Position: Safety Name Darren Sharper | Tackles: 942 Height 1.88 m Quarterback sacks: 7.5 Weight 95 kg | |
Date of birth: (1975-11-03) November 3, 1975 (age 40) NFL draft: 1997 / Round: 2 / Pick: 60 Siblings Jamie Sharper, Monica Sharper Parents Pauline Sharper, Harry Sharper Similar People Jamie Sharper, Donovan McNabb, Roman Harper, Gabrielle Union, Darren Sproles | ||
Strong Safety Training from Darren Sharper
Darren Mallory Sharper (born November 3, 1975) is a former American football safety and former broadcaster. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons before which Sharper played college football for the College of William & Mary. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, and later played for the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints. Sharper was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and was named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team. He finished his career with 63 interceptions, sixth on the NFL's all-time leader list at the time of his retirement. His 13 defensive touchdowns are tied for the most all-time. In 2016, Sharper was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple rape and drug-related charges.
Contents
- Strong Safety Training from Darren Sharper
- Darren sharper will have penis monitored
- Early years
- College career
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
- New Orleans Saints
- WWL TV and NFL Network
- Allegations
- California state
- Louisiana state and federal
- Arizona state
- Nevada state
- California and Arizona
- Nevada
- Louisiana and federal
- Co defendants
- Analysis
- Hall of Fame consideration
- References
Darren sharper will have penis monitored
Early years
Sharper has an older sister, Monica, and an older brother, Jamie. The Sharpers attended Hermitage High School in Henrico County, Virginia. Jamie played for the high school football team as a linebacker. Darren played for the varsity football and basketball teams. He was named to the honor roll, had perfect attendance in three of his four years, and was active in the foreign language club and student council. Hermitage honored Sharper with a display on their "Wall of Fame". Sharper graduated from Hermitage in 1993.
College career
Sharper attended the College of William and Mary, where he played for the William & Mary Tribe football team. In high school, Sharper primarily played quarterback. He wanted to be a quarterback at William & Mary, as well. The college coach, Jimmye Laycock, hinted to him that, as an alternative, Sharper might join the NFL. During his college career, he earned All-America honors twice and was named first-team All-Yankee Conference selection three times. As a senior in 1996, he was the Yankee Conference Defensive Player of the Year after intercepting 10 passes for a season. He finished his college career with a school record 24 career interceptions and a I-AA record 468 career interception return yards. He also set the school record with 1,027 career punt return yards.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers selected Sharper in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. During his rookie season, he played in 14 games, finishing with 19 tackles and two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns. The first of which was a 50-yard return in week 10 to help the Packers to a 20–10 victory over the Detroit Lions. His play helped Green Bay reach Super Bowl XXXII which they lost to the Denver Broncos by a score of 31–24. During his second season he started all 16 games for the Packers, finishing with 73 tackles. In 1999, he started all 16 games for the second consecutive season finishing with a career-high 113 tackles and three interceptions.
Sharper's breakout season was in 2000. He finished the season with 92 tackles and a league leading nine interceptions, and made his first career Pro Bowl. Sharper had another great season in 2001 finishing with 94 tackles and six interceptions.
In 2002 Sharper made his second Pro Bowl after intercepting seven passes for a league high 233 interception yards in only 13 games. In 2003, he finished with 82 tackles and five interceptions. During his last season with the Packers in 2004 he totaled 70 tackles and four interceptions and led the league in defensive touchdowns with three.
On March 10, 2005, the Packers released Sharper. He finished his eight-year career in Green Bay, fifth in Packer history with 36 career interceptions, 616 tackles, six sacks, 677 interception yards, and five touchdowns.
Minnesota Vikings
Sharper signed with the Minnesota Vikings on March 12, 2005. Sharper made an immediate impact for the Vikings intercepting nine passes for a league high 276 interception yards and two defensive touchdowns, in only 14 games. His great play earned him a trip to his third Pro Bowl. During his second season with the Vikings in 2006 he made 67 tackles and four interceptions. On November 11, 2006 in a game against the Miami Dolphins, Sharper bumped a member of the officiating crew, but he was not immediately penalized, later the following week the NFL fined him $15,000 for the infraction.
