Shannon Sharpe Doesn't Expect Hall of Fame Selection; He's Probably Right

TAMPA, Fla. -- Shannon Sharpe retired after the 2003 season as the owner of three Super Bowl rings and of the NFL records for catches, yards and touchdowns by a tight end. But that may not be enough to get him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Sharpe said today that he's not expecting to be chosen when the Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors meets on Saturday. And based on the Hall of Fame voters I've spoken with this week in Tampa, he's probably right: Sharpe isn't very likely to be picked.

It seems that Sharpe is considered by many voters to be the kind of player who contributed to good teams for a long time, but didn't really change the game the way two other players on the ballot for the first time this year, Bruce Smith and Rod Woodson, did. Sharpe is one of those players who, in the view of some voters, pretty well defines what a "very good" but not "great" player looks like.

Still, it's going to be a close enough vote that I wouldn't totally rule Sharpe out. Smith and Woodson appear to be the only locks, and at least four players will be chosen. So Sharpe could be a surprise pick, especially if some of the voters can be swayed by the way he performed in big games.

My own feeling is that Sharpe, like Art Monk and Cris Carter, put up good enough receiving numbers and played well for a long enough period of time that he's probably going to get in eventually. It's just a question of whether the voters will let him behind the curtain the first year he's eligible, or whether he'll have to wait a few years. Sharpe is bracing himself for the wait.