Shannon Sharpe gets emotional comparing Sherrone Moore situation to his own

Since an ugly legal dispute cost him his job at ESPN and damaged the business prospects of his popular podcasts this past spring, Shannon Sharpe has largely stayed quiet.

What began as a very public and embittered war of words between attorneys after Sharpe was sued by a former romantic partner alleging sexual assault was ultimately settled quietly. As a result of the saga, Sharpe was fired from a high-profile role at the Worldwide Leader that included recurring appearances on First Take and reportedly had him in line for his own show in the afternoon.

And because the lawsuit was filed shortly after Sharpe brought his video podcasts Nightcap and Club Shay Shay to the market, looking for licensing opportunities, Sharpe has not found the nine-figure deals he was reportedly seeking.

Still, besides denying the charges and canceling a live show tour planned for the summer, Sharpe largely has not gone into detail about what happened. After Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore was suddenly fired and arrested on Wednesday, an emotional Sharpe appeared on Nightcap and, for several minutes, shared how it felt for him over the past several months to be in what he called “the eye of the storm.”

“Six, seven months ago, I went through something very similar. So I know what that storm is like. And unless you’ve been in it, [shakes head],” Sharpe said. “That’s why when people say, ‘This is what I would do,’ you don’t know what you would do until you’re in it. Until you’re in that pressure cooker, the eye of the storm.”

As Sharpe continued, he expressed remorse about the details of his private life becoming public and the embarrassment of getting caught in an inappropriate situation. Sharpe did not address the specifics of the lawsuit or the settlement.

But he described how his inner circle has dwindled over the course of the year and the toll the saga took on his relationships.

“I don’t hate anybody, but there are a few people I have a strong dislike for. I wouldn’t wish what I went through on any of them,” Sharpe said.

“It was tough. There were some days where all I had was … my family. That was it. Nobody else was there. All the phone calls, people used to call, ‘Hey, how you doing, what’s up?’ Stopped. Besides that yeah, it was embarrassing, I think that was the toughest part. That people who you always thought would be in your corner, all of a sudden they weren’t there.”

The accuser has not made a public statement since her attorneys negotiated a “resolution” with Sharpe’s in July. Sharpe previously faced another sexual assault lawsuit in 2010.

On Nightcap on Thursday remarking on Moore’s path forward following his arrest in Michigan and dismissal from the Wolverines program, Sharpe was somber:

“Everything that you worked a lifetime for, all these bricks that you (stacked). You start stacking all back over again,” he said.