we we you know what it was we understood everything that a gun could do we weren't afraid of them but we had tremendous respect for okay your. Your college, you, you know, going to college was a lot different scenario than mine. That was your fault. That was your fault, but go ahead. You did well in school, not so much.

I wanted to fool around, you know, I was a class clown. And so my experience of getting into college and doing that was a lot different than yours. Tell the people about the conversation and what you told me when you left the university and you came back home and you sat me down and what'd you tell me? Which part? About the time when you weren't going to go to Savannah State, when you thought your abilities was bigger than Savannah State. And I was like, oh no. That, and I was going to go to the military.

You were going to go to the army. Yeah. It was just, you know, the thing was, is I was like oh no that and I was gonna go to the military you were gonna go to the army yeah it was just you know the thing was is I was like a lot of your life most of your life or all of your life had been watching those of us in front of you and it was I tell people I said you know I didn't realize I was older than my brother until it was time for me to go to college because then it was like oh my god you you got three more years of high school? Really? You know, so it's like, but the thing was, is I didn't want to father you. I wanted you to be like, look, trust me, if you go to Savannah State and you stay there for a year, do what you're supposed to do. I will do everything in my power to get you over at university of south carolina with me because i knew what kind of person you were i knew what

your work ethic could be i just knew that you were afraid to be different at the time because you had to be the class clown because that was your way in because you weren't the best looking dude in high school so you weren't gonna get a whole lot of dates so you had to you figured out your way to get in was to be funny the problem was that you were trying to be funny all the time and so when the test was handed out you were being funny and making some unfunny so so i just wanted you i i knew what kind of person you were what kind of work ethic you had so but i just didn't want to But I just didn't want to word you to death. I wanted you to be like, look, this is still your life. I will help you, but I want you to understand this is still your life.

So I go to Savannah State. Things go okay. And we have a conversation. After my sophomore year. Yes. I had an all American. I'm a player. I'm a conference player of the year.

I'm all this. I'm black college, all American. I'm on the map. And I like, man, I want to go to the university of Miami. And you tell me, nah,

no, they didn't want you. They don't want you when they had a chance to get you for nothing. Right. And now you done put this blood, sweat, and tears in Bill Davis' system, and you on the map, and now all of a sudden, what, you proved to them you could play? What did you do that was different?

You didn't do anything except for you got the opportunity and you took advantages of the opportunities you were given. They're like, no. Hey, the NFL, you can stay here. The NFL will find you. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews,

recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan

Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day.

Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No dumb hot takes here. Just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss,

Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from the athletic. And of course, Colleen Wolf. This is their window right now. This is their Superbowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that

Superbowl. I don't know why Colleen catch the podcast, the NFL daily with Greg Rosenthal every day, subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And they found you.

They found me. Now, I mean, you made it very conducive for me to stay because you say I got a little package for you, but you need to come get it. Yeah. You know, where I was driving a pickup truck when I was in school, my little brother drove a Mercedes 300E with 18-inch chrome wheels and a whale tail on the back. But that was the first one. What was the first car you got me on my

sophomore year? The blue 300ZX. Yeah, yeah. You know, where I was wearing my South Carolina, University of South Carolina football sweats to class, my brother was wearing eyes-eyed shirts with the matching red socks with the docked side of shoes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the creased blue jeans. You know what? And I said this at my college speeches that I always, you know, early on, I played for an audience of one. And I said, you know, everything that I did in football, I wasn't trying to impress anybody. There's one guy who knew what I was capable of, and I was trying to do that to show him.

And I say, I've only been yelled at in athletics one time. I've only had a coach tell me I wasn't performing one time. And they go, who was it and I go my brother I said we were playing southeast bullet we'd never beaten him I'm the starting quarterback I got Devin Dern since my my tailback I got Pat Lewis on my right and you came up to the fence and said hey man what are you doing you for you scared you know you got you you ain't playing like you supposed to play was the only time I've ever been talked to about my performance on the field and I was like from that moment on that's never gonna happen to me again only because of course I know that of course

I understand who I was uh being a quarterback at Glenville High School and being the type leader I wanted to be. But to have your younger brother come over and tell you, not a coach, not a teammate, somebody standing outside the fence, come over to the fence and tell you, look, you ain't doing what you're supposed to do was very eye-opening and convincing in helping me in my athletic career. So I thank you for that. Appreciate that. Did you think that once you went to the league, okay, I'm a junior, you're in the league, your first round draft pick. Did you think that, you know what, I wonder if he's going to slack off now. Is he still going to be as hungry now that I've made it, we've made it because it was always we, it was never you, it was never me, it was we.

Did you worry about me slacking off, not doing what I was capable of doing now that I felt that we've had success? No, because you were always the person that was like, okay, let me see it. Let me understand it. Let me get it. Now let me exceed what you have done with it. So whatever I did, excuse me, whatever I did, I always knew that you were like, let me learn how to do it. OK, let me try it. OK, let me put my spin on it. OK, now let me do it better than you. So I always knew that whatever I did, you were going to try or you were going to attempt to do it better than I did.

