Football . May 22, 2014

Sterling Sharpe Named to 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class

May 22, 2014

Former University of South Carolina standout wide receiver Sterling Sharpe is one of 14 players selected to the 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class, it was announced today by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Regarded as the greatest receiver in South Carolina history, Sterling Sharpe set virtually all of the school’s receiving records during his All-American career in Columbia. He becomes the second Gamecock to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

A First-Team All-America selection in 1987, Sharpe twice earned first-team all-conference honors while setting school records for single-season receptions (74), career receptions (169), single-season receiving yards (1,106) and career receiving yards (2,497). He caught at least one reception in a record 34 consecutive games, and he notched 10 games of 100-plus yards receiving. Sharpe holds the school record for the longest play of any kind, a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Duke in 1985. He led the team in receiving for three seasons, and he helped the Gamecocks to a berth in the 1987 Gator Bowl. A team captain his senior season, he received the Enright Award for leadership, and he played in the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.

The seventh overall selection by the Green Bay Packers in the 1988 NFL Draft, Sharpe played seven seasons for the Packers. The five-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection led the league in receiving three times before his retirement.

A member of the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, the Glennville, Ga., native had his number retired by the university at the end of his collegiate career. A member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Sharpe currently serves as a studio analyst for the NFL Network.

“We are extremely proud to announce the 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class,” said Archie Manning, NFF Chairman and a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer from Ole Miss. “Each of these men has established himself among the absolute best to have ever played the game, and we look forward to immortalizing their incredible accomplishments at the new Hall of Fame in Atlanta as an inspiration to future generations.”

The 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be inducted together at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 9, 2014, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2015, and they will be recognized at their respective collegiate institutions with on-campus salutes during the fall. Their accomplishments will be forever immortalized in the new $66.5 million College Football Hall of Fame, currently under construction in Atlanta and scheduled to open in August of 2014.

2014 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS

PLAYERS

• DRE BLY – DB, North Carolina (1996-98)

• TONY BOSELLI – OT, Southern California (1991-94)

• DAVE BUTZ – DT, Purdue (1970-72)

• SHANE CONLAN – LB, Penn State (1983-86)

• JOE HAMILTON – QB, Georgia Tech (1996-99)

• JOHN HUARD – LB, Maine (1964-66)

• DARRIN NELSON – HB, Stanford (1977-78, 1980-81)

• WILLIE ROAF – OL, Louisiana Tech (1990-92)

• JOHN SCIARRA – QB, UCLA (1972-75)

• STERLING SHARPE – WR, South Carolina (1983, 1985-87)