Ok, it’s time somebody said something, and since no one else has, here we go. Shannon Sharpe, the Hall of Fame tight end has made quite a mark on the sports media landscape over the past several years. But lately, he’s been wilding out to the point where it seems either Unc Shay Shay or Shannon may need some anger management therapy. Maybe it’s that Cognac he’s always sipping like it’s 1973, or maybe it’s that Shannon’s gone so deep into his character work that he forgets where Shannon ends, and Shay Shay begins.
“I won’t chase a lie. But I won’t let you lie on my name.” – Shannon Sharpe to Mike Epps
Sharpe said a mouthful there. Or was that, Shay Shay? Probably the latter since it was his “Nightcap” show with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. Now, in fairness to Unc, he was responding to Epps who’d gotten some jokes off on him during a comedy set previously. Epps also talked about being approached to go sit on the now infamous couch at “Club Shay Shay.” After Katt Williams’ appearance on Shay Shay’s couch, every comedian with name value wants their shot. He recently had Comedian/actress Monique on and that blew up in a matter of hours online. Epps might just be trying to get his name back out there on that same level.
Comedians can tend to straddle the line between what’s real and fabricated or exaggerated. Some people probably took it as the intended joke it was. Not that Sharpe’s or Shay Shay’s peeps couldn’t reach out to Epps. Hmmm, do Shannon and Shay Shay share the same people handling his day-to-day affairs? Or are those two separate divisions within the company?
Since everyone wants to keep it 100 percent “real” even though all this is very Hollywood, these dudes are too old to be going at each other like this publicly, talking about pulling up and confronting one another. NBA All-Star weekend is in Epps’s backyard this year (Indianapolis) and they’ve already alluded to seeing each other there.
Hopefully, we don’t have another Lakers game incident with Sharpe. The game where he wanted to fight Dillon Brooks then the entire Memphis Grizzlies squad. Once again, was the Shay Shay courtside or Shannon? Or does he morph into the other mid-rant? Someone really needs to explain how this alter ego thing works.
None of this was really necessary and it interrupted the game. Sharpe is understandably a passionate guy, that’s what made him such a great football player and has contributed to his success on TV and social media. But you’d have thought that breaking free from Skip Bayless would make one’s life much happier regardless of what’s happening elsewhere.
Sharpe is great at what he does and has built a successful brand that continues to grow. Epps is a comedian, he tells jokes, and sometimes he roasts other celebrities. If he lied, then we can see why Shay Shay would be upset, but let’s not go overboard. Hopefully, these two will be sensible enough to sit down during All-Star weekend and have a conversation in between the fun and festivities.
Sometimes you’ve just got to let it go. But if Sharpe can’t, then it’s time for him to go plop down on a professional’s couch and talk it out.
