Shannon Sharpe received three Tremendous Bowls in a Corridor of Fame profession and as soon as recorded 214 receiving yards in a recreation, essentially the most ever by a Nationwide Soccer League tight finish. One other crowning achievement got here lengthy after he was outmuscling cumbersome defenders, when he satisfied a 5-foot-5 comic to open up whereas sipping cognac on a brown leather-based couch.
When that comic and actor, Katt Williams, aired his grievances towards distinguished Black celebrities, together with Sean Combs and Kevin Hart, it immediately turned Sharpe’s podcast “Membership Shay Shay” right into a must-stop vacation spot in Hollywood and past. Within the months after the episode aired in January 2024, Sharpe secured interviews with the rapper Megan Thee Stallion and the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“‘Membership Shay Shay’ has develop into the modern-day speak present,” mentioned Lillian Xu, a high audio government for Vox Media, which produces a handful of rival collection.
Sharpe has reduce by means of in a saturated podcast ecosystem the place Alex Cooper and the Kelce brothers command nine-figure contracts. Along with “Membership Shay Shay,” Sharpe makes twice-weekly appearances on “First Take,” ESPN’s fashionable morning debate present, and hosts a secondary podcast, “Nightcap,” with the previous N.F.L. receiver Chad Johnson.
Earlier than a dwell taping of a “Nightcap” episode in New Orleans this week forward of the Tremendous Bowl, Sharpe exercised his vocal cords in a backstage greenroom as a make-up artist ready to pat his face. Moments later, his voice, laced with a country-twang accent, soared all through an auditorium. The chums debated N.F.L. award winners, Johnson’s relationship points and different matters.
The explosive episode with Williams on “Membership Shay Shay” has been seen greater than 88 million instances, setting a YouTube interview file. However Sharpe mentioned he needed to be acknowledged past his function as Williams’s questioner.
“Michael Jackson is greater than ‘Thriller,’ and that’s what I informed the staff: ‘This was our “Thriller” album,’” Sharpe mentioned in an interview. “Let’s simply proceed to have these conversations. Hopefully individuals need to come and inform their story and it’ll communicate for itself.”
It is not uncommon for retired athletes to enter the information media, the place they’ll share strategic insights and amusing tales gathered on follow fields and staff flights. Ed McCaffrey, who performed with Sharpe on the Denver Broncos, mentioned that Sharpe would tactfully tease teammates for his or her wardrobe decisions and that his jokes would maintain the temper mild.
“The identical man that was within the locker room, the identical man that was on the bus, the identical man that was partaking in dialog together with his teammates is simply doing that now publicly,” mentioned McCaffrey, who’s now a SiriusXM radio host.
Sharpe started his leisure profession within the tv world however has developed a keenness for podcasting due to the liberty it affords. He’s not certain by time constraints and might dictate his present’s route. Interviews on “Membership Shay Shay” usually final greater than an hour, and earlier than the cameras roll he asks his visitors if there are any topic areas he ought to keep away from.
“I’m not attempting to do investigative reporting,” Sharpe mentioned. “If I get them snug sufficient and so they see that I’m not there to guage them, they’ll open up.”
He added: “In order for you laborious hitting, you could go to ‘60 Minutes,’ go to ‘Dateline.’”
In 14 seasons with the Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, Sharpe bullied defenders for contested catches and outran them within the open subject. He retired after the 2003 season and spent a couple of decade as a soccer analyst at CBS Sports activities earlier than serving to to begin a Fox Sports activities debate present, “Undisputed,” with Skip Bayless, who courted Sharpe to be his banter companion.
One Monday morning in 2017, Sharpe arrived on the present’s Los Angeles studio with a celebratory cigar in his mouth. The Broncos had received the day earlier than, and the Dallas Cowboys, Bayless’s favourite staff, had misplaced.
The second was celebrated on-line, the place individuals started calling Sharpe “Unc” (brief for uncle) and Photoshopped his face into varied memes. C.J. Pricey, a former Fox producer, helped Sharpe lean into the joke on his social media accounts. The “Unc” character would additionally pop up on air sporadically — generally ingesting liquor at 4 a.m. Pacific time, different instances carrying a goat masks.
