When it comes to the NFL nowadays, there are actually a few pundits/personalities that might be bigger than any player in the league. Guys like Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, and Shannon Sharpe have somehow become bigger than the sports they cover. And while McAfee and Smith are both great at their craft, it’s worth reminding everyone that this is very clearly Sharpe’s second act.
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And not only is it his second act, but most who watched football in the 1990s would argue that he was far better as a Hall of Fame NFL tight end than he has been as an NFL media personality, despite the fact that he has made exponentially more money from the latter job. It seems we’re definitely losing recipes here, as the youngsters nowadays don’t even know what kind of player Sharpe was on the gridiron.
They only know him as the ESPN/FS1 pundit that he’s been over the last few years. In a tragic example of this, Washington Commanders rookie RB Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt—a seventh-round pick himself—was asked by teammate Deebo Samuel to blind rank all-time seventh-round picks. Sharpe was slotted in at No. 4, ahead of Brock Purdy and behind Ryan Fitzpatrick (!?), Julian Edelman and Bo Jackson. Sharpe was unimpressed with Bill’s lack of knowledge, to say the least.
“Are you basing it on what could have been, or what actually was? Because of all those guys on the list, only one got a gold jacket. … Do you not know anything? Do you like football? Did you not follow the game of football? Ocho, he’s 24! That man got Fitzmagic in front of me! (Laughs) I was like, damn!”
Croskey-Merritt was drafted No. 245 overall by the Commanders in the seventh round of this past draft. He has been the most impactful seventh-round pick in the league this year, which one would think would make him more likely to be aware of other lowly-drafted players that ended up becoming bona fide starters (or Hall of Famers).
And Shannon Sharpe is the epitome of that. He is one of just 10 seventh-rounders to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and there haven’t been any since Sharpe, who was drafted in 1990. As Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson said, “Bill” was simply uninformed about Sharpe’s career. Though we don’t agree, that’s an acceptable excuse.
“Bill is young. … Bill don’t know Unc. He don’t know. If he knew, he just knows the name Shannon Sharpe based on the show, based on what he’s seen on TV. But he doesn’t understand the game. What comes behind with that name. He didn’t know. Because there’s no way, as soon as he says your name, you should’ve been first.”
Sharpe racked up eight Pro Bowls and four First-Team All-Pros during his 14-year NFL career, which also included three Super Bowl rings in four years from 1997-2000. Among all-time NFL TEs, Sharpe is fifth in receptions, fifth in receiving yards, and eighth in receiving TDs.
Current players—and especially guys drafted in the late rounds like Bill—should be a lot more aware and appreciative of their forebears.