So, no, I never worried about once. Once once I got you to Savannah state, I was done. I was like, this is going to be easy because once I got you to Savannah state, and then once I showed you how we work out, once I showed you how we condition, once I showed you how we watch film,

once I talked to you about this is what I see, it was done. Because I was like, okay, he's going to get it. He's going to learn. And then once he puts his spin on it, he's going to do it better than I did. I mean, here I am, an All-American doing all these wonderful things at the University of South Carolina. And then all of a sudden, they got a guy at Savannah State who's averaging scoring a touchdown every three catches. You go, wait a minute. How do you score a touchdown every three catches? And then I went and watched you guys play Savannah State, and I think the score was like 98, 96. But I'm like, this dude's running up and down the field. So I just, I never really concerned myself. The biggest scare or fear factor I had pertaining to you was before when you were like, I'm not going to Savannah State.

Because at that moment, I was like, OK, he's embarrassed. He is he's broken. He's embarrassed. He's humbled. And all I know is, is if I if I him to go, and it wasn't a convincing. I knew if I said go, you were going to go. If I said, yeah, go to the Army, you were going to go to the Army. If I just said, guess what, we're going to sell drugs, you would have sold drugs. I just thought that we were connected that way. So it was an opportunity for me to go, let's hold off on the Army.

Let's go to Savannah State and see what happens. Of all the things that you've done in your life what's the hardest job you've had wow that's a good question um i really and truly don't think i've had one shannon to tell you the honest to god true i mean because playing football is what i wanted to do uh but when you do something that you want to do, you have to always be prepared to quit. And I was always prepared to quit. And I remember when the doctor told me I was not going to play in the NFL anymore. I flew back from Indianapolis and I knew if I could go to sleep, I'd be fine. I knew if I could go in the room and go to sleep, I would be fine.

And I was able to do that. And I have never been prepared for the next step. The next step has always happened to me. So like when I left high school, I wasn't prepared. You know, I wasn't like, OK, what am I going to do now? Hey, you can go to college. OK, you finish playing college. OK, what am I going to do now hey you're gonna go to college okay you finished playing college okay what am i going to do now you're gonna go to the nfl okay the nfl uh you don't go to you know after the nfl you go okay i'm in a neck brace what am i

going to do now i i was lucky and fortunate enough to get the job at espn from espn the nfl network so i've never really been prepared for the next step, but I've always been prepared for whatever the next step was going to be. Did well for me, football is the easiest thing I've ever done. Because I guess, because it's something that, you know, God gave us the ability. We were able to cultivate that ability. And I think all the other things, the cropping of tobacco, the clipping of the onions and pulling peanuts and loading watermelon and bailing. Hey, I think all those made it really easy for us to play football.

But the simple fact we were spending eight, nine, ten hours a day in the sun. Well, if you can do that and make five dollars a day, make ten dollars a day. You mean to tell me you can't spend three hours in the sun a day and make one hundred thousand, two hundred dollars a year yeah yeah well you know and i say this and that's the thing is how you were raised and what your experience are says experiences are says a lot about who you are and i think our how we were raised and our experiences definitely prepared us to be in a position to succeed at whatever it was we ended up doing. I mean, I'd like to think that I worked hard, but I definitely didn't work any harder than you or Jerry Rice or Michael Irvin. You know what? I did what my body and mind and what I was able to do. I mean, some of the best years that I had in the NFL is when, you know, me, you and Harold Green lived together and worked out together and ate together and swam together.

And those were some of the best years because you were surrounded in that bubble by people who eat, sleep, drink and believe what you eat, sleep, drink and believe. And I just think that when you're surrounded by that kind of energy, that that's what's going to happen. So I've always been surrounded by people who felt the same way I felt and saw the same things I saw. But the thing about with you and I is the way we were raised and our experience has definitely made – I don't think we ever went, had a, ever went to work because even, you know, before we knew what work was, it was just something we had to do. So I, I, I can't

say that I really had a hard job. I really can't. So you're obviously, you're in the NFL. I'm still in college. And I was like, you have all the nice cars you got the 911 slant nose white convertible with the navy interior you got the red strozic you got the m3 you got all these cars and I just say bruh you know I need to fly a little bit you know I need to hook it up why were you so comfortable letting me have access to a hundred thousand two hundred thousand dollar car and here I am in college and you know I only wanted it for the sole purpose the hunnids need to see your boy they needed it yeah because you were an ugly dude and you wanted to be seen I knew I I was just trying to help you

out you know the thing was is that's how we were we shared everything I mean you know we we never it was never we had something that was ours growing up. So in having something, you know what, you know. My peers, I'm driving this, you know, this Nissan 300Z. OK, you have you take it. You know, it was just that we had always shared everything. So it wasn't like I had arrived or made it and was like, OK, now I'm, you know, I got this, you know, hundred and sixty thousand dollar Porsche. And guess what? You know, you can't drive that. Or I got the first 300E coupe, SL coupe in South Carolina. And you can't, I know you're going to go down to the beach and wreck it. I already know.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I know you're going to wreck it. No, no, no, no, no, no. But that's not, I wanted you, I wanted you to have the same experience from day one. I've always wanted you to have the same experience I had. But you got ahead. You wasn't supposed to tell that. Well, okay.