Sharper made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in 2007, after totaling 63 tackles and four interceptions. On September 16, 2007, Sharper became the 22nd player in NFL history to intercept 50 passes. In 2008, Sharper recorded 69 tackles and one interception. He finished his four-year career in Minnesota with 18 interceptions, 250 tackles, 359 interception yards, three touchdowns, and a sack.
New Orleans Saints
An unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season, Sharper signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints on March 18, 2009. On October 4, 2009, Sharper returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown, the longest in Saints history. It was also his second 95+ yard interception return for a touchdown for the season. On October 25, Sharper returned his third interception for a touchdown on the season, a team record. At the end of Week 8, on Monday Night Football, Sharper intercepted a pass from Atlanta's Matt Ryan to help keep the Saints' perfect record. It was his seventh interception of the season. On November 30, once again on Monday Night Football, Sharper intercepted a desperation pass from New England's Tom Brady and returned it 35 yards, which left him 4 yards short of the NFL record for interception return yards in a season, set by Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens in 2004.
Sharper then broke that record in a December 27 game against Tampa Bay, intercepting Josh Freeman's pass and returning it 21 yards. This gave him 9 interceptions on the year and 376 return yards (including 3 interceptions returned for touchdowns). It was the 63rd interception of Sharper's NFL career, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. His 376 interception return yards broke the NFL single season record of 358 previously held by Ed Reed. Sharper also shares an NFL record with Deion Sanders for most games with 50+ interception return yards (9) and owns the NFL record for most games with 75+ interception return yards (6).
For his performance in 2009, Sharper was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl and as a first team All-Pro. On February 7, 2010, Sharper earned his first Super Bowl ring as the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV by a score of 31–17. Characteristic of the play of the New Orleans defense all season, the game was decided when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted a Peyton Manning pass late in the 4th quarter and returned it 74 yards for the winning touchdown.
Sharper had micro-fracture arthroscopic surgery on his left knee during the off-season. On March 5, 2010, Sharper became an unrestricted free agent, allowing him to sign with another team. However, on May 3, Sharper re-signed with the Saints for the 2010 season. On September 3, Sharper was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, causing him to miss the first six weeks of the 2010 NFL season. He was activated on October 24, but he later missed another two games after a further injury. He was selected as a second team All Pro, despite having missed much of the season.
After workouts with the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, and Green Bay Packers without a contract offer, Sharper reportedly announced his retirement after a 14-year career. He finished with 63 career regular season interceptions, placing him sixth all time. He took 11 of them back for touchdowns, which ranks him third only to Charles Woodson and Hall of Famer Rod Woodson, with 12. Sharper's 13 career defensive touchdowns (11 interception returns, two fumble returns) is tied for first in NFL history with Woodson and Woodson. Sharper is the only player to ever lead the NFL in interception return yards in three different seasons (2002, 2005, 2009).
WWL-TV and NFL Network
In August 2012, after retiring, Sharper worked briefly for WWL-TV as an analyst before leaving to take a position with NFL Network. On February 28, 2014, Sharper was officially fired from NFL Network.
Allegations
On March 18, 2011, two women reported to the Miami Beach Police Department about being raped at Sharper's condo. On March 23, 2011, Miami Beach Police Department closed the investigation and subsequently destroyed the rape kits. On February 2, 2013, a woman was raped by Sharper's friend Brandon Licciardi after Sharper allegedly helped to drug the victim. On August 31, 2013, Sharper allegedly raped a woman in New Orleans. On September 23, 2013, Sharper and Licciardi drugged two women in New Orleans. Sharper and his friend, Erik Nunez, raped the women. One of the victims came forward with a police report. On October 30, 2013, Sharper took two women to his hotel room in Los Angeles, drugged them and raped one of the women. On November 7, 2013, one of the October victims filed a report with the LAPD. On November 20, 2013, Sharper met three female students in Arizona, drugged them, then sexually assaulted two of them. The victims underwent a medical exam and reported the incident to the police. On January 14, 2014, Sharper met two women in Los Angeles, took them to his hotel room, drugged them, and raped one of them. The victims underwent a medical exam and reported the incident to the police. On January 15, 2014, Sharper met two women and a man in Las Vegas, drugged all three, and sexually assaulted both women.
