Whether you’re a football fan or not, when Shannon Sharpe talks, people listen. Just as some people watch the Super Bowl for the TV commercials, a fair number were probably watching this year’s big game just for Shannon. Forget about his athletic prowess and chiseled physique, or even the fact he’s one of the NFL’s most talented tight ends. We want to hear what’s going to come out of his mouth next. He spares no mercy on anyone, from referees (a favorite target), to the opposing team or a TV camera. Shannon is in his element when his mouth is running just as fast as his legs.

We recently sat down with Shannon and uncovered the answers to some burning questions about everything from his nutrition and supplementation habits to his true feelings about winning another Super Bowl, leaving the Denver Broncos and whether golfers are “real” athletes.

Muscle Media: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to win another Super Bowl?

Shannon Sharpe: It feels good, actually. Especially being in the situation I was in, where a lot of people gave up and said I couldn’t play anymore. Especially my old team [the Denver Broncos]. It felt like they had given up on me. Even after I put in 10 years of, what I thought, was great and very loyal service. And then everyone gave up on me. I read the paper. I read what all these so-called people said who never played the game or didn’t have an idea of what a guy can and can’t do anymore. I didn’t play as well as I would have liked to have played [in this year’s Super Bowl], but I played well enough, and I think I gave the Baltimore Ravens what they thought I would give them and more, and so that’s what’s most gratifying about this.

MM: How would you compare winning the Super Bowl with the Broncos to winning it with the Ravens?

SS: The first one I’ll always cherish. There is nothing that I can ever accomplish, I don’t really think, that could take the place of winning that first one, because that was my first one. No one really knows the adulation of just sitting on the sideline; you’re helpless. We did everything that we could do. We put up the 31 points on the board, and now it’s up to our defense. And when linebacker John Mobley knocked that ball down, and I realized it was fourth down and the game was over, it was just pure joy. That one was the sweetest. This one [with the Ravens] I had the most fun, because I got an opportunity to be the “real” Shannon. I didn’t have to bite my lip. I didn’t have to worry about what was said. I didn’t have to worry about giving someone “bulletin board” material. I never worry about bulletin board material, because if a team uses that type of motivation to get ready to play a game, you have already beat them anyway. So that’s the way we had talked all year. We knew when things were bad, because we couldn’t score any points. But we still had a lot to say. And so why would you deviate because you’re at the Super Bowl? We didn’t have curfew. We didn’t have room check. We got to carry on as if it were a normal night, and we got to say whatever we wanted. So I could say, “Yeah, we’re gonna win. Yeah, we’re going to be ready to celebrate at 9:00.” Ray Lewis [Baltimore Ravens linebacker and Super Bowl MVP] could guarantee a victory. Yeah, they could talk about shut-outs, because we knew we could beat the New York Giants.

MM: Good, we’re glad you back it up, because we didn’t want you to have to eat crow.

SS: I’ve been serving it up. I don’t eat it; I just serve it up.

MM: Now that you’ve won three Super Bowls, what motivates you now?

SS: I would like to try to win another Super Bowl. There is no question about that. And I would like to get 750 catches [beating the current record of 662 catches, held by former Cleveland Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome and current Vice President of Player Personnel for the Ravens]. I realize I would have to play two years to get 750 catches, but I think I’m in striking distance of getting 700 this year, and that’s my motivation. That’s my goal. The main thing for me is that I really don’t like to set a whole lot of goals, although it’s definitely important to have a few important ones to shoot for. I feel if I stay healthy, everything else will take of itself. So that’s my goal: Stay in the best possible shape as I can, stay as healthy as I possibly can, and everything else will take care of itself.

MM: Since Ozzie is on the same team as you are, how would it feel to break his record?

