Sterling Sharpe shares Hall of Fame stage, and his gold jacket, with brother Shannon

The elder Sharpe was named first-team All-Pro three times and to the Pro Bowl five times in his seven-year career, all with the Packers after being the franchise’s first-round draft pick in 1988, the seventh overall selection, from South Carolina.

Among his many accomplishments, Sharpe led the league in receptions three times and in TD catches twice, and he’s one of just six players in the Super Bowl era to win the receiving “triple crown,” leading the NFL in catches (108), receiving yards (1,461) and receiving TDs (13) in 1992. Those 108 receptions were a single-season NFL record, which he broke the following year with 112, becoming the first player ever with 100-plus catches in consecutive seasons.

All that said, his path to Canton was seemingly blocked due to the shortened career, but the door began swinging open in recent years as running back Terrell Davis, offensive tackle Tony Boselli, and safety Kenny Easley – all of whom, like Sharpe, played seven seasons and were named first-team All-Pro three times – got the call from the Hall.

Sharpe’s time finally came, as he survived a changed and much tougher Senior committee selection process compared to prior years, allowing him and his brother to make history.

During his 11 minutes, 45 seconds on the Canton stage Saturday, Sharpe covered a lot of other ground as well, mentioning former coaches, family members and teammates who were a part of his journey.

In a Packers-centered segment of his speech, while repeating the theme “you have to learn to follow before you can lead,” he focused on three assistant coaches with whom he worked closely in Green Bay.

First was Buddy Geis, receivers coach for Sharpe’s first four seasons, who passed away a month ago. He credited Geis, who invited the receivers over to his house and integrated them amongst his family, for reiterating to him the importance of family love.

Second was Sherm Lewis, who arrived as offensive coordinator under head coach Mike Holmgren in 1992, coming with Holmgren from San Francisco, where Lewis coached Jerry Rice the year before. Sharpe noted as he studied the West Coast offense under Lewis, he was being taught why certain plays were called, knowledge that helped elevate his game.

“I was learning from a guy who coached the greatest receiver to ever play,” Sharpe said. “Sherm Lewis loved me so much that he did me the biggest favor. He never mentioned Jerry Rice and he never mentioned me in the same sentence, so I never felt like I was in Jerry Rice’s shadow.”

To his credit, Sharpe is considered by many the best receiver of his era not named Rice. In fact, Rice is the only player in league history with more than Sharpe’s 8,134 receiving yards in the first seven seasons of a career.

Then third was Jon Gruden, Sharpe’s receivers coach for his final two seasons.

“What Jon Gruden taught me was probably the thing that took my game to its highest heights,” Sharpe said, “and that was, don’t study defenses, don’t study defensive backs, study other receivers.

“I was tutored by Jon for two years. I never ran a route as me those two years,” he continued, explaining he’d watch film of how Michael Irvin or Tim Brown attacked the defenses Sharpe would be facing in a given week.

“When you learn to follow, you’ll find out how quickly you’ll become a leader.”