Shannon Sharpe's Journey To the Hall of Fame

While anyone living in Broncos Country will tell you Sharpe should’ve been in the Hall of Fame the minute he was eligible, I think we’d also say that his journey to get there was well worth the wait.

The journey began on June 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois where Shannon was born but he grew up in Glennville, Georgia with his mom, older brother Sterling and a sister. For a young black man in the late ‘60s – early ‘70s in the Southern parts of America, life was anything but easy. Shannon and his older brother Sterling Sharpe, grew up dirt poor. He even once joked saying, “We were so poor, a robber once broke into our house and we ended up robbing the robber."

He spent his high school days at Glennville High School in Georgia where he was all-county, all-region and all-area while playing football while also lettering four times.

In addition to his stellar football skills he also lettered in basketball (3 times) and 4 times in track. Shannon was a two-time all-area selection in basketball, scoring over 1,000 points in three seasons. He averaged 30 points and 15 rebounds as a senior. It is said he even managed to snag 52 points and 27 rebounds in one game.

As a junior, Sharpe set a Georgia state Class A record in the triple jump (48’-3”) but then went on to break his own record in his senior year (49’-5”). Shannon also won the regional triple jump title three consecutive years and the regional discus throwing title twice.

Needless to say, he was a superb athlete, no matter what he did.

After high school, Shannon went on to Savannah State College (now known as Savannah State University), in Savannah, Georgia, where he really began to excel in football.

Academically, Sharpe said he "was a terrible student" but managed to graduate from Savannah State with a B.S. degree in criminal justice. Clearly he did something right.

Athletically, he was a genius. A gifted and talented smash-mouth football player, he also played college basketball and competed in the triple jump in track and field.

He put the majority of his time and focus into football as he was a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection from 1987-1989. He even helped lead the Tigers’ football team to their (two) best records in history, once in 1988 (7-3) and in 1989 (8-1). Shannon was also a four-year letter winner (1986-89) in football as a flanker.

In his senior year alone, he was named Co-SIAC Player of the Year, selected as a Kodak Division II All-American, selected to the Kodak Small College All-America First Team and was named College Player of the Year in Georgia.

In addition, he was the first Savannah State player to play in the Blue-Gray Classic (1990) and East-West Shrine Game (1990). And to this day, Sharpe owns SSU single season receiving records for yardage, touchdowns and yards per catch.

While on the football team, he also earned a nickname – 'The Shapeshifter' – due to his extraordinary ability to shape his body into any form to catch the ball.

1990 finally arrived, his chance to get drafted by an NFL team. Sadly enough, it took the Denver Broncos (his eventual landing spot) till the 7^th round of the draft to pick him (192^nd overall). Nonetheless, they picked him and would be ever-so-grateful that they did.

Shannon Sharpe would go on to play 10 straight seasons (12 total; ending his career with two more after a brief stint in Baltimore) with the Broncos, two of which were back to back Super Bowl seasons.

He began his career by playing in all 16 games in his first four seasons with the Denver Broncos, getting more and more receptions from Quarterback John Elway, which in turn led to his first 1,000-yard season in 1994.

His breakout season came in his third year in Denver when he led the team in receiving with 53 catches for 640 yards, which led to his first of eight Pro Bowl nominations.

After another accelerating season in 1993, he was named first-team All-Pro for the first of four times after upping his game to 81 catches for 995 yards and 9 touchdowns. In ’94 he would go on to catch a career-high 87 passes, a mark he never reached again in his NFL career.

His total yardage fell quite a bit down to 756 in the ’95 season but he picked right where he left off in the ’94 season and went on to have two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in ’96 and ’97 – the ’97 season being the Broncos’ first Super Bowl season since 1989.

Yardage wise, in 1997 he recorded his best season with 72 catches for a career high 1,107 yards.

Along with many others from the Broncos’ first Super Bowl win, Sharpe returned for another World Championship before leaving the team. At the end of the ’99 season, he had suffered an injury in which the Broncos didn’t want to keep him. He then decided to leave and went to Baltimore as an unrestricted free agent where he played two seasons (2000-01) for the Ravens and earning another Super Bowl ring before returning to Denver.