Between January 14 and January 15, he purportedly victimized four women within twenty four hours, in two different states.
California state
On January 17, 2014, Sharper was arrested in Los Angeles on two separate counts of sexual assault. The alleged incidents were said to have happened in October 2013 and January 2014.
On February 14, 2014, Sharper was officially charged with two counts of rape, by use of drugs, and five related felony counts. Sharper was released on $200,000 bond, which at the request of the prosecution was raised to $1,000,000. Sharper pleaded not guilty to the charges. Conditions of his bail required him not to frequent any drinking establishment, as well as not to be alone with any women he had no relationship with prior to October 13, 2013, the date of his first alleged rape under these charges. Sharper faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted of all counts.
Louisiana state and federal
In January 2014, USA Today reported the New Orleans Police Department was investigating a sexual assault allegation against Sharper which was filed on September 24, 2013.
Officials in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, filed two charges of aggravated rape against Sharper and another two counts against Erik Nunez, 26, on February 27, 2014, related to the alleged September 2013 incident in New Orleans. Investigators said a second woman came forward with a complaint following an initial report shortly after the alleged rape. WDSU noted, "Louisiana law states that a person convicted of committing aggravated rape shall be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence." Also on February 27, 2014, Sharper surrendered to the police in Los Angeles after an arrest warrant was issued by the authorities in Louisiana.
On December 12, 2014, an Orleans Parish grand jury indicted Sharper on two counts of aggravated rape, stating that, if convicted, he will face a mandatory life sentence. On the same day, a federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana returned an indictment for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance (1 count) and distribution of a controlled substance (2 counts).
Arizona state
On March 12, 2014, Sharper was charged with sexual assault in Arizona. Under Arizona state law, a person commits sexual assault by knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with another person without that person's consent. No consent was given if the victim was incapable of consenting by reason of drugs, alcohol, sleep, or a similar impairment, and such impairment was known or should have been known to the defendant.
Nevada state
On March 20, 2015, Sharper was charged with two sexual assaults in Las Vegas. The purported crimes took place in January 2014 and involved two women. Nevada state legislation provides that a person subjecting another person to sexual penetration against that person's will, or under conditions in which the perpetrator knows or should know that the victim is mentally or physically incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of the perpetrator's conduct, is guilty of sexual assault. The notion of sexual penetration includes sexual intercourse in its ordinary meaning.
California and Arizona
Later on March 20, Sharper's lawyer said that Sharper had reached a plea agreement to resolve all of the charges against him. He appeared in court in Los Angeles on March 23 to enter guilty pleas to sexual assault in Arizona, by video-conferencing, and no contest in California to raping two women he knocked out with a potent sedative mixed with alcohol. The Arizona judge sentenced him immediately to nine years in prison, with no chance for early release.
On November 29, 2016, Sharper was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor. Sharper's plea deal allows serving half that time, minus time already served. As a non-violent criminal, Sharper might also be eligible for parole since raping an intoxicated person is a non-violent crime in the state of California.
Nevada
On March 24, 2015, Sharper pleaded guilty to a single count of attempted sexual assault on two women in Las Vegas. He agreed to serve three to eight years for this crime. He was formally sentenced on October 27, 2016.
