Harry James Sharper, Jr. (born November 23, 1974 in
Richmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities, it is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
) is a former
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player who played in the
NFLThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
from 1997 through 2005. He played
college footballCollege football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...
at the
University of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. He is the older brother of
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League ....
safetySafety is an American and Canadian football position played by a member of the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up from ten to fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position in a typical formation, the free safety and the strong safety ....
Darren SharperDarren Mallory Sharper 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 four-time Pro Bowl selection, Sharper has also played...
.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Sharper with the 34th overall pick in the
1997 NFL DraftThe 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19-20, 1997. No teams elected to claim any players in the supplemental draft that...
. He made an impact right away, recording 68
tacklesMost forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
, three
sacksIn American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled or run out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass...
and one interception in his
rookieRookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport and has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
year. He became an important part in the record-setting 2000 Ravens defense and started in
Super Bowl XXXVSuper Bowl XXXV was played on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 2000 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the National Football Conference champion New York...
.
Harry James Sharper, Jr. (born November 23, 1974 in
Richmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities, it is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
) is a former
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player who played in the
NFLThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
from 1997 through 2005. He played
college footballCollege football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...
at the
University of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. He is the older brother of
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints play in the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League ....
safetySafety is an American and Canadian football position played by a member of the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up from ten to fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position in a typical formation, the free safety and the strong safety ....
Darren SharperDarren Mallory Sharper 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 four-time Pro Bowl selection, Sharper has also played...
.
NFL career
The Baltimore Ravens selected Sharper with the 34th overall pick in the
1997 NFL DraftThe 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19-20, 1997. No teams elected to claim any players in the supplemental draft that...
. He made an impact right away, recording 68
tacklesMost forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
, three
sacksIn American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled or run out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass...
and one interception in his
rookieRookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport and has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
year. He became an important part in the record-setting 2000 Ravens defense and started in
Super Bowl XXXVSuper Bowl XXXV was played on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 2000 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the National Football Conference champion New York...
. His career totals with the Ravens included 328 tackles, 14 sacks, 2 interceptions and one
touchdownA touchdown is the term for scoring American and Canadian football.-Description:To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. This can be done by rushing, in which the ball carrier carries the football forward into the end zone. It can also be done by passing,...
. After the
2001 seasonThe 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...
he was chosen in the expansion draft by
expansion teamAn expansion team is a term used for a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the...
the
Houston TexansThe Houston Texans is a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an expansion team after Houston's previous franchise,...
. From
2003The 2003 regular season of the National Football League was the 84th one played by the major professional American football league in the United States. Regular season play was held from September 4, 2003 to December 28...
-
2004The 2004 season of the National Football League was the 85th season for the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...
, while a member of the Texans, he led the NFL in tackles in that period with 301. After the
2004 seasonThe 2004 season of the National Football League was the 85th season for the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...
he signed with the
Seattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington, USA. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the NFL in 1976 as...
and retired after one season due to knee injury. During his 9 year career Sharper only missed 8 games, and did not miss a game until his final season, playing in 128 straight games.