SS: It’s going to be strange, because he was “the guy” growing up. I wanted to be him. I remember my rookie year in 1990, we played them on a Monday night game. I remember going up to him and shaking his hand. And I couldn’t believe that I was actually shaking his hand. It’s going to be great because it’s someone I respect, and he always critiques everything I’ve done. I know he’s going to watch the practice tape, I know he’s going to watch the game tape, and he comes back and says, “That was a great move, but you …” He always gives me positive feedback. He’s a Hall of Famer, he has all the records that the tight ends have, and that’s what I’m trying to assimilate. Obviously, I have no problem with him correcting me. I have no problem with him telling me, “Okay, this is what you need to do. You should have done this. You should’ve done that. That was great.” You just have to respect the guy.

MM: So, for you personally, what’s your hardest obstacle to overcome? You can’t always want to get up and work out every day.

SS: Right now, everything I do in my life is devoted to one thing, and that’s being the best football player that I can possibly be. I make no bones about it … I eat, I run, I sleep. I plan my schedule. No vacation. I don’t go to the Bahamas. I don’t go to Jamaica. I don’t go to Hawaii. Everything I do is tailored to where I can be the best possible football player, because when I go to training camp in July, I want to be the best. I eat. I sleep. I drink. I make sure I’m in bed at 10:30 p.m., and I sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. Everything I do is football related. Because when it’s over, it’s over. It’s not like golf where you have a senior circuit. When it’s over, it’s over. And I don’t ever want to look back.

MM: How would you motivate someone who’s just starting to train or entering the Body-for-LIFE Challenge? What would you tell them?

SS: I think the biggest thing is that when people see other people, they’re like, “I would like to get in that shape. Maybe not that good of shape, but I’d like to get in shape.” And the thing is, you can achieve that, but you have to be willing to pay the price. Everybody wants to be rich and wealthy, but no one wants to go to work every day. They think, “Well, let me play the big game—let me play Lotto. Let me go to Vegas and roll. Maybe I can get lucky.” That’s what our society has come to. But the thing is, a woman or a man has to see the results. A lot of people will stop if they don’t see results in a week. Well, you didn’t get that big or out of shape in a week. Give yourself the same amount of time it took you to become the way you are. Give yourself that same amount of time to get that off of you. And if you do that, you’ll be very pleased.

MM: Right now it’s the off-season for you. What are your workouts like?

SS: Well, right now, as we speak, I’m not working out. I’m probably going to start on Monday [2/26/01]. Normally, in years past, I’ve always taken a week—10 days at the max—but I’ve never gone more than 10 days without working out. Monday will be my third week, so I’m going to get back into it. This year I played at 237 pounds, which is the heaviest I’ve played at any point in time in my entire life. This upcoming season I’m going to play at 230 or under. I have a lot of lofty ambitions I would like to meet, and I feel I will be better served playing at 230 and under than 237 or in that range. But I’m ready to get started. I will not start running until mid-March, but I’ll start doing cardio. I’ll start hitting the gym. I’ll start back on the yoga and doing karate, so when I start running, I’ll be less apt to be injured and miss time like I did last year.

MM: How about nutrition during the off-season. Is it all just pizza and beer right now?

SS: No. I don’t drink, and I’m really not that big of a pizza eater. But for two weeks I’ll eat whatever I want, because I figure I’d gone for 101/2 months doing everything by the book—the chicken breasts, the tuna, staying away from the bread, eating the leafy vegetables and even salad with no salad dressing. So I think I’m entitled to eat two or three weeks bad.

MM: What’s your favorite “bad” food?

SS: That would be chicken fingers. I like cheeseburgers, but if I had a choice, I would eat chicken fingers.

MM: Come on, what about your sweet tooth?

SS: Oh, red velvet cake is my favorite. If I could only eat one thing for a year, it would have to be red velvet cake.

MM: That’s more like it. Now we know what to send you now to get the best of you. Aside from pigging out on red velvet cake, what else do you like to do in the off-season?

SS: I like to work out. And I like to ride my road bike.

MM: During these last couple of weeks, what has your supplement strategy been like? Is that going to start back up on Monday?

SS: Oh yeah. When I’m eating bad, there’s no sense in taking supplements. It defeats the purpose. But when I start back eating good, once I start back training, I combine those three things together to give me the best results.

MM: What supplements do you tend to use the most?

SS: I use HMB, Phosphagen HP and Essential Fatty Acids, and I use EAS’ Myoplex every day.

