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Revision as of 17:54, 15 January 2010
 Darren Sharper during the Vikings 2008 Training Camp. | |||||||||
| New Orleans Saints | |||||||||
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| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | William & Mary | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1997 / round: 2 / pick: 60 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2009 | |||||||||
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Darren Mallory Sharper (born November 3, 1975 in Template:City-state) is an American football safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at William & Mary.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Sharper has also played for the Minnesota Vikings. He is the younger brother of former NFL linebacker Jamie Sharper.
College career
Sharper played college football at William & Mary, where he was a teammate of current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and current Philadelphia Eagles assistant Sean McDermott. During his career he earned All-America honors twice and was named first-Team All-Yankee Conference three times. As a senior he was the Yankee Conference Defensive Player of the Year after intercepting 10 passes. He finished his college career with a school record 24 career interceptions and a I-AA record 468 career interception return yards. He also set the school record with 1,037 career punt return yards.
Professional career
Green Bay Packers
Sharper was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. During his rookie season he played in 14 games, finishing with 19 tackles and two interceptions. During his second season he started all 16 games for the Packers, finishing with 73 tackles. In 1999 he started all 16 games for the second consecutive season finishing with a career high 113 tackles and three interceptions.
Sharper's coming out season was in 2000. He finished the season with 92 tackles and a league leading nine interceptions, and made his first career Pro Bowl. Sharper had another great season in 2001 finishing with 94 tackles and six interceptions.
In 2002 Sharper made his second Pro Bowl after intercepting seven passes for a league high 233 interception yards in only 13 games. In 2003 he finished with 82 tackles and five interceptions. During his last season with the Packers in 2004 he totaled 70 tackles and four interceptions and led the league in defensive touchdowns with two.
On March 10, 2005 the Packers released Sharper. He finished his eight-year career in Green Bay, fifth in Packer history with 36 career interceptions, 616 tackles, six sacks, 677 interception yards, and five touchdowns.[1]
Minnesota Vikings
Sharper signed with the Minnesota Vikings on March 12, 2005. [2] Sharper made an immediate impact for the Vikings intercepting nine passes for a league high 276 interception yards and two defensive touchdowns, in only 14 games. His great play earned him a trip to his third Pro Bowl. During his second season with the Vikings in 2006 he made 67 tackles and four interceptions. On November 11, 2006 in a game against the Miami Dolphins, Sharper bumped a member of the officiating crew, but he was not immediately penalized, later the following week the NFL fined him $15,000 for the infraction.[3]
Sharper made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in 2007, after totaling 63 tackles and four interceptions. On September 16, 2007, Sharper became the 22nd player in NFL history to intercept 50 passes.[4] In 2008 Sharper recorded 69 tackles and one interception.
He finished his four-year career in Minnesota with 18 interceptions, 250 tackles, 359 interception yards, three touchdowns, and a sack.
New Orleans Saints
An unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season, Sharper signed a one year deal with the New Orleans Saints on March 18, 2009.[5]
On October 4, 2009, Sharper returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown, the longest in Saints history. It was also his second 95+ yard interception return for a touchdown for the season. On October 25, Sharper returned his third interception for a touchdown on the season, a team record. At the end of Week 8, on Monday Night Football, Sharper intercepted a pass from Atlanta's Matt Ryan to help keep the Saints' perfect record. It was his seventh interception of the season. On November 30, once again on Monday Night Football, Sharper intercepted a desperation pass from New England's Tom Brady and returned it 35 yards, leaving him 4 yards short of the NFL record for interception return yards in a season, set by Baltimore's Ed Reed in 2004.
Sharper then broke that record in a December 27 game against Tampa Bay, intercepting Josh Freeman's pass and returning it 21 yards. This gave him 9 interceptions on the year and 376 return yards (including 3 interceptions returned for touchdowns). It was the 63rd interception of Sharper's NFL career, tying him for sixth on the all-time list.[6] The following week, Sharper was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl. His 376 interception return yards broke the NFL single season record of 358 previously held by Ed Reed.
Sharper also shares an NFL record with Deion Sanders for most games with 50+ interception return yards (9) and owns the NFL record for most games with 75+ interception return yards (6).
References
External links
Template:2001 Pro Bowl NFC starters Template:2003 Pro Bowl NFC starters Template:2006 Pro Bowl NFC starters Template:2008 Pro Bowl NFC starters Template:2009 All-Pro Team Template:2010 Pro Bowl NFC starters