I've said numerous times the hardest job in America isn't being a professional athlete. It's not being a matador or having some job that puts your life at risk. The hardest job in America is being black, because it's the one thing you can't outrun.

Shannon Sharpe

I had a speech class in elementary school. And you know how teachers, when a kid is struggling to pronounce a word, used to lead him and say, 'Johnny, sounds like... ? Johnny, sounds like... ?' I said out loud, 'Sounds like Johnny can't read.' Teacher told me to leave the room.

Shannon Sharpe

A lot of people mistake habit for hard work. Doing something over and over again is not working hard.

Shannon Sharpe

I was a terrible student. I didn't graduate magna cum laude: I graduated 'Thank you, Lawdy!'

Shannon Sharpe

The thing you can't measure is someone's heart, someone's desire. You can measure a 40, his vertical, his bench press, and that might let you know things like, yeah, he can jump high. But desire, his dedication, his determination, that's something you can't measure. That's something you can't measure about Rod Smith.

Shannon Sharpe

When people told me I'd never make it, I listened to the one person who said I could: me.

Shannon Sharpe

There is a reason they called it chasing your dreams and not walking after them.

Shannon Sharpe

Super Bowl XXXII was a victory made long before stepping on that field in San Diego in 1998. It was earned with my brother guiding me as a kid in Glennville, Ga., and as a seventh-round pick out of Savannah State. Even at the pinnacle, that ring was always his.

Shannon Sharpe

My grandmother was a very simple woman. She didn't want a whole lot. My grandmother wanted to go to church and Sunday school every Sunday. She wanted to be in Bible study every Wednesday. The other days, she wanted to be on a fishing creek.

Shannon Sharpe

Everything I am I owe to Sterling Sharpe. He made me a better football player, a better father, and a better man. He was, and always will be, my hero.

Shannon Sharpe

I am the only player who has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and am the second-best player in my family.

Shannon Sharpe

Don't hope someone gives you an opportunity: create one for yourself.

Shannon Sharpe

My grandmother raised her nine kids and raised my mom's three.

Shannon Sharpe

I'm not uncomfortable with my looks.

Shannon Sharpe

I didn't bother with trash-talking people's moms, wives, or girlfriends. I was like, 'Hold on, man, you mean to tell me you're making $10 million a year? That's $9 million, $999,999 too much!' That ate them up.

Shannon Sharpe

I've said numerous times the hardest job in America isn't being a professional athlete. It's not being a matador or having some job that puts your life at risk. The hardest job in America is being black, because it's the one thing you can't outrun.

Shannon Sharpe

My grandma told me, don't get into trouble. I know how hard she worked to take care of her own nine kids and my mama's three. And I just never wanted to hurt her. I never wanted to do something that would embarrass her.

Shannon Sharpe

Growing up on a farm, I saw that if I didn't go to the military or go to school, and I knew my mom and my family wasn't going to be able to send me to school out of their pocket, so it basically came down to athletics. I knew I didn't want to work on a farm. I knew I didn't want to do manual labor the rest of my life.

Shannon Sharpe

You can tell the truth, but sometimes you can't always be in your face with it. I found a way to tell the truth and put it in a nice, neat package for people to receive it. A lot of times, you have to put it in a nice, neat box with a bow tie, and when they open it, it's the truth. I think people respect that.

Shannon Sharpe

I was born in the 1960s. I came up in the 1970s. I know how race relations were. The thing is, I want to advance the ball and never return to those days again. I want to keep the topic going. I'm going to discuss it. And we're going to make America better. It's my job as a citizen, and I demand it.

Shannon Sharpe

The only thing I do is say what everyone else is thinking but doesn't have the guts to say.

Shannon Sharpe