Louisiana and federal
On May 29, 2015, Sharper pleaded guilty, in federal court, to conspiracy to distribute Alprazolam, Diazepam and Zolpidem with intent to commit rape and two counts of distributing these substances with intent to commit rape. He accepted a nine-year sentence in a plea deal for all charges against him. However, on February 18, 2016, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche-Milazzo rejected the deal saying, "This court cannot accept this plea agreement", and noted that a federal pre-sentence report called for a range of 15–20 years. On March 22, 2016, judge Triche-Milazzo approved a new deal under which the proposed length of imprisonment fits the above range.
On August 18, 2016, Sharper was sentenced to 220 months (18 years and 4 months) of incarceration, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $20,000 fine. The following week, he was sentenced by a Louisiana State judge to 20 years in prison, stemming from three counts of rape.
All imprisonments will run concurrently. Once out of prison, Sharper must register as a sex offender and comply with a "sex treatment condition", as part of the 3-year supervision program. Court records list the total of 9 victims involved, nationwide. But, according to the judge, there may be as many as 16.
Co-defendants
Two accomplices — Brandon Licciardi, of Meraux, Louisiana, and Erik Nunez, of New Orleans — pleaded guilty in connection with the alleged drug-and-rape plot. Licciardi is a former sheriff's deputy in the New Orleans suburb of St. Bernard Parish. He had been on the force since 2002, but resigned after charges were filed.
On February 27, 2014, Nunez was arrested and charged, in state court, with two counts of aggravated rape purportedly taking place September 23, 2013, at Sharper's residence in New Orleans. Additionally, he was charged with obstruction of justice between September 23, 2013, and February 28, 2014.
On December 12, 2014, Licciardi was indicted by a federal grand jury on six criminal counts including tampering with a witness (2 counts), impeding an investigation, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and distribution of a controlled substance (2 counts).
On February 6, 2015, Licciardi pleaded innocent to state charges against him, including aggravated rape on February 2, 2013, and three counts of human trafficking to facilitate sexual conduct. Additionally, he was charged with battery using a dangerous weapon.
On July 24, 2015, Nunez was federally charged with conspiracy to impede an investigation. On July 11, 2016, in exchange for a 10-year sentence, he pleaded guilty, before judge Triche-Milazzo, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances without victim's knowledge and with the intent to commit a sexual battery, to which he entered two separate guilty pleas in a state court of Louisiana. Under Louisiana state law, sexual battery includes touching of the victim's private body parts while the victim is incapable of understanding the nature of the act, and this inability is, or should have been, known to the defendant.
On July 15, 2016, Licciardi pleaded guilty, before the same judge, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances with the intent to commit crimes of violence, including rape. In state court, he pleaded guilty to three counts of human trafficking and one count of forcible rape. He agreed to a 17-year prison sentence.
On October 20, 2016, both men were formally sentenced by the federal court. On October 27, they were sentenced on Louisiana state charges. Criminal District Judge Karen Herman ordered that each defendant's prison term mirror and run concurrently with his federal sentence.
Analysis
Since February 27, 2014 – Sharper's last day at liberty – the lingering question was how he managed to hurt at least nine women over many months and still avoid incarceration despite investigation being already underway.
A criminal justice official speculated that the answer may lie in the perpetrator's high social and financial status affording him access to well-qualified lawyers prosecutors hesitated to confront. "If his name was John Brown, he would have been in jail", the official said. "If a woman says, 'He's the guy that raped me,' and you have corroborating evidence to show they were together and she went to the hospital and she can identify him, that guy goes to jail".
Another official elaborated: "The D.A.'s position and the administration's position was, because this was a high-profile case, we want to make sure we do this the right way. It was mainly because of the celebrity-ness".
Over time, Sharper's actions became more and more sophisticated. He did not make self-incriminating statements. He traveled often. His predatory pattern spanned four states, making it hard to detect. Prescription opioids mixed with alcohol made the victims unconscious and unable to remember, undermining their credibility with the police.
Hall of Fame consideration
On April 13, 2015, Sharper was removed from the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2016, he became eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, leading to a debate as to whether his criminal convictions disqualify him. Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, who is on the Hall of Fame voting committee, has said that Sharper must be considered because voters are prohibited from taking off-field issues into account.