But since you already went there, I said, hey, bro, I need the convertible Mercedes to go down to Daytona, Black College Beach Week. I said, I need that. You said, OK. Come get it. You good. OK. I get it. I call you about Friday night.

You don't answer the phone. I leave you a message what was the voicemail hey bro I just called to let you know I junkyard your car man I was like wait what does junkyard mean didn't he I'm like wait

what does junkyard mean you were looking around and I want to say who was with you were you by yourself or was anyone? No, no, no. What you talking with me? Boz. One of your boys from Savannah State. Yep, yep. And looking around at the honeys and drove up on somebody's

trailer hitch and ripped the grill out. I did, I did. Yeah, that was but no, that was the thing though is it was like whatever my experiences are, I want him to have the same. You know, it's like my friends in golf, I want him to have the same. You know, it's like my friends in golf now, I play golf. I don't want them to be great at tournament golf.

I want them to play every day like I play and enjoy playing, whether it's a 68 or a 78, because it's a fun game and I'm not going to win at it. I'm going to play it. And so I just wanted you to have the same experience as I had. You get to the NFL and what people don't know is that I know is that you're a talker, but for some reason, something happened in Green Bay early in your career. As you mentioned, you were the first, you were first round pick, the seventh pick in the draft. You were the second receiver behind Tim Brown. Brown Tim I think if I'm not mistaken with six you went seven and I think Mike Lurgan went eighth or ninth yeah yeah

what transpired in Green Bay that says you know what I'm out you know the thing was is I was never asked a question for me that I could answer. I was always asked loaded questions. For instance, Lindy and Fonny was my head coach and they would always say, well, coach and Fonny said this, and I would have to respond instead of asking me, what am I going through? And so I was like, and you were with me that off season. I was like, yeah, they're going to want to talk to me and I ain't going to have anything to say. So it kind of was twofold. It was kind of they never asked me. They were always asking loaded questions. Hey, Lindy, Coach Afani said you're too big.

I was 219 when you drafted me and all of a sudden I'm too big now. And so, you know, what am I going to say? You know, so I was like, Coach Afani says I'm too big. I'm going to you know, I need to get down to? You know, so I was like, if Coach Infante says I'm too big, I'm going to, you know, I need to get down to whatever Coach Infante says I need to get down to. But and then I was like, you know what? I'm going to make them want to talk to me and I'm not going to talk. And it just so happened that the next year I was fortunate enough with some really good quarterback play from Don Mikowski and an outstanding defense.

I was able to lead the league and catch his yards and touchdowns which made everyone take notice and be like oh my gosh he's having this kind of year and he won't talk so it started out kind of as a two-fold thing and but then you know what it did what it did it worked for me because the biggest thing that it helped me is I didn't have to, as a first round draft pick in the small fishbowl of Green Bay, Wisconsin, I didn't have to defend how I play. I didn't have to explain what my learning curve was. I didn't have to go through the, you know, oh, I want to do this, but I can't. It helped me so much. And watching the first round picks, you know, by the time I was there, they were constantly being scrutinized or having themselves scrutinized

their own play. And I thought it hurt them because they had to defend themselves each and every day, whereas I didn't have to. I remember my draft experience was a lot different than yours. I'm at your house. And remember, at that time, the draft was on a Sunday. Yes. So I come up that Saturday, and I'm spending the night with you. I'm at your house. Harold Green also was in that draft.

And so I'm looking. And I know I hadn't really heard from anybody, so I thought the first round was likely off the table, but everybody had a grade on me somewhere between the first and the third round. We, we, we, we definitely talked about two between two and three. We got two and three. That is correct.

And then all of a sudden the day Harold, Harold gets a call, Harold gets drafted in the second round. He's going to Cincinnati and all that. Corey Miller goes in the in the fourth fifth round of new york something like that six around yeah yeah and so i don't get a call and i go up and i go upstairs and i remember you coming in the room what what did we talk about we talked about that guess what all you want is a chance all you want is a chance. All you want is a chance. And that was Sunday night.

