The Case for Shannon Sharpe

On the eve of the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement for the class of 2011, I am proudly making the case for Shannon Sharpe, who is the best tight end in NFL history.
I shouldn’t have to make a case for Sharpe to be in the Hall of Fame. He should’ve been a first ballet Hall of Famer. Fast forward 3 years later, Denver fans are anxiously awaiting the announcement knowing he could get screwed for a 3rd time.
Sharpe is an 8-time Pro Bowler, 4-time first team All-Pro, and is a 3-time Super Bowl Champion. He had 815 receptions, 62 TD catches, and accumulated 10,060 receiving yards during his career, and when he retired he was 1st in all 3 of those categories for all tight ends in NFL history. He had 19 games with at least 100 yards receiving. He retired as Denver’s all-time franchise leader in receptions, only to have his record broken by Rod Smith later on. Sharpe is one of five to have a 50-catch season 11-times (Cris Carter, Marvin Harrison, Andre Reed, and Jerry Rice). Ironically, Jerry Rice was enshrined in the 2010 Hall of Fame, beating out Sharpe in votes, which makes sense. Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver in NFL history. This year, he goes up against Cris Carter and Andre Reed, who are also Hall of Fame finalists. Not only did Sharpe retire being the best tight end in NFL history, he has something that Reed, Carter, and even fellow tight end Tony Gonzalez all do not have; championships.
I won’t dive too much into the fact Denver constantly gets short-changed in who represents them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s amazing to me how Denver is 1 of only 8 teams with back-to-back Championships and only 1 player from that team is in the Hall of Fame (Floyd Little played in the 60’s and Gary Zimmerman retired after Denver won their 1st Championship following the ’97 season). There are a handful of great Denver players from those Championship teams as well as other deserving players from previous eras who deserve the nod from the Hall! For Sharpe, it’s not a question of if but when. Let’s hope when is tomorrow.