Shannon Sharpe is taking his hit new show Nightcap on the road this summer, and in Atlanta over the weekend, he welcomed big brother and fellow NFL All-Pro Sterling Sharpe to the stage for a wide-ranging conversation that only siblings could have.
In their first recorded conversation since the early days of Shannon Sharpe’s interview show Club Shay Shay, Sterling Sharpe spoke out about how his little brother handled the fallout of the on-air clash with former Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless and Shannon’s departure from FS1 last summer.
“I’m very proud of how he handled the Skip situation. He almost lost it. The Afro-American almost came out,” Sterling joked. “I know you saw it when the glasses went on the table, ‘SKIP, I’m in the effing Hall of Fame!’ I said to myself, that is the end of the Sharpes on TV. That’s it. Because I knew what was going to come next, and I was like, Skip, I hope you can fight.”
While Sterling was joking that Shannon would go to blows with Bayless, he wasn’t joking about the pride he had for how Shannon handled the situation.
And Sterling said he could tell from the fact that it got so heated on air just how deeply Shannon was hurt by Bayless.
“I was really shocked that he yelled and screamed, but he yelled and screamed not because of what Skip said; he yelled and screamed because he was so hurt that someone he liked and trusted would say or do that to him,” Sterling Sharpe said. “And he would never say this: I’m not on TV, I don’t do anyone else’s media at all … because you can’t ask me about (Shannon).”
Since Shannon Sharpe left FS1 in 2023 and found comfort at ESPN and The Volume, nearly every guest he’s interviewed has taken an opportunity to praise him and insult Bayless. But it means a little more from someone so close to Sharpe.
While Sharpe maintains that his professional bond with Bayless was genuine, Sterling backed it up here in a way that reinforces just how significant Bayless’ tirade was in breaking down an on-air relationship that was successful for over a half-decade.
Of course, Sharpe clearly came out of that divorce with a W, and Bayless is still jobless. However, the fact that it still comes up nearly 18 months later shows just shows much that disrespect hurt Sharpe.