THE SHARPE IMAGE; DENVER'S TALKATIVE TIGHT END LIVES UP TO BOISTEROUS BILLING.

Byline: Jim Donaldson Providence Journal

With Shannon Sharpe, the question is not where to start, but where to end.

For every question, the Denver Broncos' supremely talented and quintessentially loquacious tight end has an answer.

Sharpe never runs out of things to say. He just runs out of time to say them. And newspapers run out of space to print them.

``I've always been a talker,'' Sharpe said. ``You don't just wake up one morning and say all of a sudden: `I want to talk a little more.' You either have this gift, or you don't. Some are better at it than others, and some talk more than others. I'm kind of good at it, and I like doing it.''

He likes doing it? That's a rare Sharpe understatement. He loves doing it.

``I'm not a good talker - I'm a great talker, because I do it so often. I think if you do something well enough you become great at it.

``Michael Jordan was a good basketball player once he got into the league. But he shot so many jumpers and went to the hole so many times that he became a great basketball player - one of the greatest of all time.

``I've kind of done that. When I was in college, I'd get in front of the mirror 20 minutes at night before I'd go to bed and talk to myself. I'd ask questions, answer questions, and just talk in general. I've kind of perfected it now.

``I don't have a real problem expressing how I feel. I give you my honest opinion on a topic. If you ask me something, I'm honestly going to tell you how I feel about it.''

OK. How do you feel about the Falcons, Shannon? You grew up in Glennville, Ga., but you weren't a Falcons fan. Why not?

``They lost all the time. If you had a pair of cleats when they were playing in Fulton County (Stadium), they'd put you in the ballgame, they were getting beat so bad. For 20 bucks, you could sit in the luxury box with the owner.''

Sharpe doesn't think much of the Cowboys, either.

``They were considered America's Team. Now they're considered America's Most Wanted Team.''

Nor is he a fan of the Falcons' oft-outspoken free safety, Eugene Robinson, who played in the past two Super Bowls with Green Bay.

``He doesn't want to get into a talking match with me, because he can't win. He can't out-talk me. And he can't cover me.

``He graduated from Colgate and has so much to talk about. He's entitled to say what he wants, as long as he backs it up.''

``It doesn't do you any good to be able to talk if you can't back up what you say. People say: `Shannon is the most quotable guy.' But when my play doesn't match my quotes, people will stop listening to me.''

It's much easier to quote Sharpe than it is to cover him.

He is entitled, as Jimmy Johnson used to say, to talk the talk because he can walk the walk. Sharpe caught 64 passes this season for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns. It was the seventh year in a row he has had more than 50 receptions, and only two tight ends in NFL history - Ozzie Newsome and Jackie Smith - have gained more yards in a career.

Sharpe seldom says anything favorable about an opponent.

``I'm labeled as a guy that talks a lot of trash, but I normally don't say anything until someone starts talking to me. I'm always going to have the last word. I can assure you of that. I'm the best trash talker in the game.''

Among those he's trashed this week is Atlanta's 44-year-old backup quarterback, Steve DeBerg.

``DeBerg's old enough to be my father,'' Sharpe said. ``How old's DeBerg? A hundred and five?''

He'll trash his teammates, too, although in a good-natured way.

``Shannon is pure comic relief for this team,'' said Denver defensive end Harald Hasselbach. ``Every team needs that. He just keeps a great atmosphere around the team. He makes light of situations that can sometimes become all too serious. And football is still just a game.''

The best of Broncos loquacious tight end Shannon Sharpe:

``I'm the best trash-talker in the game. As Terrell Davis is the best player in the game, I'm the best trash-talker. We have the two best.

I'd like to think I'm one of the best (tight ends). If you look at Ozzie Newsome and Kellen Winslow, none of those guys ever played in a Super Bowl. Here I am in my second one. Now if those guys never played in a Super Bowl, they never won one, right? And I did.

You remember a couple of weeks ago when I said it was us, and not the Dolphins, who were going to be using the Dolphins' facility (to practice for the Super Bowl), and Mike was going to be sitting in Jimmy's office, and Mike's going to break down film with the Dolphins' machines? Now didn't that all come true?''

SUPER BOWL XXXIII 

Sunday at Miami

Atlanta vs. Denver

3:25 p.m. Ch. 11

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Photo: (Color) no caption (Shannon Sharpe)

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Box: The best of Broncos loquacious tight end Shannon Sharpe: (See text)