Yes. Remember the other few rounds were the next day on that Monday. Correct. And so I was like, look, man, I know you're disappointed. And you're like, man, I've done this. And I was like, look, I know you're disappointed. But hey, it doesn't matter where you get drafted. All you want is a chance

you go home you go to bed you go to sleep we get up the next morning eat breakfast we go over to the stadium to work out you get a call from dan reeves who by the way is a game fellow game cop dan reeves calls i'm going to denver well i thought you going to Denver, you now in the NFL, I thought that was a great thing. I didn't realize you going to Denver, being in the NFL, I was still paying all your bills. So it was kind of a twofold thing for me because I'm like, how is he in the NFL and I'm paying all his bills and he in the same place,

that same league I'm in. But no, it was a, I thought that was – it was different in the fact that when you left high school, you were considered one of the best athletes as a senior in the state of Georgia. Set a triple jump record in the state of Georgia, which I think still stands. It does. When you left college, you were one of the most dominant,

whatever division you guys were in at the time college wide receivers in the history of the sport i think those two things along with the fact that i was in front of you and i already had a measure of success had you go i know i can do it because he's doing it and I've done everything he's done. So I know I can do it, but way do they get a load of me because they getting ready to see somebody that got no pride. And I always say that's the most dangerous person to the person that has no pride and no ego. You need to be real careful about them. And of course, the rest of your career's history i think that and you were proud obviously you were proud that i got you know i i decided to

take your advice and go to savannah state you were proud that the uh the broncos gave me an opportunity but i think the proudest you've been is when i called and told you i had made the pro bowl because i because i i was like you know what I'm not going to another Pro Bowl. I had been to two or three. It was a trip to Hawaii. It was like, okay, you know, I'm not going. And what was really great is you called and said, you made the Pro Bowl. One of my best friends at the time who played with me in South Carolina,

Harold Green, had made the Pro Bowl. But it was really ironic that we all made the Pro Bowl and had, like, our better years was the year we all lived together, ate together, talked, watched movies, went to movies. We did everything together that offseason. So it was kind of gratifying and surprising that we all had that success. In 1992, was it? Yep.

In 1992, where we had the success that we had where we all were over in Hawaii. And actually, that was the first year in NFL history that a set of brothers had led different teams in the same season in receptions. Yeah. It was 1992 was my first year with mike holmgren uh i had gotten brett farb after game three uh after don mccoskey got injured we were a football team that was in

search of an identity and mike brought a system in that just allowed my abilities to to go to the next level with a quarterback that had a strong arm that was fearless. So it allowed my career to take a turn in a direction where, you know, in 92, I led the league in catches. I did again in 93. I led the league in touchdowns in 94 someone showed me something the other day that since 1994 there's only one guy who's caught more touchdown passes than I ended with in 1994 and that's Randy Moss' 23 I think it was

so my 18 is the second most since 1994 which is kind of sillily impressive as much as they throw football around. But yeah, I was real happy and proud of the fact that, you know what? Hey, my little brother made the Pro Bowl. And I'm still paying all this big. Well, I wasn't making no money then. They got you more on the cheap. That's not what they're looking for. They're looking to get you more on the cheap for You know, that's not what they're looking for. They're looking to get you more cheap for that bargain. You mentioned that when the doctor, you flew to Indy and the doctor advised you, he said, if you were my son, I would advise you not to play again. And I remember you

calling me and we having a conversation. And you cried. Yeah yeah you cried that i couldn't play anymore yeah i uh it was one of those situations to where i had an idea it wasn't like it was a complete shock you know i had an idea and i just think that, you know, what was disappointing was where my team was at that time. Right. Where you were in your career at that time. We had just played. Denver had just come to Green Bay and we had played a Sunday night game. I think it was.

93. Actually, that was 93 that we came there. Came there in 93. So it was our careers were kind of on the same. Finally, you decided to play some good football and join your brothers, one of the best players in the league. Took a while, but you finally got there. So I think that was the disappointing thing was,

is my team was getting so much better. And you were starting to establish yourself as one of the best, not in the AFC, but in football. And I think that was disappointing because, you know, finally we had gotten to a point in our careers where our careers could mirror. Because if you look at it, your team was getting better, like my team was getting better. Your team was headed in that direction and doing some things in the exact same offense. So you and I could talk about offensive philosophies because Mike Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for Mike Holmgren. At San Francisco, it learned Mike Holmgren's system. So it was just disappointing because my teams had gotten better and you were

playing at a at a pro bowl level tight end and your team was getting better and it's not ironic that a few years later your team and my old team met in the Super Bowl I remember um calling you earlier in my career in training camp and not getting a whole lot of opportunities and I remember you having a conversation because I was very frustrated. I didn't look at it like I'm a seventh-round draft pick and, you know, okay, you know, Vance and Mark Jackson, Ricky Natil, Michael Young, they had just come off the Super Bowl. I didn't look at it like, okay, you know, these guys are veterans.

