Bretsky
11-10-2007, 12:42 AM
Striking a safety match
After his release, Sharper finds success with Vikings
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 9, 2007
Green Bay - As a National Football League general manager, Ted Thompson is responsible for making dozens of major decisions every year.
Releasing safety Darren Sharper in March 2005 was not one of his finest moments.
Sharper was better than any safety the Green Bay Packers had then and he's still better than any they have now. In this case, the Packers' loss was the Minnesota Vikings' gain.
It was pointed out to Thompson on Friday that Sharper's 15 interceptions in the last 2 1/2 seasons dwarfed Nick Collins' total of four and were seven more than all of the Packers' safeties combined during that period. Still, the GM expressed no regret.
"We like Nick quite a bit," Thompson said. "I don't want to get into comparing a guy that used to be here and is somewhere else now. Darren has always been a good player. But you move on."
Sharper returns to Lambeau Field on Sunday when the teams renew their border rivalry. He turned 32 last week, is healthy and still every bit the ball hawk that he was for eight seasons in Green Bay.
"Talked to him Tuesday," cornerback Al Harris said. "He's in great shape, from what I've seen. He's a very good football player who would be very good in any scheme. But I really think we have two extraordinary safeties."
In truth, the Packers have never adequately replaced Sharper at free safety or, for that matter, strong safety LeRoy Butler, who suffered a career-ending shoulder injury in November 2001.
"Of course, the Packers would have been better with Sharper the last two years," Butler said. "If they say different, they don't want to disrespect their guys, obviously. But if you knew football, then you would say yes.
"Those other guys are young and they may get to that status. But this is a true veteran who will go down as the most athletic safety to ever play the game. I think people need to realize how good this guy really was. Fifty-one picks. They don't just hand them to you at the post office."
Sharper plans to play three or four more seasons, but it might not be in Minnesota beyond 2007. Although Sharper has one year remaining on the four-year, $14 million contract he signed three days after his release, some of his outspokenness undoubtedly hasn't set all that well with his straight-arrow coach, Brad Childress.
For example, Sharper needled his old friend, Brett Favre, in an interview Monday with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"Some of the throws he's making, I just hope he tries that against us," Sharper said. "Those 50-yard balls over the middle of the field, we'll see how much success he has."
Another of his old pals, Donald Driver, laughed that off as Sharper just being Sharper. But quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn't seem as amused.
"All I'll say about Sharper is, he's talking a little bit too much," said Rodgers. "(Favre) has been the brunt of his comments. If he was a Pro Bowler saying it, that would be one thing.
"He's a guy that relies on his instincts. They keep him out of the box because he doesn't like to tackle very much. He's just playing his half of the field trying to rob routes by reading the quarterback's eyes. I saw Chad Johnson run right by him last year . . . because he's slow. He's a good receiving free safety."
Sharper debuted with the Vikings in 2005 by intercepting nine passes and making the Pro Bowl for the third time. He added four more in '06 and was rated the NFL's 11th-best safety by Pro Football Weekly entering '07.
Collins, who was ranked 13th by Pro Football Weekly, was drafted in the second round by Thompson to replace Sharper. Collins immediately added a dose of speed, but his overall development has been slow.
"It's unfair to compare them," Butler said. "In Sharper's second through fourth season he almost got cut. It's just that Collins could have learned from Sharper. You would have seen Collins grow a little bit now and extend a little more. Now there is no extending because he can't learn from a second-year guy."
Butler referred to strong safety Atari Bigby, who replaced Marquand Manuel, who replaced Mark Roman.
Hands are one of many things separating Collins from Sharper. Collins has been charged with eight dropped interceptions during 2 1/2 seasons; in his last 2 1 /2 seasons for the Packers, Sharper dropped two.
"(Sharper) has great ball skills," quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said. "So, if he's near a ball, he's like a receiver."
Not only that but Sharper also is one of the shrewdest safeties in the business. The coaches have been drumming into their receivers all week that they must run tight, disciplined routes and snatch the football.
"You can't give him no kind of key on what kind of routes you're running," tight end Donald Lee said. "If he thinks you're going inside, he's going to try to undercut the route. I hear a lot of people talking about he don't run as good as he used to but he looks like he's getting where he needs to be to me."
Although three of Sharper's nine defensive touchdowns came in 2004, it was his poorest season since '99 due in part to a knee injury that bothered him for the last two months. Owing Sharper $6 million for '05, Thompson offered $2 million and held firm.
"(Sharper) asked me what I thought," Butler remembered. "He was really down. He said he felt they'd go at least half and let him make the rest up in incentives or something. He said the $2 million was like they didn't appreciate anything that he did for them. He was still young and in his prime. To me, it was a move they really didn't need to make."
At the time, the Packers were having some salary-cap problems.
"It wasn't necessarily that we were looking for a pay cut per se," Thompson said. "It was just something we couldn't do. Obviously, he felt he could get more on the open market, and he wound up doing that."
Cornerback Charles Woodson, who played with Rod Woodson in Oakland during the final two of his 17 seasons, said Sharper reminded him most of Woodson. He finished with 71 interceptions, 10 behind all-time leader Paul Krause.
"Sharper's a guesser," Driver said. "If he guesses right, he wins every time. But when he don't guess right, he gets beat. I mean, he knows that. But most of the time he guesses right."
If the Vikings win Sunday, the two teams will have the exact same record (19-22) since Sharper switched uniforms.
"I think he's a great player, but there's a lot of great players around," Nick Barnett said. "We're not doing so bad right now. You know what I'm saying? I'd love to have him on my team, but business moves on."
