MIAMI -- Shannon Sharpe ended up not having a lot to say in the Super Bowl.

	Denver's Shannon Sharpe flips in the air after being hit by Atlanta's Ray Buchanan.

The Denver Broncos tight end suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXIII, and after appearing briefly later in the quarter, was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Sharpe was hurt when he was hit on his knee and flipped over by cornerback Ray Buchanan's tackle on a 14-yard reception to the Atlanta 1. Howard Griffith scored on the next play, giving the Broncos a 7-3 lead.

Sharpe, who caught 64 passes for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and was voted to his seventh straight Pro Bowl, limped off the field after his catch. He returned later in the quarter but had a pass bounce off his shoulder pads, and cornerback Ronnie Bradford intercepted.

Sharpe, whose outspoken commentary was a highlight of pre-Super Bowl media interviews, went to the locker room at the end of the quarter to have his knee retaped, but did not return to the field.

"It's sore," said Sharpe, who limped into the interview area without assistance, wearing a styrofoam horse's head with Broncos insignia.

"On that play, I bounced around Eugene (safety Eugene Robinson), and I could see Buchanan coming up. I thought I would try to go over the top of him, but his helmet caught my knee before I got off the ground. He got my knee pretty good."