They've been here. They're going to get first crack. I was just like, okay, I want to get an opportunity. And I remember calling you, and I was very down, They've been here. They're going to get first crack. I was just like, okay, I want to get an opportunity. And I remember calling you. And I was very down. And you told me something. You're like, bro, don't be down. He said, John Elway is going to call your number one day.

And when he calls your number, just make sure you're ready. And you weren't. You weren't ready. He calls your number. And you would go in motion. And he would turn around and be like, run a corner. And you would go in and run a sl turn around and be like, run a corner. And you were going, but he run a slant. I mean, you ran those- Well, hold on, to my defense,

to my defense, I was playing wide receiver. I didn't know that during the week they were gonna move me to tight end. So I was struggling, I was just starting to get my feet wet and have an idea. That's your story. That's the story you gonna put out on the internet, that's your story. That's the story you're going to put out on the internet. That's the story. I got a dick with that one.

Okay, let's go with that one then. But no, and that was the thing is I knew because I had seen a lot of guys that had come to Green Bay as free agents or, you know, sixth, seventh, twelfth round draft picks. And I was just – I seen that, you know what, all you need is a chance. You just got to keep looking at, I need a chance. I'm not asking for a handout, just a hand. And so when you get that opportunity and, hey, look,

you should have been cut six or seven times. But the thing was, I remember you, I remember you calling me frustrated. You may not remember this because my college quarterback also went to Denver that year. Yeah. And you remember what I told you? You were like, your college quarterback about to get me cut. He about to get his bone cut.

I said, man, how you put up all these numbers with him? And that's a true story. I called you. I said, bro. That was the funny. Yeah, you and my college quarterback. Yeah. But the thing was, all you needed was,

you just needed to stay the course before the waters calm. And you were able, and I think that's probably the best thing about our relationship is I've always been able to say, the sake of saying, hey, Shannon, it's time to go.

And you were like, okay, let's go. You never fought me on, yeah, but I'm putting up all these, Shannon, just, just, Shannon, it's time to go. And you were like, okay, let's go. You never fought me on, yeah, but I'm putting up all these, Shannon, just take a deep breath. Look, man, you're going to get an opportunity. John's going to call your name. What you don't want, what I see here is when guys want the football, they always seem to get it and then they drop it because they want it, but they weren't expecting it. And I was always able to talk you off the ledge, so to speak. And that's just a combination of growing up and knowing one another as well as we do.

We win in 97. We go to Pittsburgh. I mean, we have to go. We're a wildcard team, so we have to go on the road and beat Kansas City, who had just beaten us three weeks earlier, to win the division. So now we're going to be the wildcard. We beat Kansas city and Kansas city. Now for the AFC championship, we got to go to three river, the old three river stadium and play the Steelers who had just ramshackled us about six weeks earlier and winning that game. And we're going to the Superbowl and we have a conversation

that night you know about what the expectations although you had never been and I just remember hearing the adulation in your voice like I'm like somebody I really really know somebody that I grew up next is going to play in the Super Bowl. Yeah, that was the only thing. It didn't dawn on me at the time when you and I were talking that, oh, wait, your team is playing my old team in the Super Bowl. It was like finally someone – I mean, I had done a lot of work, been in a lot of battles with the Brett Favres and the Robert Brookses and the Edgar Bennets and the Dorsey Levens. We had been teammates and I had an idea of what it took

for them to get to, you know, get that team in the Super Bowl because they had just won one the year before. But with you it was different because it was like, okay, he should have met, he was going to the Army to start off with and then he ended up going to Savannah State, all right, okay, he was going to the Army to start off with, and then he ended up going to Savannah State. And then he wasn't getting drafted, and then he ends up going to Denver in the seventh round. And then my old quarterback is not throwing him the ball in positions that he can catch it.

So my old quarterback is about to get him and Shannon cut. So everything is starting to look like, you know what, this is, this is supposed to happen this way. And I think the only time I left since I left the NFL that I ever went, what if, was what if I was playing for my team and he's playing with his team playing in this Superbowl. That would have been something else. That's the only time I have ever missed playing in the NFL. That's the only time. Not one time since I left, except for that time,

did I ever miss playing in the NFL. I don't think Mama and Buck could have handled it. No, because now you've got to make a decision. I don't think Buck could have handled it. Mama would have been fine because Mama would have had a jersey with, you know, half Green Bay, half Denver. She'd have enjoyed it, okay, at least. But Buck couldn't have took it.

My sister, no, she wouldn't have handled that very well. That wouldn't have gone over very well. Because, you know, the thing is, is they liked you better anyway. Because, and I say that like this, we ain't worried about what he going to do. He going to go and do it. But the little one, oh, that little one, he going, oh, God. We just hoping he don't end up in prison because there ain't no telling what that little one going to do. Tell the story what my grandma used to tell me at least once or twice a week.

