The NFL has witnessed its share of unforgettable fumbles… Roger Craig’s costly miscue in the 1990 NFC Championship and Mark Sanchez’s infamous ‘butt fumble’ remain fresh in our minds. But Shannon Sharpe may have just committed the most expensive fumble of all, albeit off the field.
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The Hall of Fame tight end coughed up the ball 20 times during his 14-year career. But none of those slip-ups compares to this latest one, which reportedly cost him $100 million and his reputation.
On a recent episode of Fearless, outspoken commentator Jason Whitlock didn’t hold back while giving his take on Sharpe’s legal troubles. He called it “the greatest fumble of all time.”
According to Whitlock, Sharpe was on a golden path, his star was rising, his platform was growing, and major opportunities were lining up. But it all unraveled thanks to an entanglement with an OnlyFans model who, in Whitlock’s words, had enough “ammunition” to take him down.
It was, in essence, a career suicide. Sharpe not only lost future deals and a high-profile role at ESPN but also reportedly paid a hefty sum (to the tune of $20 million) to make the scandal disappear. That’s enough money to make that 20-year-old model retire.
Whitlock painted the picture bluntly, sarcastically using a football analogy: Sharpe “lost the ball on the goal line when he was about to enter the end zone,” he said.
Sharpe’s public image has taken a massive hit, one that, Whitlock argues, might be impossible to recover from. “This is the greatest fumble in football history,” he said.
“He [Sharpe] was on the brink of auctioning him off for $100 million. Now he is out at ESPN, his sponsors have mostly abandoned him on Night Cap, [and] his reputation has been thrown into the toilet, all over a 19-to 20-year-old OnlyFans model and whatever she has of him on tape. This is incredible. We haven’t seen a fumble like this,” added Whitlock.
Whitlock had no hesitation in ranking Sharpe’s mistake as number one on his list of the top 10 biggest fumbles of all time. He placed it above some of the most infamous moments in football history.
Coming in at No. 2 on Whitlock’s list is Earnest Byner’s heartbreaking fumble in the 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos. That blunder cost head coach Marty Schottenheimer a trip to the Super Bowl and marked the beginning of a long, painful drought for the Browns, one they arguably still haven’t recovered from.
Third is the unforgettable ‘Miracle at the Meadowlands’ in 1978. The Giants were seconds away from a win when quarterback Joe Pisarcik fumbled a handoff, only for Herm Edwards to scoop it up and take it to the house for a stunning Eagles victory.
Fourth is the controversial ‘Tuck Rule’ play involving Tom Brady. Late in a 2001 playoff game, Charles Woodson appeared to force a fumble on Brady that the Raiders recovered, only for officials to rule it an incomplete pass because of the obscure ‘tuck’ rule.
Fifth is Leon Lett’s premature celebration in the 1993 Super Bowl. He was headed for a defensive touchdown before slowing down and getting stripped just before the goal line. While the Cowboys still won, the moment became iconic for all the wrong reasons.
Rashard Mendenhall’s fumble in Super Bowl XLV takes the sixth spot. His turnover shifted the momentum to the Packers, who eventually sealed the victory over the Steelers.
At number seven is one of the most controversial non-sporting fumbles: O.J. Simpson’s infamous ‘bloody glove’ moment during his 1994 murder trial.
Eighth on the list is Tony Romo’s infamous bobble during a potential game-winning field goal attempt in the 2006 playoff game against the Seahawks. He dropped the snap and was tackled short of the end zone, costing the Cowboys the game and adding to his unfortunate big-game reputation.
Ninth is the notorious ‘Butt Fumble’ by Mark Sanchez in 2012. The Jets QB ran straight into the backside of his lineman, fumbled the ball, and became the subject of endless highlight reels and memes.
Rounding out the list at number 10 is Cam Newton’s fumble in Super Bowl 50. Stripped by Von Miller, Newton had a chance to dive on the ball but hesitated, sealing the Broncos’ path to victory and raising questions about Newton’s leadership and grit in the biggest moment of his career.
Despite all these iconic, game-altering blunders, Whitlock insists Sharpe’s off-field fumble still tops the list, way higher than even O.J. Simpson’s. Why? Because, unlike the others, it didn’t just cost a game — it cost him a fortune, future career opportunities, and possibly his reputation for good.
