Jeremy Shockey denies "Saints bounty-gate snitch" allegations on Showtime's Inside The NFL

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Warren Sapp has departed Showtime's "Inside The NFL," but he resurfaces in a sense on this week's show because former Giants and Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey is the special guest and he refutes Sapp's allegation that Shockey was the one who told the NFL about the Saints' levying bounties on certain offensive players. Showtime has sent out a release on Shockey's appearance, complete with what he said when questioned by Phil Simms, Cris Collinsworth and host James Brown. The show debuted on Wednesday night and will be replayed several times over the next several days, including airings at 1:05 and 4 p.m. on Thursday. Here's that release: Following are excerpts from this week’s episode: Shockey on his future… SHOCKEY: They did call earlier in the year and no I would not play. I played 10 years and I’m very satisfied with that. I’m happily married and I’m trying to get on with the next chapter, the next stage of my life. On the perception of being the “whistle-blower” causing the Saints’ bounty scandal… SHOCKEY: He (Warren Sapp) called me out on the NFL Network about being the whistle-blower and I replied directly to Sapp. I actually saw him at a basketball game a week later at a Miami Heat game and he said he wanted to stick by his source and everything. It is hard for a player because you build a character and you build a reputation of who you are. I am a blue collar, hard nose player. I would never do anything like that. I don’t play defense first of all so it got to me at first. I talked to Sean Peyton about it and he was like, ‘Jeremy, just let it go. The guy is on a job to get paid to sell, sell, sell.’ And it’s unfortunate what has happened to him lately, no longer on the show. But like I said, if you say something like that you better have a good source and I don’t think his source was all that credible. On letting the allegations go… SHOCKEY: It’s hard. I busted my butt for 10 years in the NFL and my reputation, the character I’ve built for 10 years, I’ve never been arrested, no tickets, nothing, no kids out of marriage, none of that stuff… But it’s hard because I would like to go back to New Orleans. I’d like to go back without people saying you’re a snitch or this-or-that. It’s hard but in the same sense it’s the world we live in. SIMMS: Have you heard that a lot? SHOCKEY: Yeah, I hear it all the time about how I’m a snitch, I’m a whistle-blower. The Commissioner just came out and he even came out and said I wasn’t the person who did it. And even if that affects 10 people in the world, it still affects me. On whether or not he would look into a lawsuit… SHOCKEY: No, I never would do anything like that. The only person that ever really wins in a lawsuit is the lawyers and I’m not a lawyer. Life’s too short. Life is too short and I’m going to get along with mine. When asked if there was money being put on guys getting either knocked out of the game or hurt… SHOCKEY: Every team I’ve really been a part of, and you guys can talk to this as well, you always get an offensive player of the game, you get a defensive player of the game, you get special teams. And guys go to people and say, you win and we’ll take you out to dinner this week, O-linemen take out quarterbacks all the time. And it’s not about, here is a lot of money and if you take out this guy or you hurt this guy, you get the money, no. That was blown out of the water and it’s very inaccurate from the doors I’ve been behind. And I’m an offensive player so I can’t speak for anybody else on the other side of the ball, but it never crossed my eyes or anything like that, no.