The Green Bay Packers have a rich history, and a huge part of that is the incredible number of Hall of Fame players that have been a part of their franchise. Legends such as Curly Lambeau, Tony Canadeo, Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Charles Woodson have all made an incredible mark on the Packers and the NFL as a whole. Last year, LeRoy Butler finally got the knock on his door to tell him that he, too, was finally getting his well-deserved place in the Hall of Fame.
Related: Green Bay Packers- Sterling Sharpe’s Case for the Hall of Fame
While it is more than worth celebrating Butler, there is still work to be done to get more deserving players into the Hall of Fame, where they belong. Packers legend Gilbert Brown believes that the next one to go in should be Sterling Sharpe.
Green Bay Packers Legend Gilbert Brown Makes the Case for Sterling Sharpe to Be in the Hall of Fame
As many of you may know by now, especially if you follow this unofficial Gilbert Brown series, the Gravedigger does a weekly segment on The Earl Ingram Show in southeast Wisconsin. On today’s show, Gilbert and Earl discussed, among other things, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and how Sharpe’s omission from that hallowed hall is an absolute disgrace:
“It’s so many just politics, man. Why does it take so long for Jerry Kramer to get in? Why does it take so long for LeRoy Butler to get in? I mean, 75 [NFL anniversary team], all that stuff that he was one. But the thing that is most disappointing thing I talk to everybody about is I am so p—ed off that Sterling Sharpe has not been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
“He’s in the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame, that’s good. But to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, why is that? His numbers: beautiful. His tenacity on the field: beautiful. I don’t know what he did to p— somebody off, but I am shocked, ashamed that he is not in the NFL Hall of Fame.”
Host Earl Ingram then stated that he does not even hear Sharpe’s name mentioned when it comes to debates about which players are not in the Hall that deserve to be. Gilbert responded:
“To me, his play, his determination, his love for the game, he should have been, even the injury alone, Earl, he should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. He went out there and played. For what?! There should be something in Green Bay with his name on it.”
Ingram then asked Gilbert to compare Sharpe with Donald Drive, the Packers’ all-time leading wide receiver:
“I just don’t understand, man. You know, the times change. I’m not going to compare the two together because they were different players. I mean, Sterling was just a physical, you know, a monster. Just a monster that got the job done. Drive was a guy, small college, made a big impact, and is a great humanitarian.
To compare the two, you cannot. But Sterling Sharpe is one of those guys that even his own brother said ‘he should have been in before me.’ Shannon Sharpe, you know what I mean? To me man, I’m going to push this until they let him in. We should be knocking on that door until the Hall of Fame committee, or whoever the dummies are over there, let him in.
“What are they going to do? Wait until he’s 95 and can’t walk up the stairs? Stupid!”
In a link at the beginning of this article, I laid out the reasons why Sharpe deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This includes the statistics that he put up and how they compare to other Hall of Fame wide receivers. In short, his numbers, from a career cut short by injury, are better than those of many that are already in the Hall of Fame.
The message is simple: Sterling Sharpe belongs in the Hall of Fame. It is high time the voters or whoever is in charge of such decisions do the right thing.
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