Shannon Sharpe wasn’t thrilled when Leanna Lenee, the fiancée of two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter, shared intimate details of the couple’s relationship when responding to internet critics earlier this week.
In the same breath, Michael Irvin wasn’t impressed with Sharpe’s latest take on the mounting fallout surrounding this year’s Heisman Trophy winner and his future wife.
In a message posted Thursday on X, the Cowboys legend expressed his admiration for Sharpe but begged him to “STOP!!!!!” not long after the Hall of Fame tight end expanded on Lenee, who became the subject of criticism over the demeanor conveyed in a social media video as Hunter greeted what appeared to be fans at a pop-up event.
Sharpe spoke at length about Lenee during Tuesday’s installment of his “Nightcap” podcast, which dropped one day after Hunter’s biggest supporter posted an emotional TikTok video that not only shared her perspective on the controversy but offered intel on the early aughts of their romance.
“Young lady, Adidas, when these people come around, there are going to be times when he’s going to have to sign footballs, he’s going to have to sign helmets, he’s going to have to sign jerseys, he’s going to have to take pictures, you know how I know? When I go to sponsors, I have to sign footballs, I have to sign helmets, I have to sign photos, I have to sign jerseys. That’s a part of it. He understands that. You’re about to come into a situation, you’re going to have more money at your disposal than you even dreamed of. And why is that? That’s a part of it,” Sharpe said.
In widely circulated footage of the event in question, Lenee appeared to ask Hunter, “What do you want me to do … I’ll just sit here then.”
Lenee said in Monday’s TikTok video she was not annoyed with fans and detailed Hunter’s pre-Heisman Trophy ceremony schedule, which prompted the questions.
Sharpe, who added Tuesday, “You should graciously and willingly stay there,” then turned his attention to comments made at the beginning of Lenee’s TikTok video, where she revealed Hunter had originally contacted her when he was involved with someone else.
“You see, now you threw that man under the bus, we didn’t need to know that,” Sharpe said.
“… Why you put that man business in the street? Are you perfect? Look, I don’t like the part of oversharing in a relationship because it was unnecessary. Why you and Travis got together, did you have to say he wasn’t my type, that was for nobody to know. You don’t have to share everything! People, you don’t! And it’s none of my business, but it paints you in a bad light.”
Sharpe further reiterated he has “a problem with her sharing.”
“[Cohost Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson] Ocho, she’s young, she doesn’t understand what comes along with it, but I’m trying to enlighten her as somebody who has been in that space, and somebody that understands it, when you’re dealing with sponsors, you’re dealing with advertisers, you go into a room and there’s footballs, there are helmets, and there’s jerseys, and there’s pictures and you’re taking pictures, you understand. For the kind of money they’re going to be paying him, I don’t really think that’s an awful lot to ask,” Sharpe said.
“… I just don’t think, ma’am, you need to have this. Because you were trending. Trav won the Heisman, you didn’t win no award. We shouldn’t have to have this conversation about you.”
Sharpe and Johnson then dissected the notion of having a relationship in the public space, with the former NFL wide receiver explaining,” If you have a relationship online, it allows everybody in your personal business and everybody have an opinion. If you can’t take that and you have to come out and say well this is that, then you have to take it offline.”
Hunter, whose engagement to Lenee was revealed in February, defended her from online vitriol in a separate video shared earlier in the week.
He has spoken out publicly about what her support means to him.
“She’s my closest to everything, she helped me with everything,” Hunter said on “The Pivot Podcast” earlier this month. “It’s kind of hard sometimes but she’s always there.”
Hunter, a cornerback and wide receiver, defeated Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in this year’s Heisman voting.
Hunter is expected to be a top selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.