Somebody going to hit him in his old glob of mouth because that's what's going to happen. Or I'm going to end up where was I going to end up? I can't even say it because it's not right. She thought for sure you were going to end up in prison. But the thing was is, you know, I think she kind of knew and she never said, hey, you need to talk to him or you need to do this. I think she kind of knew and she never said, Hey, you need to talk to him or you need to do this. I think she kind of knew that he, he,

he knows that there is a line and he knows he can't cross it, but he likes to live right up next to it. I like looking over the line. He's a guy that's staying like love standing on the edge of a cliff. Now he got no intentions on jumping and he really hope nobody pushes him, but he loves standing on the edge of the cliff, looking over no intentions on jumping and he really hope nobody pushes him but he loves standing on the edge of the cliff looking over that you've always been that guy i i have i think the things make i think for granny is that what people don't understand is that i slept with

granny until i was 15 years of age yeah and you slept with papa and i slept with granny and even after papa died i didn't sleep with you. I still slept with Granny. I didn't actually sleep in my own bed until you went to college in 1983. So here I am 15 years of age and I'm still sleeping with my grandmother. So there was a closeness there that, you know, for me,

I was listening to what she said, but I wasn't hearing what she was saying. And she didn't say a lot, but she didn't say a lot though. And you didn didn't i mean it's not like you were it's not like your your juvenile record had to be expunged when you talk about that guy right it was just that you you know what there there were some things that needed to be done in history english and maybe geometry that you didn't do right but other than that it wasn't like you were a bad kid. You just, you just,

it was hard for you to be planted where you to bloom where you were planted. Cause you always wanted to be something you were always doing this. I got, I got to get the last word here. You know, it's like, stop Shannon, quit Shannon, stop Shannon. You know what? Somebody go hit that boy in his mouth one day and let's go. Yep.

Let's talk about your career. Obviously, you retire at 29 years of age, seven years in the season. And there have only been two seasons in which someone has caught more than 18 touchdowns. Jerry Rice in 1987 had 22. Randy Moss broke that record in 2007 with 23. If you look at what you've done up until the point you retired, nobody had that many catches to start a career like you have. Your last season, and what people don't understand about this in your last six games

only one person in history has had that many touchdowns over a six game stretch your last six games of your career you had 13 touchdowns only jerry record-breaking season he had 14 and he did that during the strike so his is pretty impressive he did he did that during the strike. So his is pretty impressive. He did that during the strike. He did that during the strike short season. Yeah. And your last game, you had nine catches, a buck 33, a buck 32, and three touchdowns. And when you see the Hall of Fame, and I know it's something that's something that you don't talk about and you don't politic for, but do you believe looking at your resume and looking at the guys that you competed against

the michael ervin the jerry rice the chris carters the herman andre reed andre reed andre rising tim brown and four or five of those guys are in the hall do you believe your resume for seven years since sterling sharp should be in the pro football hall of fame because it's you i'm gonna answer the, I'm going to answer the question. Normally, I wouldn't answer the question because I'm like, I can only get in based on what I did. But because it's you, I'm going to answer the question. And I would say, if the Hall of Fame is for what you did,

everybody always talks about with me what I didn't do. And they go, if he would have played longer. And I always say, well, if you collect rocks, and if I collect rocks for three years, and you collect rocks for seven years, there's a good chance you're going to have more rocks than me. And so when I look at the Hall of Fame, in my seven years, I led a receiving category, either catches, yards, or touchdowns. I did that a lot. And I did that in Green Bay, Wisconsin. And I did not do that with Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I got some catches in there for Bud Keyes and Mike Norsef and Mike Tomczak and Blair Keel and Anthony Dillwig.

I got some catches from those guys. and Anthony Dillwig. I got some catches from those guys. But I just think that everybody goes, everybody is in love with what they see. And I'm a firm believer in Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, and I'm a firm believer in Heinz Ward. I'm a firm believer in Ike Bruce. I mean, I got no problem with nobody who's in, but I'm like, if you're saying I needed to play longer, then you're punishing me because those guys played 12, 13, 14 years. So if it took them 12, 13, 14 years to do what I did in seven,

then are they Hall of Famers? And I'm not knocking anybody. I'm just making an argument. So I don't think about it. Don't talk about it. I was like, if me getting in the Hall of Fame would make me feel better than I feel right now because my brother's going in the Hall of Fame, I don't want to go. Because that was a great, that weekend was

a great weekend being there with me, you, Libby. That was a great weekend. And so I don't think about the Hall of Fame. But the argument is, well, he didn't. They always talk about what I didn't do because not many people saw what I did. And with the coverage that we got in Green Bay is not like the coverage that you have in professional sports right now. But I'll take my seven years and you take any receiver's best seven years. Just take their best seven years. I like the way my numbers stack up. It's not my, you know, it's not my fault that I only played seven years. Sorry. That Hall of Fame, for me, getting into the Hall of Fame and you were there every step of the way because you were there in 09 when I didn't get in.

