Darren Sharper has played 14 seasons in the NFL. Most of them solid if not spectacular. His résumé – 63 interceptions, 11 touchdown returns and a Super Bowl from his career-best ’09 seaso
n – will warrant a serious Hall of Fame discussion once he retires. (Five of the seven players in NFL history who have as many interceptions as Sharper are enshrined in Canton.)
Seemingly, that retirement should come in 2011. Sharper is 35. He missed a large chunk of last season recovering from a knee injury. His starting job was bequeathed to the younger, rangier Malcolm Jenkins. And, most importantly, his contract with New Orleans has expired.
But retirement will not come in 2011 – at least not if Sharper has his way.
"After last season, I really was very frustrated with how my season was and how our season went," Sharper told John DeShazier of the Times-Picayune. "If that was going to be my last year in the league, I didn't want it to go like that, in terms of being frustrated all year and not playing like myself. I want to show how healthy I am this year and play like I'm used to playing."
Sharper is working out with other Saints players and claims he’s back to 100 percent.
"I feel like pre-surgery," he said. "My knee is healthy, my body has had time to rest and recover, and I really feel good running. After a workout I don't have to worry about icing it down or anything, I don't have any swelling, and I've been pushing it pretty hard, working out harder than most of the young guys out here training. And I've been able to bounce back the next day."
If this is true, instincts and experience can make Sharper one of the better free safeties in the game for at least another year. It’s not a question of whether a team will take a flier on a healthy Sharper, it’s a question of which team it will be.
"I would love to come back to New Orleans, but as a free agent you always have to keep all your options open. There are a lot of teams out there that have a chance to win a championship, and that's my main goal, to be able to play, and play well, and have a chance to vie for another championship."
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