When I went to the Pro Bowl, I went as a tight end. When I made the All Pro team, I made it as a tight end. When they introduced us and I ran out of the tunnel, they introduced me as a tight end. So how is that possible that now that my career is over, they say, 'Well, he put up stats like a wide receiver?' It's not my fault I was ahead of my time.
— Shannon Sharpe
No matter what I do, unless I break his records, I'm still going to be Sterling's little brother.
I had a speech class in elementary school. And you know how teachers, when a kid is struggling to pronounce a word, used to lead him and say, 'Johnny, sounds like... ? Johnny, sounds like... ?' I said out loud, 'Sounds like Johnny can't read.' Teacher told me to leave the room.
You have to do more than the coaches ask you, or you'll never be a great player in this league.
We have never, ever, in the history of football seen a guy that possesses what Aaron Rodgers possesses. Nobody, no quarterback in history, has the touch, the accuracy, the ability to throw the ball moving left or right, throw the ball from the pocket, throw the ball from different plains.
You can get in front of the media and say, 'Yeah, I'm working hard.' You can't do it in front of those other 52 guys in the locker room. You can't fool your teammates, because they see you. They see you every day, and they see you more than your family sees you.
Even through all those Pro Bowls, at the end of the day, I was always just a seventh-round pick.
I want to make one thing crystal clear. The NFL does have a responsibility to make sure that their players are upstanding, law-abiding citizens.
Everybody has an ego, and they don't like their athletic ability to be questioned.
A lot of guys are going to say, 'Look, if it meant me getting a Super Bowl ring, I'd run right over the top of my brother.' And I would have. But once it was said and done, I would have been very disappointed that I had to get the ring at my brother's expense.
You're only great if you win. I mean, Alexander wasn't Alexander the Mediocre or Alexander the Average. He was Alexander the Great, and there's a reason for it.
I didn't bother with trash-talking people's moms, wives, or girlfriends. I was like, 'Hold on, man, you mean to tell me you're making $10 million a year? That's $9 million, $999,999 too much!' That ate them up.
Growing up on a farm, I saw that if I didn't go to the military or go to school, and I knew my mom and my family wasn't going to be able to send me to school out of their pocket, so it basically came down to athletics. I knew I didn't want to work on a farm. I knew I didn't want to do manual labor the rest of my life.
In my 14 years, catching 200 yards or scoring 3 touchdowns in a game, breaking a record - none of those compared to winning the Super Bowl for the first time.
You're not going to win all the time.
I meet athletes from different backgrounds and see they share the same mentality and process as other athletes in other sports.
Everything I am is because of my grandmother.
I can't for the life of me - and I've tried - love someone like I love my grandmother, my sister and my mom.
I'll always respect that institution of the presidency, and I'll respect President Trump.
I was a talker back in elementary school. I used to get A's and B's in everything, but I got an F in conduct.
Talent is what wins games.
When someone keeps doing something, you say that that isn't him, he is just making some bad decisions. Sometimes those decisions reflect the person.
A lot of people mistake habit for hard work. Doing something over and over again is not working hard.
I felt like I always had to fight to prove my worth.
I don't want to live in a society where we ask sporting leagues or place of employment to dole out harsher punishment than what the criminal justice system would.
I'm not a good talker, I'm a great talker because I do it so often over a long period of time.
I'm not uncomfortable with my looks.
Most of the great players leave the game under their terms.
Guys would always start by saying, 'You ain't going to get nothing today, Sharpe!' And I'd say, 'Know what? Don't be surprised if your name is on the waiver wire tomorrow. It could have been prevented. But you wanted to go there. So now when you see your name on the wire, you'll know who put it there.'
The thing you can't measure is someone's heart, someone's desire. You can measure a 40, his vertical, his bench press, and that might let you know things like, yeah, he can jump high. But desire, his dedication, his determination, that's something you can't measure. That's something you can't measure about Rod Smith.
I could have never been a high diver or a gymnast because I don't like subjectivity. I love where I'm faster than you,, or I can jump higher or swim faster. I don't want you holding a card before I figure out whether I won or lost.
You can't be a poor sport all the time.
I love to work out.
People say, 'Since you got rich and famous, you've become insufferable.' I say, 'That's not true. I've always been insufferable.'
I'm just a skinny kid from Glennville, Georgia. I'm going to the Hall of Fame. Not to the Hall of Very Good. The Hall of Fame.
Most fans outside Denver don't like me, and for good reason. I give them every reason not to like me.
I was always a talker. You just don't wake up one morning and say, I think I want to talk a little more.' Some are better at it than others.
There's not a throw that Tom Brady can make that Aaron Rodgers can't, but there are several throws that Aaron Rodgers can make that Tom Brady only dreams of making.
I'm not supposed to be phonetically correct or enunciate perfectly.
The guys that are serious serious about football - your Peyton Mannings, your Tom Bradys - I'm not saying don't advertise or do endorsements dollars. But there's a time and a place for everything.
I really carried that seventh-round tag with me my whole career, even at the end.
The only thing I do is say what everyone else is thinking but doesn't have the guts to say.
You just don't wake up one morning and say, 'I'm going to be a talker. I'm going to be a braggart.' It's something you achieve over the years, and you get better at it. Obviously, I've gotten pretty good at it.
I'm all in on 'Undisputed,' and that's where I was with football.
Some people think all I did was trash talk. But ask my teammates, coaches - they saw how hard I worked, how hard I prepared.
The NFL is made up of 1,800 players, guys from different religious backgrounds, different upbringings. I love Peyton Manning. But I don't want 1,800 Peyton Mannings in the NFL.
I like to think my teammates had a good time when I was around.
Some guys get on the road, the first thing they do is look for the nearest golf course. I look for a gym.
Bill Belichick makes it real easy for you to root against the Patriots.
Some people retire and play golf. Some people hunt. Some people fish. I work out.