That was probably the lowest I'd ever seen you to. Yeah. That was worse than I'm going to the army. And that was worse than I didn't get drafted on day one. That was the worst because I think you allowed yourself to let your guard down and say, I had done what what others because I think at the time it was you Ozzie and John Mackie you know hey who's the best John McKay to kill it big killer yeah I'm killing so it was you Ozzie John Mackie cuz they're like John Mackie kept so killing he can go stand up and play wide

receiver Ozzie he's not a dominant blocker, but he blocked for a dude that ran for 2,000 yards, so he knows what he's doing. You know, John Mackey's just a crafty route runner. So I think you allowed yourself to look at your numbers and say, definitely. And just icing on the cake, I've been to three Super Bowls. So you can say, yeah, you won two Super Bowls, but you played with John Elway and Terrell Davis. Hey, look, I went to Baltimore and, you know, we didn't have John Elway, Trent Dilfer,

and we won a Super Bowl. Right. And so when you didn't get selected that first year, I think that was probably the lowest I'd ever seen. Yeah, I was disappointed because I'm saying to myself, if you didn't like my numbers this year, it's not like I can add to it next year. And if you don't like them next year, it's not like I'm going to add to them on the third year. And so for me, I thought, okay, I thought it was about winning. Well, no tight end at the time had won more games than I had won. Very few tight ends had had the career that I had with the eight Pro Bowls. True. With the all-pro selections, the 50-catch seasons, the 1,000-yard seasons.

Nobody had ever done that. First tight end with 700 catches, 800 catches, with 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 yards. And I'm like, wait a minute. So what do you need? So I thought it was about winning. And then it was like, come to find out, winning only matters if they want you to get in. And then they come.

I don't believe you should come up with a reason to keep somebody out. Well, if you're looking at what someone didn't do, then fine. I'm never going to get in, in and i'm gonna be fine with that but if you're looking for a way to or you're looking for a way to keep someone out of the hall of fame you know because it's you know other than where is jimmy hoffa and amelia erhardt the only other the most difficult question to ask is what's the criteria for getting into the hall of fame the nfl hall of fame because it's the most secretive to ask is, what's the criteria for getting into the Hall of Fame, the NFL Hall of Fame?

Because it's the most secretive and no one knows. And that's the thing is you go, I'm just looking at what I was able to, you know, I'm sorry, but I didn't draft the guys I got to play with. You know, I didn't set the schedule up. I didn't go, this is what I did. And I'm like, so if Shannon Sharp's going to get in the Hall of Fame because he played in three Super Bowls, you're penalizing me for not having John Elway and Terrell Davis on the team. So I just look at it like I say, you know what?

I like my numbers. And my numbers, and it's funny playing travel golf now, I get a chance to be around a lot of Hall of Famers. I have a lot of friends who don't like being around those guys. They don't feel comfortable. And I feel comfortable. The Marcus Allens and the Jerome Bettises of the world, the Eric Dickersons, have always treated me wonderfully. And they'll make me feel like, hey, I'm not a Hall of Famer.

And so I'm like, I think that's because I'm happy about the way I played. I played as hard as I could for as long as I could. And if I wasn't a Hall of Famer eight years ago, am I a Hall of Famer today? You know, am I a Hall of Famer at 92? You know, and I, you know, the other argument I say is if you put people in an arena like the Hall of Fame if you do it every year you're going to have some people that shouldn't be in you're going to have some people that's not

going to get in and so I'm like I like my numbers and I said you just take the top seven wide receivers pick any seven and you take their best seven years and you stack their seven years up against my only seven. And let's see where we are.

Yeah, I mean, that's a very compelling point. But for me, man, you know what? When I think about it, it's the one thing that I really, and it's a great honor. I mean, I was two, I think I was 267 that got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They're well over 300. I think they're in the 350s now. But for me, it's something that I really don't think of. And when Skip refers to me as a Hall of Famer, I kind of get uneasy.

Because I'm like, because, yeah, it's me. I get the gold jacket. But so many other people played a part in me getting this gold jacket and so for me i get uncomfortable like superbowl that's the whole team because everybody on the team got a ring yeah you know i'm saying so that's something and then when i went to pro bowl when my first uh my first time i was a non-pro i get all the offensive linemen uh ro Rolexes and that very few very few that's something running backs normally do quarterbacks normally do but I was just like so appreciative that I wanted to thank them because I really thought they blocked a little harder when they knew the ball was going

to come my way so I get I kind of get uneasy and that's how I am there are guys like I don't like get around someone who's like oh I'm in the hall the Hall of Fame. You're not. Or you're this and that. That's not how I look at it because I know. And I know when we played you guys, I know what Wade Phillips was saying. And I know what the DBs were saying. And I know what other – go talk to Deion Sanders and Rod Wilson and Nils Williams and Darrell Green, guys that are in the Hall of Fame at the cornerback position and ask them, I know what they tell me

about Sterling Sharp. So all that other stuff is fine and good. And the people that vote, they vote. But I know what the guys that played said about my brother. All I wanted was when a guy saw me in a supermarket or grocery store or a church, and he was sitting next to his kid and he would say that guy played in the NFL and I played against him and he was the son of a gun that's all I've ever wanted was the respect of the guys I played against that's all I've ever wanted um I didn't even know that they had a hall of fame or a pro bowl when I first started I I didn't I didn't know that they had an NFL record for you know leading the league in catches three times, leading the league in yards once, and leading the league in touchdowns twice.