MM: Do you think you’ve influenced the Ravens in terms of supplementation and nutritional habits?

SS: I think so. I think Brian [Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick] had a great way of putting it. He said, “If you eat like Shannon, if you work like Shannon, you’ll be like Shannon.” And I think the thing is that when I came to the Ravens, I came with credibility. I came from two Super Bowls. They looked at the numbers. I was All-Pro—going to pro bowls year after year. And obviously I was doing something right. Obviously I knew what I was talking about. Because what you have to do is give five or six months to really hone in your training. And if you’ve done enough, then that’s going to carry you through the season. That’s all you can hope for. Because once you get to training camp, if you haven’t done it, if you haven’t gotten it, you won’t get it. Guys see the way I come in in shape, year after year. And I’ve started coming in in better shape, year after year, because I realize I can’t run as fast as I could at 32 years old now than when I was 24 or 25. I understand that. Everybody should understand that. But they see how hard I work. They see the way I eat. They see the way I train. You hear about it or you read about it, but when you actually see someone doing the same thing and doing what it takes to be successful, you can point your finger and say, “Okay, he does this and he’s successful. Let me try it.”

MM: Were the Ravens’ supplementation and nutrition habits pretty bad before you joined the team?

SS: I’m not going to say they were the greatest. People normally eat what they’ve been eating all year, and if you’ve been successful doing that, why change it? But what I try to tell them is that, okay, just think how you’re eating and how good you play now. Just think of how well you could play if you were eating right and taking the proper supplementation. Like Ray Lewis. Ray is a great football player. But if you take a guy with his ability and you get him to eat right—you get him to change some of his eating habits—you get him to train and use supplementation—you get him to work out harder than he’s ever worked before. And now you take a guy who was having 200 tackles in a season, who was a good football player, and now you he’s the Defensive Player of the Year. He’s football’s MVP, and that shows you that obviously the system works if a guy’s willing to put the effort into it.

MM: Is it just a coincidence that the Ravens happened to win the Super Bowl the first year you joined the team, or is it all you?

SS: A lot of things have to happen right. It has to start at the top. Art Modell is great. He’s a great owner. He lets Brian [the coach] run with the truth. This is why I say Brian is probably the best coach I’ve ever been associated with. He’s a guy who says, “You know what? I don’t have Cris Carter. I don’t have Brad Johnson or Randall Cunningham. I can’t throw the ball up and down the field and have guys make big plays. What I can do is I can get 14 to 20 points on the board and turn it over to the defense, and we can win that way.” And that’s what he’s willing to do. I don’t know how many coaches are willing to sacrifice the way they know how to win and say, “Okay. We’re going to win this way.” Very few people can do that. And he’s willing to do that. The coordinators and the players are also key. When I spoke to the guys [Ravens players] at the beginning of the year, I said, “You have to be unselfish. You can’t care who makes the most money or who gets the most endorsements. It doesn’t matter. Because when you win the Championship, everyone will benefit.” Granted, your stars are going to get the biggest chunks, but there will be enough of that to go around for everybody.

MM: Now that you’ve left the Broncos, do you think they’ve gone downhill in terms of supplementation and nutrition?

SS: I don’t know, but I don’t think so, because Rich Tuten [the Broncos’ strength and conditioning coach] is a guy who is really educated on that aspect. They’ve still gotten to the play-offs, and who knows what would have happened if they had had a healthy Brian Griese. You never know what might have happened. So, I don’t think they’re going downhill. They still have Mike Shanahan, and they still have Ed [McCaffrey] and Rod [Smith], who are probably two of the best receivers there are in the league. You’d get an argument from Cris Carter and Randy Moss, but they’re [Ed and Rod] probably one and two. And, they have three great backs with Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson. I still think they’re going to be a team to be reckoned with. I think their supplementation is still where it needs to be, and I think they can get the job done. Look at what’s happened the past two years: St. Louis would go from a 4-12 record or a 5-11 team and win the Super Bowl. We go from 8-8 and win the Super Bowl. When I first came in the league, there were only three or four teams that actually had a realistic chance of winning the Super Bowl. Now there’s 15 to 20 teams.

