dfosterf
14 years ago
Sharper is still going strong 

Where you gonna get insight like that? Man, I just love Andrew's articles.

Darren Sharper is still going strong

Saints got a bargain after others passed on the safety. Andrew Brandt
January 21, 2010, 11:52 AM EST
11 Comments

One of the more remarkable players competing this weekend is someone whos still going strong despite being told by two franchises that he was no longer welcome -- the Packers and the Vikings. Darren Sharper is one of the more interesting players Ive been around and, in an age when players often resort to tired adages and prepackaged clichs, is refreshingly honest.

While negotiating Darren's contract with the Packers in 2001 -- keeping him at a great cost on the eve of free agency -- I learned about negotiating without leverage. General manager Ron Wolf told me at the time to negotiate however firmly I felt comfortable but that when all was said and done, we needed to retain this player. Needless to say, Joel Segal, Darren's agent, held all the cards. And to make matters worse, when I walked to our meeting from my hotel to his office in New York, I noticed five people wearing Packers gear. The weight of Packer Nation was on me.



In a deal where I just held on for dear life, we made Darren the highest-paid safety in the history of football (getting a pay cut from fellow Packer safety LeRoy Butler, the ultimate team player, was a necessary part of getting it done). Darren played on that deal into the 2005 offseason when the decision was made that we would not try to get a pay cut from him. I knew he would refuse and, of course, he did, causing the Packers to release him. He was scooped up by the rival Vikings a day later with a four-year deal that he played out through 2008.

Last offseason, with only tepid interest from the Vikings or any other team, Sharper signed a one-year deal with the Saints and became the bargain of the year for $1.7 million. Now 34, Sharper will soon be an unrestricted free agent again, likely still cashing in even as an older player in a relatively low-paying position.

Darren, as mentioned above, was never shy about his opinion and was refreshingly honest. Whenever we had a hot young defensive back look good in practice, he would come over and ask me if that was the guy who was eventually going to push him off the roster. He always asked about our signings and roster moves, giving free advice as our pseudo-general manager. I remember debating whether to pay the high price needed to keep left tackle Chad Clifton in the fold. Darren said, Go ahead and let him walk and watch Brett glare at you in the box every time he's sacked. We signed Clifton the next week.

Darren was often accused of wanting to pad his interception totals toward making the Pro Bowl and getting paid. He didnt deny that but remarked that every defensive back no matter what they say -- wants the same thing, which is the cold truth. The ones who don't get the interceptions complain that too much is made of interception statistics, and the ones who do revel in the stats.

Now Darren gets a crack at one of the teams that made little effort to re-sign him, against a quarterback he knows as well as anyone in the league (indeed, before signing Darren in 2001, we had to work out a new deal for Brett). Darren will be back there playing center field as always, rangy and cagey as ever.

Kudos to Darren for maintaining a Sharper image.

Follow me on Twitter: adbrandt

bozz_2006
14 years ago
great little article. but that last line is pure cheeseball. lol.
UserPostedImage
PackFanWithTwins
14 years ago
have to agree, that last line is cheesy.

Sharper was always a pretty good player. He played center field really well. He was never the best tackler and had a habit of taking bad angles in that aspect. Would have loved to keep him all along, but it wasn't in the money cards.

If he just would not have gone to the goobers to the West.
The world needs ditch diggers too Danny!!!
Cheesey
14 years ago

have to agree, that last line is cheesy.

"PackFanWithTwins" wrote:


Don't you mean......"CHEESEY???" :pottytrain2:

Anyway.....I'm surprised how well he's still doing.
The weird thing is, he was on the Vikings, now with the Saints. Wouldn't it be something if he gets a ring with the Saints, and keeps the Vikings (and Favre and Longwell) from getting rings?
UserPostedImage
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packerfanoutwest (20h) : Feliz Navidad!
Zero2Cool (25-Dec) : Merry Christmas!
beast (25-Dec) : Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
beast (24-Dec) : Sounds like no serious injuries from the Saints game and Jacobs and Watson should play in the Vikings game
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : both games Watson missed, Packers won
Martha Careful (24-Dec) : I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!
Mucky Tundra (24-Dec) : Oh I know about Jacobs, I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to mimic Zero lol
buckeyepackfan (24-Dec) : Jacobs was just sat down, Watson re-injured that knee that kept him out 1 game earlier
buckeyepackfan (24-Dec) : I needed .14 that's. .14 points for the whole 4th quarter to win and go to the SB. Lol
Mucky Tundra (24-Dec) : Jacobs gonna be OK???
Zero2Cool (24-Dec) : Watson gonna be OK???
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : Inactives tonight for the Pack: Alexander- knee Bullard - ankle Williams - quad Walker -ankle Monk Heath
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : No Jaire, but hopefully the front 7 destroys the line of scrimmage & forces Rattler into a few passes to McKinney.
packerfanoutwest (24-Dec) : minny could be #1 seed and the Lions #5 seed
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : We'd have same Division and Conference records. Strength of schedule we edge them
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I just checked. What tie breaker?
bboystyle (23-Dec) : yes its possible but unlikely. If we do get the 5th, we face the NFCS winner
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Ahh, ok.
bboystyle (23-Dec) : yes due to tie breaker
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I mean, unlikely, yes, but mathematically, 5th is possible by what I'm reading.
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : If Vikings lose out, Packers win out, Packers get 5th, right?
bboystyle (23-Dec) : Minny isnt going to lose out so 5th seed is out of the equation. We are playing for the 6th or 7th seed which makes no difference
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : beast, the ad revenue goes to the broadcast company but they gotta pay to air the game on their channel/network
beast (23-Dec) : If we win tonight the game is still relative in terms of 5th, 6th or 7th seed... win and it's 5th or 6th, lose and it's 6th or 7th
beast (23-Dec) : Mucky, I thought the ad revenue went to the broadcasting companies or the NFL, at least not directly
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I think the revenue share is moot, isn't it? That's the CBA an Salary Cap handling that.
bboystyle (23-Dec) : i mean game becomes irrelevant if we win tonight. Just a game where we are trying to play spoilers to Vikings chance at the #1 seed
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : beast, I would guess ad revenue from more eyes watching tv
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I would think it would hurt the home team because people would have to cancel last minute maybe? i dunno
beast (23-Dec) : I agree that it's BS for fans planning on going to the game. But how does it bring in more money? I'm guessing indirectly?
packerfanoutwest (23-Dec) : bs on flexing the game....they do it for the $$league$$, not the hometown fans
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I see what you did there Mucky
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : dammit. 3:25pm
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Packers Vikings flexed to 3:35pm
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : Upon receiving the news about Luke Musgrave, I immediately fell to the ground
Mucky Tundra (23-Dec) : Yeah baby!
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : LUKE MUSGRAVE PLAYING TONIGHT~!~~~~WOWHOAAOHAOAA yah
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I wanna kill new QB's ... blitz the crap out of them.
beast (23-Dec) : Barry seemed to get too conservative against new QBs, Hafley doesn't have that issue
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : However, we seem to struggle vs new QB's
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Should be moot point, cuz Packers should win tonight.
packerfanoutwest (23-Dec) : ok I stand corrected
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : Ok, yes, you are right. I see that now how they get 7th
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : 5th - Packers win out, Vikings lose out. Maybe?
beast (23-Dec) : Saying no to the 6th lock.
beast (23-Dec) : No, with the Commanders beating the Eagles, Packers could have a good chance of 6th or 7th unless the win out
Zero2Cool (23-Dec) : I think if Packers win, they are locked 6th with chance for 5th.
beast (23-Dec) : But it doesn't matter, as the Packers win surely win one of their remaining games
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