Shannon Sharpe is acclaimed as the best at what he does in the National Football League. He has refined his craft to such a stage that few players in the league can match his prolific style.
And he's not a bad tight end, either.
About the only thing Sharpe does better than catch passes -- he's the NFL's all-time receiving leader among tight ends -- is run his mouth. Yesterday, he and Ravens MLB Ray Lewis helped ignite a firestorm of words in the Steelers' locker room with comments they made about RB Jerome Bettis and WR Plaxico Burress. And delivering some of the zingers was Sharpe's good friend, S Lee Flowers, who can trash-talk with the best of them.
Sharpe and Lewis were upset that Burress said the Steelers physically outplayed them in the Nov. 4 meeting at Heinz Field won by the Ravens.
"They know what took place two months ago," Flowers said. "Look at the stats. We lost the game, that's obvious. But look at the stats and ask their trainer how many people were sitting in ice that week. It's time to stop talking. This is a big game. If they want to sit down and talk about it, let them talk. We're going to do our talking on the field."
Lewis said Bettis showed him disrespect by comparing him to Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Takeo Spikes in a recent magazine article. Lewis challenged Bettis, who has been downgraded to doubtful on the injury report, to play Sunday in Baltimore.
"I think he said something about Jerome, that he's going to see Jerome at the stadium," Flowers said. "Yeah, he's going to see Jerome ... and 52 other guys. This is way more than a one-man game."
When asked about Ravens' 340-pound defensive tackle, Tony Siragusa, who challenged Steelers fans to follow him into a bathroom after the game, Flowers said: "We don't have no wimpy fans. Make sure his big butt shows up on the field Sunday."
Sharpe questioned Burress' comment about physical play, calling him "Plexiglass" and inferring he is not a physical player.
"It's probably one of the first times someone said something about me," Burress said. "I laughed about it. I don't even know how to respond to it, except to go play football."
Nonetheless, Coach Bill Cowher told Burress yesterday to be careful about making inflammatory comments.
"That's where this game is; it just shows the magnitude of what this game is about," Cowher said. "I haven't seen a game yet played with words. The game is played on the field, and we'll leave it at that."
Ravens, Steelers swap barbs 
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