MM: Speaking of the Broncos, what do you think of the situation with linebacker Bill Romanowski and his trouble with illegally obtained prescription fat burners?

SS: I know Romo as a football player. Romo and I weren’t that close, but we talked every day about this and that, so I really don’t know. I don’t want to be judgmental and comment and say, “Well, you know he was wrong.” I really don’t know. I look at it like this: Think about what I said in Australia during the 1999 American Bowl in Sydney. I said that I thought people in the city were racist. I said I thought they were prejudiced. I said all of that. And everybody looked at me and said, “No, it’s just that Shannon Sharpe talking.” Everybody, from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen to Mike Shanahan, said, “Oh no, it didn’t happen. I don’t know why Shannon said that. That reflects so bad on the team.” Then you look at the 2000 Olympics. Look at Cathy Freeman [Australian Aborigine and Olympic gold medal winner] and the exposure she got when she said how people treated the Aborigines badly, and you look at the award she won at the ESPYs [the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award]. Obviously, Shannon Sharpe wasn’t mistaken. Obviously, Shannon Sharpe wasn’t wrong. But, everybody said he was wrong. Even the management. You look at Romo’s thing, and not one time did they say what he did was wrong. They said, “That’s not Romo.” And they said, “Hey, I don’t believe he said that. I don’t believe he did that.” And all I was saying was my opinion. Now here they’ve got cold, hard facts. If you’re going to be fair, be fair with the whole thing. That’s all I’ve ever asked. If Romo’s wrong, Romo’s wrong. Romo should admit he’s wrong and suffer whatever the NFL or the system deems a fair punishment. He should be willing to accept that. But, I think the organization is just as at fault, because during all those incidents that transpired with Romo over the years, not one time did the organization step up to the plate and say that Romo was wrong. But for whatever I’ve done, it was always, “No, Shannon Sharpe was wrong. Shannon Sharpe talks too much. Shannon Sharpe shouldn’t have said that.”

MM: Do you think you’ve made enemies or caused people to dislike you because you were (and are) so outspoken?

SS: I don’t care if you like me. I’m not a politician. I’m not trying to win your vote. I’m not trying to get into office. I don’t care if you respect me. That doesn’t matter to me either. Because you can lose worth either way. All I care about is that, at the end of the day, you know I am a damn good football player and that I give you everything I have. That’s all I really cared about. That is my job. I show up to work on time. I am very professional and do my job to the best of my God-given abilities. That’s all. Everything else that comes along with that, be it good or bad, so be it.

MM: What do you think about the NFL players who have been having criminal problems or have been involved in criminal trials? Do you think they should be allowed to continue to play?

SS: I look at it like this: It doesn’t matter how much money you make or what professional organization you’re with, you’re still part of the make-up of society. I don’t know why people think that money exempts you from problems that would occur in normal society. If a guy at AT&T gets a DUI, is he allowed to resume his job at AT&T? Sure he is. But I can assure you, if a guy gets a DUI at your company or any other company, he’s not suspended for four weeks. He doesn’t lose his salary for four weeks like in the NFL. I think we’re punished as harsh as anybody in an organization—more so. They want us to be role models, but they have to realize that we’re human. We have faults just like anybody else. So I think we’re judged harsh. I think we should be, but if we make a mistake, why are we any worse than anybody else who made a mistake? Money doesn’t exempt you from anything. Trust me.

MM: We’ve been reading some past articles in which you’ve defended your teammate Ray Lewis, who was put on trial for his role in a double murder. How do you feel about his treatment by the media, and about him being overlooked by endorsement opportunities after the Super Bowl?

SS: Here’s a guy they accused of double murder, but they pleaded him to obstruction of justice. Okay. After all this is done, everybody says, “I can’t believe this. He’s a bad example.” And Ray’s fined $250,000 by the NFL, on top of the $2 million he had to spend to get himself out of this. If he wasn’t Ray Lewis, he wouldn’t have been in this mess to begin with.

