Sterling Sharpe

By Jacob Westlin
Love of Sports Correspondent

When considering the top NFL wide receivers of the 1990s, some names roll off the tongue easier than others: Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter.

Even Andre Reed gets some love.

But how often do you hear the name Sterling Sharpe? Sure, his career was cut short by a debilitating neck injury, and he only took the field until 1994. Nonetheless, his abbreviated career was riddled with individual success.

It is with admitted personal difficulty that I confess, given my Minnesota Viking blood, that Sharpe was my idolized athlete as a child. Of course, it isn’t terribly difficult to figure out why.

Sharpe was an All-Pro in five of his seven seasons. In three of those years, he led the NFL in receptions. In two of them, he led in receiving touchdowns. The 1992 season was one of them. In fact, that was the first season he hooked up with brash new hot shot quarterback Brett Favre, marginally successful in his own right.

Sharpe’s ’92 season was nothing short of legendary, winning the NFL’s triple-crown in receiving (yards, touchdowns, receptions) for only the sixth time in NFL history. (In fact, it’s only been done once since: Steve Smith, 2005). Sharpe even set a then-record with 107 receptions in a single season.

Subsequently, he followed up his ’92 campaign by breaking his own record, catching 112 Favre-thrown lasers while becoming the first receiver ever to have back-to-back 100-reception seasons. His 1994 season was equally successful, as he caught 18 touchdowns, second-most at the time, trailing only Jerry Rice’s 22.

His neck injury at the end of the ’94 season, however, cut short what may have been a Hall of Fame career. As he was unable to participate in the Packers’ 1996 Super Bowl season, his brother Shannon generously gave him the first of his three rings, citing Sterling as one of his lifelong positive role models, on and off the field.

In the end, the answer to the oddly specific question of which stud NFL receiver’s career was cut short of greatness because of a neck injury, avoid answering Michael Irvin and dazzle ‘em with a Sterling Sharpe!