Who is Shannon Sharpe? NFL icon 'embarrassed' after NSFW Instagram live

Former NFL player and ESPN pundit Shannon Sharpe has come clean and spoken about his embarrassment after streaming a NSFW Instagram live video.

During the stream, Sharpe could be heard making noises suggesting he might be having sex for the whole world to hear.

A message soon appeared on his story claiming his account had been hacked but Sharpe said this was not the case.

Speaking on his American Football podcast Nightcap, Sharpe addressed what happened and said: "I'm embarrassed for a number of reasons.

"People count on Shannon, there are a lot of people who count on Shannon to be professional at all times and I always try to be professional at all times even when I'm behind closed doors.

"I'm very disappointed in myself, not for the act ... but to have your most intimate detail, for the audio to be heard, I'm disappointed in myself."

Sharpe admitted he was having sex at the time but that he didn't know how Instagram live worked as he's never used it

"This was not staged," he said. "I did not know IG live, I've never been on IG live, I've never turned IG live on, so I don't know how it works."

When he heard about what happened and was told it sounded like he was having sex, Sharpe said his "heart dropped" and revealed Jordan, a staffer, turned the stream off and posted the message on his story.

But Sharpe himself wanted to tell the truth.

Sharpe is a 56-year-old former tight end and Pro Football Hall of Famer who played in the NFL for 14 seasons from 1990 to 2003.

He mostly played for Denver Broncos across two stints but also had a brief spell at Baltimore Ravens.

Sharpe is something of a legend in NFL - he won the Super Bowl three times, made the First-team All-Pro four times and was named in the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.

He has a big presence on social media with millions of followers and in June 2024, he officially signed a new multi-year contract extension with ESPN where he works as a pundit on the channel's coverage of NFL.

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