Dan Orlovsky finally got one over on Shannon Sharpe.
A staunch defender of quarterbacks around the NFL, being a former one himself, he’s been accused of being an Aaron Rodgers “shill” by Sharpe — and the same could be said for Joe Burrow. Despite the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback putting together an MVP-worthy season, one that’s been touted by their ESPN colleague Troy Aikman, Sharpe has tried to undercut the 28-year-old Burrow every chance he gets.
When the Bengals started 0-3, Sharpe was the first to catch the “blame Joe Burrow” bug and his slander of the LSU product nearly broke Marcus Spears. It didn’t deter Sharpe, though, who took his victory lap when the Bengals weren’t sitting so pretty at 3-5. Then they were 4-8, and Burrow helped lead them to five straight victories, which just wasn’t good enough to get them in through the backdoor of the AFC Playoff race.
And wouldn’t you know, Sharpe leaped onto that.
He’s since chided Orlovsky every time Burrow did something wrong. And when Sharpe tried to get one over on him on Monday’s First Take, the former journeyman quarterback came with receipts.
Sharpe implored Orlovsky to tell the viewers at home who the last Triple Crown winner to miss the playoffs was. For reference, Ja’Marr Chase became the sixth wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to lead the league in receptions (127), yards (1,708) and touchdown receptions (17).
But Sharpe walked right into the trap, conveniently forgetting the wide receiver who captured the same feat in 1992.
“Your brother,” Orlovsky wisely said, pointing in Sharpe’s direction before he could finish his line of questioning.
That would be his brother, Sterling Sharpe.
“I can’t either. I can’t either. What? That was 30-plus years ago,” Shannon said, finally realizing he had walked into the trap he had set for someone else.
Yikes.
Orlovsky – 1
Sharpe – 0
Sharpe may have thought he had cornered Orlovsky. But the former quarterback finally delivered a flawless counter.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.