Shannon Sharpe and the Denver Broncos were a match made in heaven. The star tight end became one of the greatest to ever play his position in the Mile High City, winning two Super Bowls. But what if history had played out differently? What if, instead of rocking blue and orange, Sharpe had spent his career in Cincinnati stripes? According to Sharpe himself, that’s exactly what he expected on draft day in 1990.
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In the latest episode of Nightcap, Sharpe reminisced about how unpredictable the 1990 NFL Draft was for him. While the Broncos ultimately selected him in the seventh round, they weren’t even among the teams most interested in him.
As the ace sportscaster recalls, the Cincinnati Bengals—along with a few other teams—seemed the most eager to draft him.
“The team that I had the most contact with, the one I talked to the most? Cincinnati… They had called to ask where I was gonna be,” said Sharpe.
Playing at the Paul Brown Stadium [known as Paycor Stadium today] wasn’t the only prospect in Sharpe’s hands. The Seattle Seahawks had also joined the race to sign him. One thing led to another, and scouts from the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles also started engaging in conversations with the tight end.
“I figured Cincinnati or Seattle,” Sharpe continued. “Maybe the Patriots, because their guy came several times and worked me out. Oh, and Philly—I talked to them a lot. So I just knew it had to be either Philly, Cincinnati, or Seattle.”
For Sharpe, the objective in choosing his new home was simple—eliminate the options. He did so by considering the field conditions as the base parameter for the exercise.
While Sharpe couldn’t make much about the Bengals and the Seahawks’ field conditions due to them playing on quality turfs, the Eagles found themselves getting eliminated from the TE’s list due to their stadium, called The Vet, aka The Veterans Stadium, which was known for its poor turf conditions back then.
“Cincinnati plays on turf, Seattle plays on turf, and Philly plays on turf. You know The Vet was terrible, right? Every year, it was voted the worst field condition.”
Unc said he thought he was gonna be drafted by the bengals because that’s who he talked to the most
Other teams were Seahawks & the eagles @ShannonSharpe @ochocinco @ShayShayMedia_ pic.twitter.com/PkNGqVCifg
— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) March 3, 2025
The battle now narrowed down between the Seahawks and Bengals. While the TE liked the fact that Seattle played at the Kingdome, he didn’t like the fact that the Bengals weren’t winning much with their last Super Bowl appearance coming in the 1988 season.
Luckily for the Nightcap host, the decision was made easier when the Broncos swooped in by surprise and snapped him up. “And then, lo and behold… Bronco Country!” Sharpe said with a chuckle.
The rest, as they say, is history. Instead of playing for a team like the Bengals—who, as Sharpe noted, “didn’t win-ish” back then—he became an all-time great in Denver. And then in Baltimore.
It’s wild to think how different his career trajectory could have been if he was picked by the Bungles. But for Broncos fans, it’s safe to say they’re glad things worked out the way they did.
