Shannon Sharpe has already teased a return to television less than a week after he last appeared on ‘Undisputed’ with his ex-partner, Skip Bayless, as the football analyst previews his next media appearance.
On Monday, Sharpe – a three-time Super Bowl champion – shared snaps of himself on the streets of Los Angeles on social media, dressed in a gray tracksuit, accompanied by mostly pink Nike sneakers and a black and gold shoulder bag, as he entered what was quite a chic location seems to be.
“I enjoy my early morning workouts, the late breakfast and the break from wearing a suit every morning,” Sharpe captioned his Instagram post. ‘……just for a while. Tomorrow morning I’ll be on TV again.’
The Pro Football Hall of Famer also dropped a few hints that he would meet with at least one person to talk about his future and his podcast, “Club ShayShay,” sharing several hashtags online such as “#brunch,” “# talk show’ and ‘#podcasting.’
Last Tuesday, Sharpe burst into tears as he said goodbye to Bayless, who said he couldn’t sleep all night before his final installment with the ex-NFL tight-end, as 55-year-old Sharpe ended his seven-year run as co-host of the show.
Shannon Sharpe is ready to get back on the air after saying goodbye to ‘Undisputed’ last week
His departure from the talk show came months after some tense disagreements between him and Bayless — most notably over how the NFL should have handled the response to Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in January.
That night, the NFL was unable to postpone the Buffalo Bills’ matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals due to a scheduling conflict, despite the concerns of an overwhelming majority of players and staff about Hamlin’s health.
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game, but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is critical to the outcome of the regular season… which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” Bayless tweeted.
Sharpe was conspicuously absent from ‘Undisputed’ the next day, and when he returned a day later, he was visibly frustrated with Bayless interrupting him as he tried to explain his position on the matter.
Sharpe appeared on ‘Undisputed’ for seven years with now ex-partner Skip Bayless
Bayless apologized for the tweet but did not delete it.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith offered Sharpe – his “brother” – a spot on his “First Take” talk show, among a rotation of former pros turned analysts, including Michael Irvin, Keyshawn Johnson, Ryan Clark, Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears and Damien Woody.
However, it’s unclear whether Sharpe met anyone who worked for ESPN on Monday morning.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith offered Sharpe a spot on his eponymous talk show earlier this month
Earlier this month, following reports of Sharpe’s buyout deal with Fox Sports, Smith announced that he and the former NFL tight-end had agreed to appear on both “Club Shay Shay” and Smith’s eponymous show in the coming months.
Sharpe has yet to really dig into the reasons behind his departure from ‘Undisputed’ as he opted to only reveal details of his on-air broadcast, but he did like a tweet commenting on his breakup with Bayless prior to his last appearance on the talk show and earlier in June.
“Their relationship got progressively worse over the past 2, maybe 3 years because Skip fought for him to be on that show, but I feel like Skip couldn’t stand Shannon succeeding without it and that’s when Skip potshots in the air,” the tweet read. .
The New York Post cited “people close to Sharpe” who said he wanted more of a say in the talk show’s topic selection.
Arguably one of the best tight ends in NFL history, Sharpe won two Super Bowls with the Broncos and another ring with the Baltimore Ravens.