When it’s all about Shannon Sharpe, where does one start or leave off?
His selection Saturday to the Pro Football Hall of Fame-the fourth Denver Broncos player to be elected into the illustrious honor society in the last eight years-has already led to a spate of stories and columns about the great tight end.
I thought I would offer my own take on Shannon Sharpe one more time, with apologies if you have read this before.
His selection had to happen sooner or later, and Sharpe did not make it due to numbers his first two years of eligibility-for example, when the voters decided to go for the very deserving Mr. Ralph Wilson, his age was a factor in putting him in right away, probably costing Sharpe a spot. Same thing happened this year-not to Sharpe, but to someone-when they went for the very deserving Ed Sabol, who is 95 years old. Ed has waited in enough lines in his life and career, he should never be in another.
So Shannon altogether waited two years, not a very long time compared to the 18-year wait endured by the elegant and classy wide receiver Lynn Swann.
Shannon set the gold standard in a lot of ways.
It is now fashionable to talk about Tony Gonzalez as the all-time reception leader at the tight end position-more catches, yards, and touchdowns now than Sharpe.
However…..
When he retired, Sharpe was number one in all those categories, plus all time Pro Bowl honors for tight ends, but he really made his mark with postseason play.
Just think, the next playoff win that Tony Gonzalez participates in will be the very first one of his career.
Shannon had 12 straight postseason wins at one point, a total almost impossible to duplicate, finishing with 13 overall, including three Super Bowls.
But not only was he a part of all that winning, he did the talking in advance of the games, and always backed it up with his play.
He came out of Savannah State as a late draft choice but brought with him some staggering pass catching figures. I remember the day, and I remember thinking that if he caught all those passes in college, he likely would catch a lot as a pro as well. Sometimes things are simpler than we make them out to be.
One of the biggest plays in the 1997 AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh was John Elway calling Sharpe’s number on the last big third down play of the game for the Broncos, with Sharpe guaranteeing his Hall of Fame quarterback that he would be there and get the ball, no matter what. A huge play, one of the biggest in Broncos history. Sharpe backed up everything he ever said.
I remember after we won the first Super Bowl and received the championship rings for Super Bowl XXXII, with no announcement or fanfare of any type Shannon gave his ring to his brother Sterling. Everyone knows how close they were, but many people still do not know Shannon performed that ultimate act. Sterling wears the Super Bowl ring to this day. Months later, after the word spread quietly within the organization, Mike Shanahan just as quietly called Shannon to his office and gave him another ring. I don’t know who paid for it, but it was a very classy gesture.
I remember when we won the second of our back-to-back Super Bowls, beating the Atlanta Falcons, after talking to all the press, showering and dressing, Shannon opened a duffle bag and pulled out a leather jacket that already was engraved with the logos of both games, noting in bold lettering that the Broncos were back-to-back champs. He put on his jacket and exited the locker room. He was ready for the moment. Sharpe was always ready for the moment.
He was ready when he went to the Baltimore Ravens, too, helping them to win their only world title before being brought back to Denver, where he always belonged.
I remember a time during a busy week when a player had made a big commitment to talk to about a dozen media members at one time, by phone-in our business, it is called a conference call-but then backed out, literally, at the second I was going to place the call. With barely seconds to spare, I walked over to Shannon and told him the situation with a “What in the world am I going to do?” look on my face. He just whispered to me, “Get them on the phone, tell them he had a commitment, but that Sharpe will do it if that’s OK.” Sharpe was one of the game’s superstars and the press at the other end of the line could barely believe their good luck in getting Sharpe as a “substitute.” The point is, he completely solved a problem for me, acting once more like the captain that he was.
He used to say that “your locker is a microcosm” of your life, and he would routinely take all the contents out, shoes, papers, playbook, etc. and get down on his knees and clean it out with one of those hand vacuums. This man was meticulous.
Like all teams, the Bronco served food to the players every day, to make sure they got a hot meal.
Sharpe brought his own. A broiled no skin chicken breast, and green vegetables. Every day.
