The Greatest Packer Safety Ever is Now a Saint

by ericj69 on Mar 18, 2009 6:24 PM CDT Comment 5 comments

In news that shouldn't surprise many of us, New Orleans has finally signed Darren Sharper after a couple weeks of playing footsie with each other. Terms of the deal are not yet available.

Darren has been at the forefront of Vikings fans' minds for his entire 12-year NFL career as a mainstay of the NFC Central/North. For the first eight years of his career, we loathed him twice a season while he was a member of the Packers. After the Packers thought he was washed up, we awkwardly welcomed our former enemy. Vikes fans quickly came around to Darren as he made the Pro Bowl in two of his four years with Minnesota. Keep making those MENSA-like personnel decisions Green Bay! I think Greg Jennings is just about washed up too, maybe you should send him over...

Anyways, seeing Sharper leave brings up a lot of the feelings I had when Matt Birk left a couple weeks ago. It was fairly obvious that Sharper was bound to leave us after the 2008 season, but I still held onto the hope that he might stick around. Heck, maybe at the very least he would retire and continue to make cheesy promos for Fox 9's postgame show! Alas, this wasn't the case. And just like with Birk, fans of his new team couldn't be happier, for good reason. Sharper may not be an elite-level safety anymore, he's still light years better than the other former Green Bay DB in New Orleans.

However, unlike Birk's departure, the Vikings are left with fewer questions at the position vacated by Sharper. Tyrell Johnson had a solid rookie year and Madieu Williams was impressive after missing the first part of the season due to injury. This made Sharper dispensable. If this offseason has taught us anything, it's that the NFL is just a business. Even if you are a crybaby quarterback that gets mad at your team for considering trading you. (No, I'm not sick of all this Jay Cutler talk at all, why do you ask?)

So Darren, just like I had to tell Matt a couple weeks ago: thanks for the great years you gave us, and good luck in the future, unless that future involves playing the Vikings.

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I completely agree with you ericj69

Thank you Darren Sharper. I am glad you signed with the Saints, and not with another team in our division, as I still think you are one dangerous cat. Best of luck and I hope you enjoyed your time in the glorious Purple and Gold!

by Lofoten on Mar 18, 2009 8:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Saints fan here

and a big All-Day AP fan as well. He’s really fun to watch.

Just saying thanks for the warm regards concerning our new free safety. Mr. Sharper will be very welcomed in New Orleans. Even if he isn’t able to play at the same impressively high level he once did for you guys and your rivals in cheese country, he’ll be a much needed improvement over who we had in Josh Bullocks (Thank you, Bears!) and who we currently still have in Kevin Kaesviharn. I believe his addition can only help the Saints end their streak of being one of the bottom-feeder defenses in the league.

Good luck finding a franchise QB. This Jay Cutler thing is getting interesting. Any new info on the StarCaps case involving your WIlliams Wall and our two overpaid DE’s in Will Smith and Charles Grant? I sure hope they win this battle. The league’s position on it still doesn’t hold water, IMO.

Go Saints!!!! Deuce may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

by satchmo26 on Mar 18, 2009 8:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Best of Luck, Darren

Thanks for your service to the Purple and Gold. I’m certain that you’ll receive more appreciation from Vikes fans than you ever received from those other fans when you left that team (which I won’t name on this blog).

by Norse Force on Mar 19, 2009 10:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sharper sends a parting shot.

From the Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/41468862.html

“You love to play for coaches who don’t just get caught up in saying, ‘This is my system and this is how it’s done,’” Sharper told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “That’s how it was in Minnesota. … It’s a good defense, don’t get me wrong.”

In AP I trust

by FarvaForTheVikings on Mar 19, 2009 12:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good Luck Darren

Good luck Darren Sharper, except if you play against the Vikings! I think Darren still has a couple of good years left in him, but he didn’t fit the cover 2 defense the Vikings play. I hope the Saints allow him to play to his strength and he plays great for the Saints. The Vikings will miss Darren more for his locker room leadership than his play on the field.

by wesjt on Mar 19, 2009 12:20 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs