A woman who former NFL great and ESPN personality Shannon Sharp claims to have faced him in a text exchange earlier this year.
The woman texted Sharp — according to a chunk of messages released to the media by Sharp’s lawyer, Lanny J. Davis — said on January 2 she didn’t know “no” and “no” and “how to handle it.”
“But I cried when you left because you asked me not to put on a condom and not put it in my ass,” a woman named by Sharp’s legal team but not identified by the post texted him.
“I don’t care what our history is. There’s no Shannon.”
After the text, I asked Sharp, “Can I call you later?” after a message about handling what happened.
It was not clear from the text changes released that they discussed what happened on the phone.
Sharp faces a $50 million lawsuit in October 2024 and January 2025 alleging that he raped a woman believed to be in her 20s.
The lawsuit alleges that Sharp threatened to kill the woman multiple times, “operation and control” and “suffering repeatedly and suffocating her hard, and threatening to slap her violently.”
The lawsuit also described things between the two as a “rocky consensus relationship,” claiming that Sharp had assaulted, sexual assault, committed battery, and sexual battery, and intentionally caused emotional distress during the relationship.
Davis described hundreds of text messages released Tuesday as “shooting patterns of sexual role-playing, particularly involving her choking. [Sharpe]. ”
Tony Busby, the victim’s lawyer, also issued a statement in the New York Times on Tuesday.
“In this case, we look forward to presenting evidence through the judicial process. In the judicial process, the truth is more important than the desperate public spin of the sports icon,” he said.
Sharp denied the allegation.
ESPN told the post that it had “no comments” about the situation on Monday.
