Sterling Sharpe made history during his sterling career as a wide receiver at South Carolina from 1983-1987. Thursday night, he made history off the field for the Gamecocks, becoming the first who wore the Garnet and Black to be selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.
Sharpe was elected from a pool of five candidates that included the Finalists chosen by the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee (Sharpe, Maxie Baughan and Jim Tyrer), Coach Blue Ribbon Committee (Mike Holmgren) and Contributor Blue-Ribbon Committee (Ralph Hay). Under the Hall’s bylaws, from one to three individuals could have been elected from this group; only Sharpe reached the required voting threshold.
The Class of 2025, was announced during the NFL Honors show on the NFL Network. The other members of the class are defensive back Eric Alen, defensive end Jared Allen, and tight end Antonio Gates.
Sharpe joins his brother Shannon as the first brothers to be voted into the Hall. Shannon was the one who delivered the news to Sterling.
The Hall of Fame’s membership, including the newly elected class, now stands at 382.
The Class of 2025 will be enshrined Saturday, Aug. 2, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
Here’s the Hall of Fame bio on Sharpe:
STERLING SHARPE
- Times as Finalist: 1 | Year of eligibility: 26
- Position: Wide Receiver
- Ht: 6-0, Wt: 207
- NFL Career: 1988-1994 Green Bay Packers
- Seasons: 7, Games: 112
- College: South Carolina
- Drafted: 1st Round (7th overall), 1988
- Born: April 6, 1965, in Chicago
In his second NFL season (1989), led the league in single-season receptions (90) and would again set the standard in 1992 and 1993 … During the 1992 campaign, set the NFL record for catches in a season (108) and toppled his own record the next season (112) … Surpassed 1,000 receiving yards five times … League-leading 1,461 receiving yards and average yards receiving per game (91.3) in 1992 … Scored the most touchdowns (13) in the NFL in 1992 and in 1994 (18) … At the time of his retirement, held seven Packers’ regular-season receiving records and was tied for three additional … Owned three Green Bay postseason records, including most points in a game (18) against Detroit in 1993 … First-team All-Pro three times (1989, 1992-93) … Selected to five Pro Bowls … Member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s.