Shannon Sharpe returned to Twitter Saturday night, posting for the first time since The Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel first reported Wednesday that the Hall of Fame tight end is leaving FS1’s “Undisputed.”
“Stay tuned for the seeds I’m planting,” the three-time Super Bowl champion tweeted, along with several behind-the-scenes photos of crew members filming Sharpe in a gardening getup.
While Saturday’s tweet was his first since the news broke, Sharpe has “liked” several tweets that have been critical of Bayless over the last few days.
Sharpe, 54, and Fox Sports reached a buyout agreement that will see him end his “Undisputed” partnership with Skip Bayless after the conclusion of the 2023 NBA Finals.
Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast will also be leaving Fox Sports.
The breakup may not have surprised too many people, as there has been visible tension between him and his cohost Skip Bayless.
Former FS1 host Marcellus Wiley boiled it down to a “power struggle” between the two that built itself up as Sharpe grew increasingly popular based on podcast numbers and social media engagements.
“Shannon is POPPIN’, even more than you, Skip,” Wiley said.
But, Wiley says, Bayless “runs that show and he’s always run that show,” and little can change because of that power.
Things seemed to reach a boiling point in January after Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the field against the Bengals, as Sharpe was upset over a tweet Bayless posted right after Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.
“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game — but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” Bayless wrote on Jan. 2.
Bayless received a lot of heat for the tweet, which prompted Sharpe to stay home the following morning and miss the show.
Upon returning a day later, he voiced that he wished Bayless had deleted the tweet, but nothing came of it.
It’s unclear what direction “Undisputed” will go in once Sharpe finishes up this month; the NBA Finals could end as early as June 9 and as late as June 18.
A few fellow members of the industry have commented on the situation, one of them being Stephen A. Smith, who previously worked with Bayless on “First Take.”
He offered an olive branch to Sharpe, who he believes will be missed.
“That’s a big loss for the show ‘Undisputed’ because Shannon matters, and that I don’t know what his plans are, I don’t know what he’s trying to pursue, I don’t know what he’s after, but if Shannon Sharpe needs me, then I’m happy to be here for him,” Smith said on his podcast. “And if that includes him wanting to come on ‘First Take,’ the bosses know that is something I would support.”