On Fridays we served pizza, and Shannon would often have a slice with his teammates. But only as a matter of camaraderie, not nutrition.
He was one of a kind. A lot of men are self made men, but most of them stopped the work halfway through the project. Sharpe did nothing halfway, and he did not stop halfway on his journey to the Hall of Fame, either.
As I said to him the day he retired, “See you in Canton, Shannon.”
Absolutely, but every player will be doing that, or should be anyway, but in Tebow’s case it would hurt him as much as anyone considering he is a developping NFL player is my point.
Bottom line is we the Denver Broncos need those idiot players and owners to come up with a solution for a new CBA pronto, because with only 6 draft picks and no FA in a rebuilding year it would be as grim for us as for any team. We are hanging on to a thread here…
Agreed, agreed for sure. This thing is getting rediculous. One questiion for you, has it been written anuyplace just what all the issues are in this CBA? Or, are we having to piece things together from this interview, that interview and this other interview type of thing? Do we know what ALL of the issues are that are supposedly being hashed out in the “discussions”?
Bay, Dennis smith was a monster of a Safety. I agree with you about him. Steve Atwater is one of my all time favorites. Heck Dennis and Steve got to play side by side for a few years. Atwater coming into his own while Dennis Smith at the twilght of his career. Two frieght trains in the backfield. A dangerous combo if you ask me. HaHa!
Once again there are a small hand-full of oldtime Bronco`s who have been stumped by the HOF. Louis Wright, Rich (Tombstone) Jackson, Randy Gradishar, Karl Mecklenburg, and Lyle Alzado to name a few. And those are some of our players from the old days. I know there are more but this is a start.
Seweatherman, the main CBA issues are basically this:
1. How is the generated revenue divided?
Currently the NFL as a whole earns approximately $8.5bn in revenue from advertising, ticket sales, TV networks etc. The big debate is how much of this goes to the players and how much goes to the owners. Currently the players have a very good deal. They get a higher percentage than the owners. Over the last few years, the players share has been between 52.74% and 50.06%.
2. 18 game season
Football fans have known for years that the pre-season is pretty much a complete waste of time (especially the first and last games). The proposal on the table is to reduce the pre-season to two games and extend the regular season from sixteen to eighteen games. The argument from the league is that there is no more football played in total, but fans get to watch two more ‘competitive’ games. The argument from the union is that these two extra games mean two more games with a risk of injury.
3. Rookie salary cap
The contention with the Rookie salary cap is interesting. The owners obviously want to implement a salary cap. They want to reduce their costs and the last few years, guaranteed salaries for top 5 picks have been increasing year on year. The interesting part is the opinion of senior players. Several veterans understandably do not like that a rookie who has proven nothing at NFL level is coming into the league and earning five or ten times what they are earning. You can see their point. In most other jobs, we expect our salary to increase with performance and experience. This is not the case with the players drafted into the NFL. This appears to be the easiest issue for the owners and union to resolve.
4. Health insurance after the CBA expires
The issues involving healthcare are a major hurdle to any agreement. It has been contentions for a long-time. Essentially the issue of healthcare links to the extended season. The players feel that if they are expected to play two additional games per season, then they should have additional healthcare benefits. Currently the NFL covers healthcare for five years after a player leaves the league. The players want this extended because they believe two more game increases the chance for injuries.
New blog by Coop on draft and CBA.
My answers with both sides meeting in the middle:
1. 50/50 player/owner revenue share.
2. 17 regular season games and three preseason.
3. Rookie salary cap.
4. Health insurance extended to seven years.
Solutions along those lines for everybody to be happy about something, at least any normal person would be….
Think about this. If there was a 17 game season, there will be far less scenerios of teams making the playoffs. The last few teams looking for that wilcard spot or jockying for position of there own division. This will eliminate half of the scenerios. So with one game left and say our Bronco`s have 25 ways to get into the playoffs IF……….. Just with adding one game this will eliminate by half.
Or maybe eliminates even more than half. It`s pretty rediculous when there is a team that has like 25 ways to get it. It would be far better if there is just a few scenerios by just adding one game.
oooops. More than 25 ways (Scenerios) to get into the playoffs.
