HBCU Products, Richard Dent and Shannon Sharpe, Inducted Into Pro Football Hall of Fame
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Posted By: Reginald Culpepper on August 06, 2011 Richard Dent had just joined the Chicago Bears, and Dan Hampton was a little less than impressed. He saw a player who was scrawny - even a bit lazy - and when Buddy Ryan asked about two weeks into practices what he thought of the rookie, well, the “Danimal” couldn’t be restrained, using a few choice words to describe him. “I said, ‘Why, you like him?’ ” Hampton recalled. “And Buddy said, ‘Watch him. He never makes a bad decision, and that’s the essence of being a defensive lineman.’ ” What a defensive end he turned out to be. And now, after some near misses, Dent’s long wait for a spot in the Hall of Fame is just about over. Dent will become the third member of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears defense to be inducted into the Hall today, when he joins fellow “Monsters of the Midway” Hampton and Mike Singletary. It’s an honor his teammates and coaches say is long overdue. He will go in as part of a class that includes Shannon Sharpe, Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter, Ed Sabol and Deion Sanders. He’ll be presented by his old coach at Tennessee State - Joe Gilliam Sr. - who, like Hampton, was far from impressed - at first. “I’m very appreciative of those people who appreciate my career and having an opportunity to come in their homes to entertain them on Sundays,” Dent said. “They can turn you off, but they turn you on.” A four-time Pro Bowl pick and MVP of the Super Bowl in 1986, Dent played 15 seasons and is tied for sixth with John Randle on the NFL’s all-time sacks list with 137½. He set a team record with 17½ in 1984, led the NFL with 17 sacks a year later and finished with 10 or more eight times in his career. Now, after missing out as a finalist six of the previous seven years, he’s finally going into the Hall. Not bad for a guy who barely made his college team, who then watched as 202 players got drafted before him in 1983 and who showed up to the Bears undersized and needing extensive dental work. “The thing about Richard was he really made himself what he became,” said Mike Ditka, the ’85 Bears’ coach. Dent is the first Hall of Famer from Tennessee State, a historically black school that produced Pro Bowl picks such as Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Claude Humphrey. And yet, Gilliam wanted nothing to do with Dent. He just couldn’t avoid him, though. And today, he’ll be the one making the presentation. Shannon Sharpe The late Bill Davis’ unique recruiting pitch lured Shannon Sharpe to Savannah State back in the mid-1980s, sending him on a football journey that will culminate with his enshrinement Saturday in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Davis envisioned great things for the tall and slender kid from Glennville. But even Sharpe wasn’t absolutely convinced that his would-be coach was telling the truth. “He said, ‘if I owned an NFL team and if I had the first pick in the draft, you’d be the first player off the board,’” said Sharpe in a telephone interview Tuesday. With his older brother, Sterling, already shining at South Carolina and headed toward a first-round selection in the NFL draft, Shannon bit on the cheese Davis left for him. He wanted to follow Sterling into the NFL. “When he told me that, it resonated with me,” Sharpe said. “I thought, obviously, here is a coach that thinks a lot about my ability and thinks I could add a lot to the program. It was the best choice that I could have made.” Sharpe went on to rule the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and was selected as a Division II All-American. Denver chose him in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL draft. Sharpe’s career didn’t take off quickly, as he caught only seven passes his rookie season. But he kept impressing the coaches in practice until they created a role as a pass-catching tight end for him. “I went to the best situation in the Denver Broncos with Dan Reeves,” Sharpe said. “I got an opportunity and took advantage of it.” Sharpe caught 815 passes for 10,060 yards and 62 touchdowns over his career. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro four times. Sharpe helped the Broncos win two Super Bowls, including Super Bowl XXXIII over the Falcons. He also won a Super Bowl ring with the Baltimore Ravens. “I like him having the same color helmet [instead of] trying to defend him,” said Falcons coach Mike Smith, who was an assistant coach on the Ravens’ Super Bowl staff in Super Bowl XXXV. “We had to play [against] him in a playoff game [earlier], and he wore us out pretty good. Shannon became the first really athletic [pass-catching] tight end.” Sharpe’s play changed the way teams view the position, but he still did his share of the dirty work. “Everybody talks about his pass-catching ability, but he could block,” Smith said. “He was a very competitive player and passionate. Most of the guys that end up where he’s going this weekend are those type of guys.” He credits former Denver quarterback John Elway with lending a big hand in his climb to stardom. “I was very fortunate to play with a quarterback for nine years that believed in me, trusted me,” Sharpe said. “He trusted my decision-making.” If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Reginald Culpepper
President, Fulfillment and Web Services, HBCUCONNECT Clark Atlanta University class of 1998 Member Since September 2000 |
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