Only in the NFL: Darren Sharper nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame; the same Darren Sharper who is currently in prison on an 18-year sentence for having drugged and raped upwards of 16 women
This wasn’t the screengrab I really wanted for this post, but apparently in the 21st century, replay footage of Sportscenter is seemingly impossible despite being a digital medium. But this screen grab is close enough to what I saw on television, laughable at its absurdity that it’s actually true: a convicted rapist has been nominated to the “hallowed” football Hall of Fame.
No doubt, he won’t make it, regardless of his statistics and his participation in the Saints’ Super Bowl win in 2010. But the fact of the matter is that someone, who will in all likelihood remain anonymous because they don’t want to be outed as an imbecile for nominating a convicted felon, actually looked at the ballot in front of them, saw Darren Sharper’s name and thought “yeah, that’s a Hall of Famer.”
I know this spawns all sorts of debate between the line that divides personal lives and character from the body of work of a professional athlete, but frankly I don’t believe that one should be considered without the other, when it comes to something like Halls of Fames. HOFs are supposed to be the best of the best, and sometimes I have a hard time believing someone is really the best, if/when they are actually tremendous assholes, personally.
However, there’s being an asshole, and then there’s being a convicted felon. Sure, O.J. Simpson is pretty much a murderer, but he was already in the HOF when he was put in the clink for armed robbery and whatever else he did that wasn’t a convicted murder, so he’s like a grandfather clause case. But the present is as good as time as any for football to get their ducks in a row and make sure that serial rapists and other felons like Darren Sharper not only don’t get into football’s HOF, but aren’t even considerable for nomination. It’s an insult to anyone who doesn’t think sexual assault is a joke, and frankly embarrassing to the NFL that shit like this can even happen.
