New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper returns to Super Bowl for 1st time since rookie year
Saints Darren Sharper is the epitome of the old guy who made the SuparBowl as a rookie and didn't get another shot until the twilight of his career.
Two weeks ago when the Saints played the Vikings in the NFC Championship game, he was also another scorned player looking to exact revenge on the team that let him go by beating it for a trip to the Super Bowl.
If you have to be an atypical player, you'd like to be Darren Sharper, because his NFL story will likely end with him standing on a podium in Canton Ohio making a speech while being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Sharper has one more chapter he'd like to add to that story - a victory over quarterback Peyton Manning and the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium on Sunday. If the Saints are going to shake, rattle and roll Manning, then they're going to need a huge game from Sharper, who has become the catalyst for New Orleans' free-wheeling, turnover-happy defense.
Sharper, who was selected to his fifth Pro Bowl this year, had nine interceptions this season, returning three for touchdowns. His 376 interception return yards is an NFL record. Those three TD returns give him a career total of 11 returns for scores, making him second behind Rod Woodson, who is in the Hall of Fame. Sharper also has 63 career interceptions - most among active NFL players - which ties him with Ronnie Lott for sixth on the all-time list. Paul Krause leads the all-time list with 81 picks.
If this year was any indication, Sharper isn't slowing down enough to be eligible for that trip to Canton anytime soon. He played this season like a youthful 34-year-old with the experience of a 13-year veteran.
Sharper made the Super Bowl as a rookie in Green Bay, but hardly knew what was going on. The Packers were thumped by Denver and John Elway. Sharper thought that there would be many more opportunities to return to the Super Bowl with the Packers. Who wouldn't when you had a quarterback like Brett Farve?
As things worked out, it would take 12 years to return to the big game and at Favre's expense.
"That just let's you know how tough it is in this league to get to this point," Sharper said. "I made sure I let guys on our team know that, so that we can appreciate it and make the most of this moment."
Sharper and Favre could have been teammates this year if the Vikings hadn't decided that they wanted to go with a youth movement in the secondary last year. When Sharper, a free agent, began searching for a team, he looked at New Orleans, because he thought the Saints had the pieces to make a run at the Super Bowl.