Almost a year ago, on his final appearance on FS1’s Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe delivered a heartfelt thank you to Skip Bayless despite the trials and tribulations they went through in the weeks leading up to his exit.
After that, Sharpe was in a bit of a limbo. He did his own thing with his podcast but didn’t necessarily have a home on any network. Just a few weeks later, Sharpe appeared on First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith and the two have been working together ever since.
Today, their partnership has been cemented in stone. Sharpe announced his new contract extension with ESPN on Tuesday’s episode of First Take, keeping him around for the long haul.
During his announcement, he delivered a heartfelt thank you to Stephen A. for convincing ESPN to take a chance on him.
Shannon Sharpe's new long-term deal with ESPN was officially announced on Tuesday.
Shannon: "Stephen A., I know this moment is not possible without you. As you mentioned to me earlier, you have bosses, but you extended the olive branch and let them know that you wanted me to be… https://t.co/d9i07PhIeg pic.twitter.com/XCrpGm4uIo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 11, 2024
Sharpe said:
“Stephen A., I know this moment is not possible without you. As you mentioned earlier, you have bosses, but you extended the olive branch and let them know that you wanted me to be apart of this family… I would be remissed if I didn’t thank you. And I can’t thank you enough. If I had 1,000 tongues I couldn’t thank you enough for what you did for me when I was at my lowest. And I didn’t know where I was going to go. You called me and said ‘Bro, everything is going to be OK. I got you.’ So thank you.”
That’s so nice to see — especially considering how Sharpe’s exit from FS1 and Undisputed went. Describing it as tumultuous would be putting it lightly.
Sharpe officially has a home with ESPN now. Good for him.