About a year ago, Shannon Sharpe shockingly left FS1’s “Undisputed.” A few months later, the truth behind the departure unfolded as Stephen A. Smith revealed that Sharpe was apparently “pushed out” of the show. A lot has changed since then, and Sharpe has grown multifold, becoming one of America’s most popular names in sports broadcasting. Yet, getting pushed out of a show that he helped build from the ground up hurt him deeply, something he recently admitted.
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The initial reaction that many will have upon hearing Sharpe say he is still hurt over “Undisputed” will be bafflement because the NFL legend today is a much better version of himself as part of ESPN’s First Take.
Moreover, his rising popularity has made his ESPN show and his YouTube channel “Nightcap” [1.28 million subs] hugely successful. In fact, First Take is raking in more ratings than “Undisputed” today. However, in Shannon’s eyes, none of this matters in front of the relationships he lost due to “Undisputed”.
“People [are] like, ‘Well Shannon, why did you get so emotional?’ [It’s] because if you knew what I put into that job, you would understand it. You see, the greater the expectation, the greater the hurt when it doesn’t work out. I poured so much into that. I gave up everything,” Sharpe noted.
Considering it was his first rodeo as a broadcaster, Shannon gave his all. The NFL legend’s recent appearance on “The Black Money Tree” podcast revealed that he worked overtime and sacrificed his time for his close ones to prepare for the show. Thus, seeing all his efforts and sacrifices go to waste really stings Shannon to date.
“I lost relationships because I couldn’t go out to dinner, I couldn’t go to vacation, I couldn’t do [much] because I have to watch all the sporting events, because I got to be able to talk about them on television and talk about them expertly so it cost me a lot,” Sharpe added.
This perspective makes it a lot clearer why Shannon was so emotionally hurt by the expulsion. Luckily for him, he had his sister by his side, who inspired him and helped him get to where he is today.
Shannon Sharpe Shares His Sister’s Words of Wisdom That Helped Him
One of the most popular adages in all religions is that if you lose faith, you lose all. When the going gets tough, more often than not, it’s the belief in a higher power that makes the tough going.
The NFL legend’s sister advised the same to her brother and asked him to stand his ground, as God is always with him, the righteous. Shannon took these words of faith seriously and credited them for the miraculous turnaround in fortunes he has had since then.
“My sister, who’s probably my best friend… she just said, ‘Shannon, you walked in there as a man, you walked out as a man. You keep your head up,'” Sharpe said. “She said, when you go home tonight, I want you to fall on your knees and I want you to say this… ‘God said that if you stand before me, no one can stand against’. I believe that.”
Almost all highlight reel-worthy moments in Shannon’s broadcasting career have come after his exit from “Undisputed”. Case in point; the humongous success of his podcast Club Shay Shay, especially the Katt Williams episode, which garnered 37 million views in a week, propelling Sharpe to mainstream attention. As they say, everything happens for a reason, for every setback has a roaring comeback.
