NFL great Shannon Sharpe reveals why he refuses to sleep at women’s homes

It was early in Shannon Sharpe’s professional football career when he decided he was going to stop sleeping at women’s houses, and he revealed why in a recent podcast interview.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer joined former NFL quarterback Cam Newton on the “Funky Friday” podcast. He talked about two separate occasions in which he got caught up in unwanted drama with women.

The first instance, he told Newton, was right after the Denver Broncos selected him in the seventh round out of Savannah State. He said he returned to Georgia after the draft and got back into town late and didn’t want to scare his grandmother at home with a late arrival. 

He said he called a woman and asked whether she was dating anyone and, if not, if it would be OK for him to sleep over. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned.

“Cam, something told, ‘Boy, keep your clothes on.’ So, I got on shorts and I got on a T-shirt,” Sharpe said, painting the scene. “Man, have you ever had sleep paralysis? You can hear things, but you can’t move … . I can hear, and it’s getting louder, it’s getting louder, and they’re arguing. So, by this time – boom! The door flies off the hinges. … So, I’m jumping up like, ‘Hey what’s up, boy, what’s it about to be?’ I said, ‘Oh lord, he’s got some bodies on his resume.’ Yeah, I’m talking about those kind of bodies.’”

To his surprise, the man who entered the room where Sharpe was sleeping was a massive fan and told the tight end he gushes about his play on the football field to his friends.

Sharpe said the man told him he didn’t have a problem with him but with the woman they were both dealing with.

“I’m tired of this ‘B’ lying. I’m saying to myself, ‘Me, too.’ Cam, man, I put my shoes on and booked it out of there,” Sharpe said, adding that he didn’t learn his lesson.

In 1993, Sharpe said he went back to Savannah State for homecoming while the Broncos had a bye week. He said he called a woman to meet up with while he was in town.

“I set my stuff down. And I’m looking at the door handle, it’s turning. … Dude come in. He got that [AK-47]. Oh lord, have mercy. I said, ‘Lord.’ And he look at me, and he said, ‘My man.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He’s about to ask me if I’m Sharpe. I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘I thought so.’ I said, ‘My man, is this your people?’ He said, ‘Yeah. Two years,’” Sharpe explained.

“I said, ‘My man, I ain’t know.’ I said, ‘You know who I am now.’ I said, ‘Man, my bad. You saved me.’ Because if I had not been [interrupted], I ain’t telling this story right now.”

Sharpe said he got in the car and started to drive away with his friend when he realized he had left his expensive jewelry at the house, and the man in question gave it back to him.

“I have not closed my eyes at another woman’s house in 31 years.”

Sharpe finished his career as a three-time Super Bowl champion and eight-time Pro Bowler. He played 12 years for the Broncos over two stints. He had two more years with the Baltimore Ravens.