You know, I didn't even know that. So you go, wait a minute, you play seven years and you led the league in a receiving category how many times? I don't know what that means, but there ain't a whole lot of guys that can say that. Right. You know, and so I'm just like, yeah, if you need me to play six more years, well, I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. I agree.

That's not going to happen. And me not being in is going to be fine. But if you take the guys who are in, and I'm not saying the guys who – just take the guys who are in and take their best seven years and stack them up against my only seven, and you tell me what you think. Bro, I really appreciate that. I know we don't get an opportunity to talk like this in depth yeah in carolina and playing golf and i'm i'm here out in california

doing undisputed every day so we don't get an opportunity uh but this is my very first podcast and when we put this thing together i said there's no question who i know the first person gonna be on my podcast is gonna be because it's the person that although he's my brother, he's more like a father figure. And a lot of what you see, a lot of the player that I became, the man that I became, the values that I have was because of him. And so, bro, I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me and talk to me and give people a glimpse into how we, how Sterling and Shannon Sharp came to be. Because a lot of times I think people see and hear me say things on

television and they want to know just how much of that is real, how much of that is true. And for you to come on here and basically echo the things that we were, how we were brought up and things that my grandfather and my grandmother instilled in us, how they talked to us, and the discipline and the determination and dedication, that really means a lot. And so I appreciate it. You know I love you. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you.

No doubt. As long as I got life, you got life. As long as I got a dollar, you 50 cent i got 50 cent well i was gonna ask you to send that whole dollar but we'll get back to that a little bit later oh i mean you know we get back to that like no you know we've always been there's no telling what a man can do nor how far he can go as long as he doesn't mind who gets the credit and we've never cared you know and i i say to people all the time everybody used to think Shannon followed me around and I was like you didn't I followed him I was like and the thing was is our lives were so parallel

considering we're I'm three years older than you and it's it's like it you couldn't script it because you know you ended up in college you ended up in the NFL you ended up in TV and I'm like you couldn't script it and And I said, you know, doing this today, and I will tell America this, doing this today is the first time I've been in television, I had never asked to do a sit down with my brother. Because I was like, I didn't want people to feel like, oh, this is a or how it was going to come across at the time. But, you know, doing this and getting a chance to reminisce about our days in glenville and talking about mary and barney and it definitely uh reminds

us that you know what god life was easy when you just just follow your path it's when we get off path is when we start to make mistakes and i i And I'm grateful for the way we were raised because that definitely helped us get to this point. It did. And I should have charged you more when you cut me with that knife. I should have charged you more than what I actually charged you. Because now that I think about it, knowing what Papa done. I got the scar. I got the scar right here where you cut me, bro. I got the same scar. Hey, see, I got the scar. I got the scar right here where you cut me, bro. I got the same scar. Hey, see, I got the same scar because if I didn't let you cut me, you were going to go turn me in like you did when you set the field on fire.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We was trying to do, we was trying to build something. You told me, you say, go tell Papa somebody set the field on fire. Somebody. Okay. I got up to the house. I say i said papa somebody set the field on fire he interrogated me he said was no one down there but you two boys i said he did it i don't understand what you expected me to tell there was a choice and at that very moment i had to make a

choice i either had to save myself from punishment beyond punishment, or I had to make it up. I just want America to know that it's the same guy that said, if I have a dollar, you have 56. It's the same dude. But here's the thing. If I had told him I did it, I wouldn't have been around to give you

that dollar. So that was, I had to factor all that in. I had to wear all that. I had the good old days man but i appreciate you having me on your first podcast uh i got to see a good friend of mine who's working with you now that i got a chance to raise at nfl network cj that's always great i tell people the world is small man it's really small and you don't know where you're gonna run into people down the road but it it seems like CJ's doing well. So I'm glad that the Shea Shea, the club Shea Shea podcast is going to make it happen for them.

We need to do some work on that sign, but that's just me. The next podcast, I think it's going to probably be blue or green. I like it. Yeah, just sort of show up a little bit better. I can't tell whether you're wearing sunglasses or you got boxing gloves on but but it's a good looking sign regardless i appreciate that bro all the best love you man yes sir i'll talk to you all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price a slice got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle pay the price want a slice

got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.