While Shannon was in Baltimore, it was there that he surpassed their Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome to become the NFL’s record holder for receptions and total yards by a tight end.

When he returned to Denver after 2 short years away, he then became the record holder for touchdowns by a tight end in his final season. Those three marks he left on the NFL have since been surpassed but in my book, he will stand as the best TE to have played the game. Not only because he is a Bronco and I stand by them all but he paved the way for future TE’s such as his successor former Chief/current Falcon Tony Gonzalez to achieve such greatness in the NFL.

Sharpe finished his career where he started it, from 2002-03, in the city that first gave him a fighting chance to become the football player he was meant to be. He also went out in style ending his career (at that time) as the all-time leader in catches (815), total receiving yards (10,060) and touchdowns (62) by a Tight End.

Not only did he set records for his position alone in the NFL at the time of his retirement, he ended his 14 season career with 3 Super Bowl rings, 8 Pro Bowl selections (’92 – ’98; 2001), 4 Associated Press First-Team All-Pro selections (’93, ’96-’98), 1 Associated Press Second-Team All Pro selection in 1995 and was selected to the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 1990s.

In addition, he played in 204 regular season games and started in 4 AFC Championship games. He was the starting TE in Denver's back to back Super Bowl titles and the Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV victory in 2000. Sharpe also led the Broncos in receiving six times and once for the Ravens.

When Shannon Sharpe retired, he left a legacy behind in the world of pro football but one thing he did was just as popular, if not more than, how he played the game of football – he trash-talked better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Lol

He’s said some things that would make you laugh or question him as a person, but nothing stands out more than his infamous and the funniest phone call he made during a football game.

On November 17, 1996 during a game against the New England Patriots, the Broncos were handing the Pats serious beating on the field (34-8) and Shannon decided to "help out" the ailing New England fans. Leave it to #84 to hang out on the sidelines, pick up the phone and say these brilliant and perfectly chosen words:

"Mr. President, call in the National Guard! We need as many men as you can spare! Because we are killing the Patriots! We'll call the dogs off! Send the National Guard please!"

I don’t think I’ll ever forget he did that and how funny it was.

Yep, he went out in style and took his... uh... we'll call it "vocal stylings" with him.

In his post-retirement, he went on to do something that fit him well, become a commentator for a pre-game show, The NFL Today for CBS, where he gets to talk… A LOT.

He has also become part of their CBS Sprint Halftime Report and the Subway Postgame Show replacing Deion Sanders and co-hosting with James Brown, former NFL QBs Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason and former NFL coach Bill Cowher.

He resides in Atlanta, Georgia (close to where he grew up) and has said his hobbies include fishing, basketball and weightlifting.

After a few years, he got his first nod to be a Hall of Fame finalist in 2009. It became such a big deal that he might get in then that his Alma Mater, Savannah State officially retired his #2 college jersey on their declared 'Shannon Sharpe Day' in October of 2009. He was also inducted into the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame in December of 2009.

On September 20, 2009 Shannon was also given the distinguished honor of being inducted into the Broncos' Ring of Fame at their Mile High stadium in downtown Denver.

Unfortunately but not shockingly enough, he failed to get voted in for the HOF that year and in 2010. But the committee, I guess, figured third time’s a charm for Shannon Sharpe in 2011 as he was voted to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio – right where he belongs, among the best.

When August 6, 2011 comes around, he will become the 6^th Bronco player to be inducted into the prestigious club that is the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He will be introduced by his older brother Sterling Sharpe.

Somebody call the National Guard!... Shannon Sharpe is coming to the Hall of Fame!

Extra videos:
Shannon Is Da Man
Shannon Doesn’t Remember
Top Ten Draft Steals: Shannon Sharpe
***I apologize for the last video (Top 10 Draft Steals). Its a great video on Shannon but it pauses every couple of seconds and when it does it take a few more seconds for it to come back. Its worth it though. Only 3:30 long. Just a heads up.

Congrats again to Shannon for getting to go into the HOF. Well-deserved my friend! Can't wait for the enshrinement day.< And just for kicks....