“Every time an viewers naturally gravitates to one thing, you must proceed to capitalize on it, and I feel he all the time did it in a playful means,” Pricey mentioned. “We constructed up this persona he developed on tv and it gave him a strong basis.”
Fox had negotiated podcast tasks into Sharpe’s contract however didn’t implement them till 2020 through the coronavirus pandemic. Unfamiliar with the medium or its energy gamers past Joe Rogan, Sharpe turned to Pricey, who mentioned Sharpe ought to attain into his private contacts to e-book visitors.
Sharpe’s first interviewee on “Membership Shay Shay” was his brother, the previous N.F.L. receiver Sterling Sharpe. The boxer Floyd Mayweather and the rapper Ice Dice quickly adopted.
When Sharpe departed Fox in June 2023 amid a fractured relationship with Bayless and the community, he retained the rights to “Membership Shay Shay,” which he owned. Stephen A. Smith, the brash ESPN commentator, recruited him for a trial run on “First Take,” and Sharpe went on to signal a long-term contract final 12 months.
Though the highlight on ESPN exhibits is massive, “Membership Shay Shay” is the place the place Sharpe can totally be himself. His on-camera rapport with high-profile entertainers has produced wide-ranging tell-alls from individuals just like the actor Mo’Nique (who mentioned Tyler Perry began rumors about her), the singer John Legend and the comic Steve Harvey. Sharpe usually permits the visitors to preach throughout prolonged solutions with out interrupting them. Many episodes exceed a million views.
“You get essentially the most eyes on the dialog for no matter you need to discuss,” mentioned Fats Joe, the New York rapper, who appeared on “Membership Shay Shay” in October. “It’s all about what message you’re attempting to get throughout, and he enables you to try this.”
Some current “Membership Shay Shay” visitors, together with the actor Keke Palmer and the streamer Kai Cenat, have teased him about an incident in September when Sharpe by accident broadcast an intimate second on his Instagram. After first claiming he was hacked, Sharpe acknowledged the gaffe on “Nightcap” and mentioned he had embarrassingly referred to as Robert A. Iger, the chief government of Disney, and ESPN brass to apologize.
Sharpe’s breakthrough interview with Williams required an opportunity encounter with the comic’s new government assistant. Williams had been elusive for greater than a 12 months, however the wait was nicely value it.
Earlier than divulging private grudges about Black Hollywood, Williams mentioned he had agreed to return on “Membership Shay Shay” as a result of Sharpe “made a protected house for the reality to be informed.” Through the episode, Williams outlined his hesitations towards partying with Combs, who now faces federal intercourse trafficking fees. He questioned Hart’s comedic pedigree. And he joked concerning the circumstances of the arrest of the actor Jonathan Majors.
Because it does with each episode, the podcast’s social media employees sliced Williams’s juiciest responses into clips to publish on Instagram and different platforms. Pricey mentioned he needed to supply at the least 30 clips from every interview.
“The consistency and quantity is what’s going to carry individuals again to observe the total episode,” Pricey mentioned. “We really are college students of the numbers.”
Sharpe mentioned extra advertisers approached the present after Williams’s episode. YouTube formally partnered with Sharpe and allotted help employees to develop his podcast enterprise.
“It spoke to his potential to ship an enormous viewers,” mentioned Angela Courtin, a vp at YouTube overseeing its sports activities advertising and marketing division. She mentioned the blitz of engagement outpaced the attain of most linear tv. “If you understand how the platform works and also you’re already connecting with audiences, it’s a no brainer.”
Those that seen included presidential candidates. Within the closing weeks of her failed marketing campaign, Harris appeared on “Membership Shay Shay” as a part of her outreach to Black voters.
Sharpe mentioned that he “would have cherished” to host Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, as nicely, however that risk didn’t transfer past exploratory conversations together with his marketing campaign. If Sharpe enters the political fray in 2028, he mentioned, he desires to interview the candidates from each main events.
“Until you have got each, individuals will assume that that’s the candidate you need to win and that’s the celebration that you just’re affiliated with,” Sharpe mentioned. “When you interview an athlete, individuals don’t mechanically assume that I’m rooting for them.”