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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
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Sharpe as ever Ravens hope to have edge with former Broncos TE
Updated: Thursday December 28, 2000 4:06 PM
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- Shannon Sharpe is the Baltimore Ravens' go-to guy this week, for reasons that extend far beyond his contribution as a sure-handed tight end. Sharpe, who played in two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos, also has been asked to provide leadership in the locker room and advice on how to beat his former team in Sunday's wild-card game. Heck, he's even doling out tickets to needy friends. "How many you want?" Sharpe asked Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on Wednesday, momentarily loosening his grip on a stack of the coveted passes. Sharpe caught 552 passes for 6,983 yards and 44 touchdowns in 10 years with the Broncos. He signed with Baltimore as a free agent in February and picked up where he left off in Denver, recording a team-high 67 receptions for 810 yards and five scores. Now Sharpe is preparing for his 12th postseason game, and as fate would have it, his new team is playing against his old one. "We get an opportunity to see if we're ready to play. We get to see if we're for real or not, and I can't think of a better team to go up against," he said. If Denver head coach Mike Shanahan had his way, Sharpe would have never left. But Baltimore's bid was just too steep to match, so the Broncos reluctantly said farewell to the seven-time Pro Bowl star. "Shannon was one of the greatest players ever to put on a Denver uniform. I hated to let a guy like that go," Shanahan said Wednesday. "We made a solid offer, but the money got so great relative to the salary cap, we felt we couldn't go there and still put our best team together. "It's not easy, especially when you care about people and they've been a big part of your franchise and a big part of your Super Bowl wins." Sharpe isn't looking for revenge, and he harbors no ill feelings toward the team that let him get away. He enjoyed plenty of good times and important victories in Denver, and the future Hall of Fame member will never forget that segment of his stellar career. "I have no animosity toward the Broncos," he said. "I left a lot of friends on that team and I still have a lot of friends on that team. Nothing's changed. I'm just going to be ready to play just like any other week." Not really. On most weeks, the Ravens don't grill Sharpe for information on the opposition. "Shannon was there for a long time, so he is certainly going to have an excellent perspective on what they do offensively," Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. "We'll be able to share that with our defensive coaches." Sharpe is a notorious trash talker, and there's no doubt he will have plenty to say to the Broncos on Sunday. But it will all be in good fun, because Sharpe remembers when Denver took a chance by drafting him as a relative unknown out of Savannah State in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL Draft. "Denver will always be special because that was my first team. They gave me the opportunity to play in this league," he said. "This is my new family, but I haven't forgotten my old family. I appreciate all they've done for me." Most of all, the Broncos gave Sharpe the chance to win two Super Bowl rings. The Ravens appreciated his talent to get open in the middle of the field, but they also wanted a player who knows what it takes to win. That leadership has been on display all season, and it's intensified this week in a locker room filled with players on the brink of their initial postseason appearance. "I just tell them what it's like. Everybody wants to be a part of a winner," Sharpe said. "Fortunately, I've come from an organization that took pride not just getting in the playoffs, but in the Super Bowl. When we started the season our goal wasn't just to get into the playoffs, but to win the Super Bowl. "I brought that same philosophy here. I said my main goal is to get this team in the playoffs, and once we get into the playoffs, we start talking Super Bowl."
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