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posted 02/22/01
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| Darren Sharper signs a 6-year deal with the Packers |
The Green Bay Packers have signed Pro Bowl free safety Darren Sharper to a six-year contract, Andrew Brandt, the team's director of player finance, announced today.
Sharper, a consensus all-pro selection following a breakthrough, 2000 season which saw him lead the National Football League in interceptions, is thus scheduled to be wearing Green Bay's green and gold through the 2006 season under terms of the new pact.
A starter last season for the third straight year, Sharper raised his game to a new level in the process, forging a career-high 9 interceptions in becoming the first Green Bay player in 38 years to lead the league - since Hall of Famer Willie Wood earned that distinction, also with 9 thefts, in 1962.
Sharper, falling only one short of the club's single-season interception record (10 by Irv Comp in 1943), augmented his contributions by leading the Packers defense in passes defensed with a career-high 23.
Earning near-unanimous all-pro recognition en route - by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers of America, USA Today and College and Pro Football Newsweekly, as well as All-NFC selection by the Football News - the fourth-year pro posted his second straight 100-tackle season, tying fellow safety LeRoy Butler for third among Packers defenders with 101 stops (79 solo).
"This past season Darren proved himself to be an integral part of our defense," said GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman, speaking from the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. "With this new contract, it guarantees that we will have Pro Bowl caliber play at his position for years to come. Darren has worked extremely hard to get himself into this position, and I'm anticipating that he will work even harder in the future to maintain his status as one of the best safeties in all of football. I'm happy for Darren, for his family and for the Green Bay Packers."
Highly durable as well as impressively productive, Sharper started all 16 games for the third consecutive season while playing the most snaps by any member of the Green Bay defense during the 2000 season.
Along the way, the multi-talented Virginian recorded the first 2-interception game of his professional career in the Packers' 29-3 road victory over the Arizona Cardinals, one of his larcenies including a diving catch at the goal line to end a late Cardinals scoring threat. He also led Green Bay in tackles (11) and passes defensed (a career-high 6) against Arizona.
Sharper additionally was a major factor in the Packers' season sweep of the division champion Minnesota. He twice intercepted the Vikings' Daunte Culpepper in a 26-20, overtime conquest of Minnesota, including a leaping, end zone theft of a pass intended for Randy Moss.
Subsequently, in the rematch at Minnesota (12/17), he made a key, fourth-quarter interception of Culpepper, which he returned 47 yards to the Vikings' 25-yard line to set up a field goal that gave the Packers a 33-21 lead in an eventual, 33-28 upset victory.
Particularly effective down the stretch as the Packers swept the NFC Central Division with consecutive victories over Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Tampa Bay to narrowly miss a playoff berth, Sharper intercepted a pass in three of those final four games, also picking off Bears quarterback Shane Matthews at Chicago (12/3), intercepting Charlie Batch to void a Lions threat early in the second half of a 26-13 win over Detroit, and following with the opportune "pick" against the Vikings in the second-last game of the season.
Earlier in the year, the 25-year-old Richmond, Va., native turned in one of the most memorable performances of his NFL career to date in a losing cause, amassing a career-high 13 tackles at Buffalo, including a sack of Bills quarterback Rob Johnson.
Sharper, who was Green Bay's leading tackler in 1999 with 113 stops, first flashed Pro Bowl and "big play" potential as a rookie in 1997, helping the Packers get to Super Bowl XXXII by scoring three defensive touchdowns - via 2 interception returns and one fumble return - to tie a club record set by Herb Adderley in 1965.
He supplemented those contributions by recording 4 passes defensed during the '97 postseason, 2 of them in the Packers' NFC Championship Game triumph at San Francisco which projected them into Super Bowl XXXII.
A three-year starter and four-year letterman at William & Mary, where he set a school record with 24 career interceptions, Sharper was the Packers' second-round draft selection in 1997, the 60th player chosen overall.
| PRO STATISTICS: | Year | G/S | UT | AT | Sacks | Int. | Yds. | LG | TD | FR | FF | PD |
| 1997 | Green Bay | 14/0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 50t | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 1998 | Green Bay | 16/16 | 62 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 1999 | Green Bay | 16/16 | 84 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2000 | Green Bay | 16/16 | 79 | 22 | 1 | *9 | 109 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Totals | 62/48 | 235 | 81 | 2 | 14 | 191 | 50t | 2 | 2 | 2 | 36 | |
| Playoffs | 4/1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
*Led NFL
Other Touchdowns: 1, 34-yard fumble return vs. Dallas (11/23/97)
Punt Returns: 7 for 32 yards, 4.6 avg., 3 FC, LG 23 in 1997
Kickoff Returns: 1 for 3 yards in 1997; 1 for 4 yards in 1999 for total of 2 for 7 yards, 3.5 avg., LG 4
Special Teams Tackles: 7 (4-3) in 1997; 1 (1-0) in 1997 Playoffs; 1 (1-0) in 1998 Playoffs for total of 7 (4-3)