After his release, Sharper finds success with Vikings
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 9, 2007
Green Bay - As a National Football League general manager, Ted Thompson is responsible for making dozens of major decisions every year.
Releasing safety Darren Sharper in March 2005 was not one of his finest moments.
Sharper was better than any safety the Green Bay Packers had then and he's still better than any they have now. In this case, the Packers' loss was the Minnesota Vikings' gain.
It was pointed out to Thompson on Friday that Sharper's 15 interceptions in the last 2 1/2 seasons dwarfed Nick Collins' total of four and were seven more than all of the Packers' safeties combined during that period. Still, the GM expressed no regret.
"We like Nick quite a bit," Thompson said. "I don't want to get into comparing a guy that used to be here and is somewhere else now. Darren has always been a good player. But you move on."
Sharper returns to Lambeau Field on Sunday when the teams renew their border rivalry. He turned 32 last week, is healthy and still every bit the ball hawk that he was for eight seasons in Green Bay.
"Talked to him Tuesday," cornerback Al Harris said. "He's in great shape, from what I've seen. He's a very good football player who would be very good in any scheme. But I really think we have two extraordinary safeties."
In truth, the Packers have never adequately replaced Sharper at free safety or, for that matter, strong safety LeRoy Butler, who suffered a career-ending shoulder injury in November 2001.
"Of course, the Packers would have been better with Sharper the last two years," Butler said. "If they say different, they don't want to disrespect their guys, obviously. But if you knew football, then you would say yes.
"Those other guys are young and they may get to that status. But this is a true veteran who will go down as the most athletic safety to ever play the game. I think people need to realize how good this guy really was. Fifty-one picks. They don't just hand them to you at the post office."
Sharper plans to play three or four more seasons, but it might not be in Minnesota beyond 2007. Although Sharper has one year remaining on the four-year, $14 million contract he signed three days after his release, some of his outspokenness undoubtedly hasn't set all that well with his straight-arrow coach, Brad Childress.
For example, Sharper needled his old friend, Brett Favre, in an interview Monday with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"Some of the throws he's making, I just hope he tries that against us," Sharper said. "Those 50-yard balls over the middle of the field, we'll see how much success he has."
Another of his old pals, Donald Driver, laughed that off as Sharper just being Sharper. But quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn't seem as amused.
"All I'll say about Sharper is, he's talking a little bit too much," said Rodgers. "(Favre) has been the brunt of his comments. If he was a Pro Bowler saying it, that would be one thing.
"He's a guy that relies on his instincts. They keep him out of the box because he doesn't like to tackle very much. He's just playing his half of the field trying to rob routes by reading the quarterback's eyes. I saw Chad Johnson run right by him last year . . . because he's slow. He's a good receiving free safety."
Sharper debuted with the Vikings in 2005 by intercepting nine passes and making the Pro Bowl for the third time. He added four more in '06 and was rated the NFL's 11th-best safety by Pro Football Weekly entering '07.
Collins, who was ranked 13th by Pro Football Weekly, was drafted in the second round by Thompson to replace Sharper. Collins immediately added a dose of speed, but his overall development has been slow.
"It's unfair to compare them," Butler said. "In Sharper's second through fourth season he almost got cut. It's just that Collins could have learned from Sharper. You would have seen Collins grow a little bit now and extend a little more. Now there is no extending because he can't learn from a second-year guy."
Butler referred to strong safety Atari Bigby, who replaced Marquand Manuel, who replaced Mark Roman.
Hands are one of many things separating Collins from Sharper. Collins has been charged with eight dropped interceptions during 2 1/2 seasons; in his last 2 1 /2 seasons for the Packers, Sharper dropped two.
"(Sharper) has great ball skills," quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said. "So, if he's near a ball, he's like a receiver."
Not only that but Sharper also is one of the shrewdest safeties in the business. The coaches have been drumming into their receivers all week that they must run tight, disciplined routes and snatch the football.
"You can't give him no kind of key on what kind of routes you're running," tight end Donald Lee said. "If he thinks you're going inside, he's going to try to undercut the route. I hear a lot of people talking about he don't run as good as he used to but he looks like he's getting where he needs to be to me."
Although three of Sharper's nine defensive touchdowns came in 2004, it was his poorest season since '99 due in part to a knee injury that bothered him for the last two months. Owing Sharper $6 million for '05, Thompson offered $2 million and held firm.
"(Sharper) asked me what I thought," Butler remembered. "He was really down. He said he felt they'd go at least half and let him make the rest up in incentives or something. He said the $2 million was like they didn't appreciate anything that he did for them. He was still young and in his prime. To me, it was a move they really didn't need to make."
At the time, the Packers were having some salary-cap problems.
"It wasn't necessarily that we were looking for a pay cut per se," Thompson said. "It was just something we couldn't do. Obviously, he felt he could get more on the open market, and he wound up doing that."
Cornerback Charles Woodson, who played with Rod Woodson in Oakland during the final two of his 17 seasons, said Sharper reminded him most of Woodson. He finished with 71 interceptions, 10 behind all-time leader Paul Krause.
"Sharper's a guesser," Driver said. "If he guesses right, he wins every time. But when he don't guess right, he gets beat. I mean, he knows that. But most of the time he guesses right."
If the Vikings win Sunday, the two teams will have the exact same record (19-22) since Sharper switched uniforms.
"I think he's a great player, but there's a lot of great players around," Nick Barnett said. "We're not doing so bad right now. You know what I'm saying? I'd love to have him on my team, but business moves on."