Sharpe makes trip from Savannah State to Canton

Savannah, GA - 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.”



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Induction speeches will cap whirlwind weekend for Shannon Sharpe

CANTON, Ohio — It was during lunch when Shannon Sharpe understood that what he was really doing this weekend was rushing a fraternity.

The luncheon here Friday was for Pro Football Hall of Famers only. Gold jacket attire was mandatory. Sharpe didn't wear one, nor did anyone else in his Pro Football Hall class of 2011. That would come later Friday night at the formal gold jacket ceremony.

Deacon Jones, the original sack artist and star of the Fearsome Foursome for the Los Angeles Rams, was a featured speaker. Sharpe, as a newbie, a pledge, was not allowed to speak. But it was while he sat silently at attention that he was struck by the impact of his moment.

"When you play high school, you know there's college," Sharpe said. "When you play college, there are the pros. And the pros, you graduate to the Hall of Fame. And when you get to the Hall of Fame, that's it. That's your last stop."

Slideshow: Photos of Sharpe at the Gold Jacket Presentation to the 2011 class of Enshrinees.

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