The wait is over. South Carolina football legend Sterling Sharpe is headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The NFL announced the news late on Thursday night. Sharpe’s selection came via the Senior Committee after years of unwarranted exclusion. He joins defensive end Jared Allen, cornerback Eric Allen, and tight end Antonio Gates in the class of 2025.
Sharpe is the first South Carolina Gamecock to earn selection for Hall of Fame induction. Former USC quarterback and long-time NFL coach Dan Reeves was a semifinalist this season but was not elected. Gamecock alum John Abraham also was a semifinalist but will have to wait longer for his call to Canton.
Sharpe was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL during his seven years as a professional. A neck injury tragically cut his career short in 1994 but not before he made his mark on the game of football. Sharpe’s seven years with the Green Bay Packers included five Pro Bowls and five 1000-yard campaigns
He led the NFL in catches three times, touchdowns twice, and yardage once. Two of those years, he set the all-time record for receptions in a single season. A favorite target for a young quarterback named Brett Favre, Sharpe won the “triple crown” in 1992 with 108 receptions, 1461 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Only four others during the Super Bowl era have won the receiving triple crown. In what proved to be his final season in 1994, he caught 18 touchdown passes. Just two receivers have posted more receiving scores in a season, Jerry Rice in 1987 and Randy Moss in 2007.
Sterling Sharpe will join his brother Shannon (a tight end who played for the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens) to form the only brother duo in the Hall of Fame. During his Hall of Fame speech in 2011, Shannon said that he was the only Hall of Famer who was the second-best player in his own family.
Pro Football Hall of Fame induction will be on August 2nd in Canton, Ohio.
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During his South Carolina football career, Sharpe was a two-time All-American. When he left the program, he owned the majority of the Gamecocks’ receiving records. Upon being a 1st-round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, No. 2 was USC’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and 100-yard performances. Sharpe also was one of just a few Gamecocks ever to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown.
Rewarding his on-field excellence, the University of South Carolina retired his jersey while he was still active with the team. The College Football Hall of Fame also enshrined Sharpe in 2014.
