The Football Beat

WORD ASSOCIATION
With the Ravens' Shannon Sharpe, who on Sunday broke Ozzie Newsome's NFL record for career catches by a tight end

SI: The record.
Sharpe: All mine. Just unbelievable. To go from a seventh-round pick to the greatest receiving tight end...by the numbers. Stuff like that is not supposed to happen.

SI: Mike Shanahan.
Sharpe: Genius. Always puts his players in a position to go after the weakest link on defense. Doesn't show favoritism. He made me a complete player. There's a misconception that I dislike Mike. Totally untrue. He's the best coach and offensive mind I've ever played for.

SI: Greatest moment.
Sharpe: It's not a Super Bowl. It's the catch I made in Pittsburgh in the 1997 AFC Championship Game. We're up 24-21 in the last couple of minutes, ball on our 15, third-and-six, and if we don't convert, the momentum's all theirs. We're leaving the huddle, and John [Elway] looks at me and says, "Go get open." I did. That was the game.

SI: Broncos or Ravens?
Sharpe: That's like asking: Who's prettier, your mom or your wife? There's no right answer. Broncos, I guess. I played there for 10 years.

SI: Day off.
Sharpe: There is no day off for me. Really. If I took one, I'd go to the movies, but not till I worked out.

SI: Three favorite movies.
Sharpe: A Few Good Men. Crimson Tide. Men of Honor.

SI: Retiring.
Sharpe: I don't know how much longer I'll play. I still love the game, but I don't want to stunt the growth of the first-round pick [ Todd Heap]. And I'll have to see about the money. If it's $500,000, I don't want to play that bad.

MATCH GAME

Bucs vs. Rams—and a former Tampa Bay defensive assistant