Ray Lewis was close friends with Shannon Sharpe during the brief time the two NFL legends spent together as teammates with the Baltimore Ravens, but that clearly is no longer the case.
Lewis and Sharpe played together in Baltimore for two seasons, one of which ended with a Super Bowl title in 2000. During a recent appearance on the “PBD Podcast” with Patrick David-Bet, Lewis was asked if he knew Sharpe would one day have success as a media personality. Lewis said he always knew Sharpe would go into media but that he is “shocked” by the way his ex-teammate has made a name for himself in that space.
“I’m not surprised. I’m shocked at his content. I wouldn’t in a million years, the things that Shannon has said now or did now, I would never believe that Shannon would say or do any of those things,” Lewis said. “Take drinking — in my entire career, I never saw Shannon with a drink, ever. Like, it was against the law, because he had some stuff in his family that he didn’t want to follow that.”
Lewis said he and Sharpe “kind of went our own separate ways” after the Hall of Fame tight end went a certain route with which Lewis is not comfortable. Lewis believes Sharpe has fallen too deep into the world of gossip.
“That route is to become so worldly that you become popular because you’re talking about ignorance,” Lewis added. “A lot of times a lot of these gossip conversations that they having and bringing up all this stuff, I’m not gonna do that to nobody. I’m not in the business for that. I’m in life to try to teach people what does it mean to be a better man and get back to the kingdom.
“A lot of the guys get in trouble with these podcasts and things, because everybody wants the follower. Everybody wants to be popular. Everybody wants to make money, but that’s a tight rope into what you call influence and popularity. … Everybody’s talking now. Everybody’s got a podcast. Everybody’s the new marriage coach. Everybody’s the new relationship, and ain’t nobody coaching themselves.”
Ray Lewis says fame changed Shannon Sharpe
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 30, 2025
“I’m shocked at his content… We went our separate ways. You’re gonna take that route? I can’t go that route!”
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The route that Sharpe went with his media career is essentially that of a shock jock. In addition to having success debating with co-hosts like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith on talk shows, Sharpe also hosts his “Club Shay Shay” and “Nightcap” podcasts, the latter of which is alongside Chad Johnson.
Of course, Sharpe has been in the news more recently for the lawsuit he faced with a woman named Gabriella Zuniga. He and Johnson were also named in a separate lawsuit over things they said during their podcast.
Lewis played for the Ravens from 1996-2012 and won two Super Bowls with the team. Sharpe played the majority of his career with the Denver Broncos and won two Super Bowls with them and another with Baltimore.
Lewis also worked in media after he retired, though that was as an analyst. He has not gone down the podcast road like Sharpe, and it sounds like he does not intend to.
