Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.
Sharpe, who played for the Packers from 1988-1994, has long been thought of as one of the best historical NFL players to not be in the Hall of Fame after his playing career was cut short following a devastating neck injury.
Sharpe will join Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Antonio Gates as this year’s Hall of Fame inductees. Sharpe also joins his brother, Shannon Sharpe, in the Hall of Fame. The Sharpes will be the only pair of siblings to both be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Sharpe led the NFL in receptions three times and set a then-record for catches in a single season in 1993. He also caught 18 touchdown passes in 1994, which remains the third-most in a season in NFL history.
Sharpe was selected to the All-Pro first team three times and was also selected to the NFL 1990s all-decade team, which was voted on by members of the Hall of Fame.
Sharpe sustained a stinger to his neck during a game against the Atlanta Falcons in 1994. Later diagnosis found that he had an abnormal loosening of the vertebrae in his neck, and he was forced to retire at the age of 29.
Sharpe’s sudden retirement came as the Packers were ascending to Super Bowl contention. Sharpe’s injury resulted in the Packers drafting future all-pro wide receiver Antonio Freeman in the subsequent 1995 NFL draft.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
The enshrinement ceremony is part of an entire weekend worth of activities. There will be multiple free fan fests on the Hall of Fame campus, including live DJs, food trucks, meet and greets with Hall of Famers and other activities.
Fans interested in attending the ceremony can purchase tickets here.