If you go with 17 games, it still has the same # of divisional games (6), so I’m not sure how big a difference the playoff scenarios would be over a 16 game season, it might reduce them by a hair, but not much more than that, definitely not half or more like you say, or maybe I’m missing something… Anyway I just don’t see that as a big factor either way.
OK, Thanks. A buddy of mine and I were talking about a 17 game Schedule like you just mentioned earlier. He said because of the odd numer of games that it would reduce half of those scenerios. I took him for his word. It made sense the way my friend explained it.
I would have to hear him make his case, because as I see it an even or odd number of games wouldn’t make any difference, the only difference is that one more game would give better odds for teams to separate themselves, so in that light 18 games would be even better, but not significantly.
Good to have a couple of discussions today anyway…
Ya, It`s kind of boring when the offseason hits. Next up is the Combine on the 24th of this month. A few weeks away. It`ll be interesting to see.
I`m stuck in my house today anyway. It`s been snowing all day today here in Colorado.
I remember when Elway, Sharpe, and TD were all lighting it up together and it wasn’t “Are we going to win today?” But more, “How many points are we going to score and how much are we going to win by”!!!
I have fond memoreies of those days . . . and I hope we can get back to former glory someday soon!!!
Go Broncos!!!
I think I would like Colin McCarthy at ILB if we can’t get Martez Wilson. He is bigger than Jones and hits hard.
Here is his profile
Read & React: Good instincts for the position. Reads his keys quickly and efficiently moves towards the ball. Can be too aggressive toward the line of scrimmage against the run, leaving cutback lanes vacant. Over-aggression makes him susceptible to good play-action. To his credit, he isn’t fooled for long and doesn’t quit until the whistle blows.
Run defense: Attacks the line of scrimmage in run defense, taking questionable angles. Can get tripped up inside but did show improvement last year in his ability to protect his legs. Often beats blockers to the point due because he constantly attacks the line of scrimmage, resulting in high tackle production. Provides a quick, physical pop to keep blockers off of him when his good lateral agility isn’t enough to elude them. Has seen time at all three linebacker positions. Has at least moderate straight-line speed. Pursues with passion laterally and downfield.
Pass defense: High and choppy in his backpedal and is a bit stiff in the hips. Gains good depth on his drops and keeps his head on a swivel in pass defense, but has only moderate overall agility to keep up with potential receivers. Typically is in position to make the tackle, but may not be athletic enough to consistently break up passes.
Tackling: Arguably his best skill. Is an aggressive, wrap-up tackler that seems to enjoy the physicality of the game. Shows no hesitancy taking on big ballcarriers. Flashes some explosiveness as a hitter, showing textbook hit-lift-drive form. Breaks down well in space to handle elusive running backs.
Pass Rush/Blitz: Moderate speed off the edge as a stand-up blitzer. Can pressure the tackle’s outside shoulder and shows some natural pass-rush instincts with his ability to cut back inside. Has to develop better technique; he’s overly reliant on the bull rush when engaged. Needs to do a better job of protecting his knees from the cut block.
Intangibles: A standout special teams player early in his career. Was granted a medical hardship in 2008 after four games. Slipped on wet turf during practice and injured his shoulder, which required surgery. Considered leaving for the NFL after his junior season.
The problem with a 17 game schedule is the odd number of games – so half the teams will get one less home game … that would mean (I think) the owners would get “screwed” if the didn’t have that extra home game … I suppose it could be solved by a “every other year” kind of thing, but still – say the Chargers had the extra home game and we didn’t, they’d have an advantage … course, by playing different teams from other divisions every year, we kind of have a non-level playing field now, but at least most of the division teams play the same non-division schedule … so, I think 16 or 18 games is what makes sense … any comments????
Thinking about it some more, since there are 4 teams in each division, and there are 4 divisions, then everybody in 2 of the divisions could all get an extra home game every other year … maybe that would work … but the $$ thing would still have to be resolved …
long choppy hairstyles…
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