Donnell Rawlings Defends Shannon Sharpe Over Viral Walk, Impersonates Too

Shannon Sharpe made himself a meme this week by simply walking into a business -- but Donnell Rawlings thinks we should cut him some slack, even though he's here to roast too.

We caught up with the funnyman in NYC on Wednesday -- and he had his own 2 cents to add to the viral conversation ... including a staunch defense that's layered in comedy. Check it out ... Donnell explains why Shannon strutted the way he did, and it's all about athletics.

Of course, he couldn't help but do his own impersonation of the ex-NFL'er, and it's great.

ICYMI ... Shannon was promoting his cognac in New Jersey last weekend and sluggishly stepped out of an SUV in a snug-fitting all-green ensemble, coupled with an orange bag slung around his chest ... and as you can imagine, it instantly got tackled with jokes online.

Like we said, Donnell did his best Shannon Sharpe -- both speaking and walking -- and we gotta say ... it's pretty freaking good. He has his voice and cadence down to a tee here.

He even joked about Mike Epps not wanting the 'Shay Shay' problems after their short-lived spat ... but it's all in good fun, we swear! You can tell Donnell's got love for Shannon -- even though he's been hosting some guests lately who are going after his comedy buddies.

Even though Shannon's blowing up these days over his wildly successful "Club Shay Shay" podcast, Donnell reminds everyone Shannon is also a HOF football stud and his banged-up body might be why his walk is getting made fun of ... something DR thinks is kinda unfair.