MM: What are your thoughts on Rae Carruth, the Carolina Panthers wide receiver who was found guilty of conspiring to kill Cherica Adams, who was pregnant with his son at the time?

SS: He made a mistake. He should get the 18-plus years for killing her, and a thousand years for being stupid.

MM: Since we’re talking about sensitive subjects, do you think steroids are prevalent in the NFL?

SS: You know what, I’m not going to be naÐve and say no. But I can’t imagine a guy making $7 million a year, or $5 million a year or even $2 million a year, and willing to risk all that by getting suspended for four weeks and losing $300,000. Maybe some guys are willing to take a chance. But I’m not. So I’m not going to say no, there aren’t any steroids in the NFL, but I can’t say categorically, 100 percent for certain.

MM: Do you find that more and more players are finding they can get same or better results with supplementation and proper nutrition? That they’re no longer thinking steroids are the only way to get big or improve their speed?

SS: Yes, I think so. There has been so much made about the negative side effects, and guys are actually still dying. I’d like to live to 75 or 85, if possible. I know I’m going to die, but I’m not going to go stand in front of a bus to aid the prophet. So, with all the negative side effects that have been brought out, I don’t know if guys are willing to take that chance.

MM: You recently did a TV spot where you played golf. Has your game improved since then?

SS: No, I’m not a golfer. And if you’re not on the PGA Tour, you’re not a golfer either. If I can’t be the best, I don’t want to play. I will not play anything that I can’t be the best at. So if I can’t put up Tiger Woods-type numbers on a consistent basis, I don’t wanna play.

MM: I’m sure your brother, retired Green Bay Packers wide receiver and current ESPN analyst, Sterling Sharpe, would agree with that.

SS: Hey, I’ll tell anybody that. My brother or anybody else. If you’re not on the tour, you’re just playing, and I don’t like habits like that. I ride my bike, and I try to beat the guys I ride with. I do this to get in shape. But I’ve never seen a golfer with great abs or any type of muscle tone. Anybody can play golf.

MM: Sterling doesn’t have abs?

SS: No. He has an ab.

MM: One?

SS: Yes. And anybody can play golf. You can get some cheap clubs—I would think that golf’s expensive, but I wouldn’t know because I don’t purchase anything that’s golf related—but a guy who weighs 400 pounds can play golf. He doesn’t have to walk the course; he can get a cart. Just hit the ball and drive the cart to the next hole.

MM: So now we know what you think about golf! What are your thoughts on the XFL, the new “extreme” football league that recently had its debut?

SS: You know what? I look at it like this: Everybody’s trying to be the best. What we have at the NFL is the best, and if you can’t play for the best, I guess you have to play for whatever else is available. Now, would I play for XFL? Probably not. But I think guys who have dreams and ambitions of playing professional football think this avenue gives them the best opportunity. But you don’t need all those cheerleaders on the sideline. I don’t know, per se, that the average fan goes to a game to see cheerleaders half-exposing themselves. They might. I don’t know if they go to watch the action on the sidelines and see someone talk to the end coach during the game. I don’t know what all people go to the game for, but I don’t really think that NFL fans go to a game for what the XFL is offering.

MM: Do you think the NFL should incorporate some of the same rules the XFL has? Just for fun?

SS: No. We have a great game. We have enough rules. I think the only rules they need to get away from is fining people for game attire—socks being pulled too low or too high, a jersey being untucked—all that kind of stuff. But other than that, I think the NFL is great—I wouldn’t change a thing.

MM: That’s great you have such job “satisfaction.” So far, you’ve had a great career with the NFL. Is there anything you would have changed or done differently if you could have?

SS: Up until now, I have no regrets. I don’t think there is anything I could have done differently that would have influenced my career thus far, better or worse than it has already turned out. As I said before, all I ever wanted was that at the end of the day you say, “You know what, he’s a damn good football player. If you look past all the cockiness and you look past all that stuff that he gives you, he’s still a damn good football player.”

Make no mistake, Shannon is notorious for “telling it like it is,” and whether the topic is football or nutrition makes no difference. He’s not planning on stopping any time soon.

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