Visibly emotional Shannon Sharpe wiped away tears as he delivered powerful speech about NFL brother
The Sharpe family made NFL history.
At this year's NFL Honors, Sterling Sharpe was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the smallest induction class in 20 years.
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Sharpe got in as a seniors candidate and joined younger brother Shannon as the first NFL siblings to be inducted into pro football's illustrious halls in Canton, Ohio.
Sterling Sharpe was a five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver who starred for the Green Bay Packers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
However, his Hall of Fame-worthy career was cut short by a bad neck injury after he found an abnormality, in the form of looseness in the top two vertebrae, that needed surgery after the 1994 season.
He had the surgery but unfortunately never returned to football, cutting short a career that was well on its way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Three-time Super Bowl winner Shannon, who played for the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens and is widely regarded as one of the greatest tight ends ever, has long given credit to his older brother for inspiring his own career.
He gave his brother his first Super Bowl ring, and shed tears at his own Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement in 2011 as he thanked his sibling for his mentorship while lamenting his unfortunate career arc.
Shannon delivered the news about Sterling's induction directly to him in footage from 'The Hall of Fame Knocks: Class of 2025'.
He wept at the news ahead of Sterling's induction ceremony on August 2.
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"This is the proudest moment in my life, " Shannon said while fighting back tears.
“I don’t think that has really set in yet,” Sterling added. “It's one of those situations where the closer it gets to having the same color jacket he has and standing in same place he stood and being able to have a conversation about the journey to get there I think it will set in. But right now it hasn’t hit home yet.”
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After the NFL Honors, Sterling joined Shannon for a live recording of his 'Nightcap' podcast with Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson.
"This is why I get emotional," Shannon in front of a packed-out audience in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
"People ask why [I get emotional], because I had to follow him to get to where I'm going.
"I got to walk in his footsteps. Almost everything I learned I learned from him."
Shannon then got choked up remembering a story about his beloved grandparents being hard on Sterling because it was 'his job to teach' Shannon.
"For my brother to do what he did with no instruction manual, and to get me to where I got," Shannon added, before pausing after being overcome with emotion.
The live crowd applauded the ESPN talking head while certain audience members could be seen drying their own eyes.
"The only man I wanted to be was him, he's my role model," Shannon went on after composing himself.
"He's like my father. I'm not the person I am without him.
"I've said it before, I would give everything I have, take myself out the Hall of Fame, just for you to be here."
Sterling also spoke on stage during the live show, saying how big of an honor it was to follow in Shannon's footsteps.
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"It's an honor and a privilege to follow that guy," Sterling said, pointing at his younger brother.
The older Sterling would have been in the Hall of Fame much sooner had it not been for his devastating career-ending neck injury.
In 1992, he became the second player since the 1970 merger to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches.
He also received three All-Pro nods form 1989-94.
He is currently being , alleging sexual assault, harassment, and battery.
Sharpe vehemently denies the allegations, and released a through his attorney on X denying anything nonconsensual happening between him and a woman identified as Jane Doe.
“I’m gonna be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn’t right," Sharpe said in an Instagram video.
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