For the first time in 62 years, a Gamecock was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Sterling Sharpe spent five years in Columbia playing wide receiver for the garnett and black. On Aug. 2, he was enshrined in the Hall of Fame, becoming the first former South Carolina player ever to receive the honor. He also set history by joining his younger brother Shannon as the first pair of siblings inducted into the hall. 

“This is why I played football,” Sharpe said during his Hall of Fame speech while wrapping his arm around a teary-eyed Shannon. “ This is why I got out of bed. It wasn't work. It was because of this right here.”

Sharpe joined the Gamecocks in 1983 and saw limited action his first year. He was redshirted for his second year before showing major improvements in his third. 

The wideout followed year three with a breakout redshirt junior season. He racked up over 1,100 total yards and had 10 touchdowns, while earning an All-American nod. The next year, Sharpe totaled 862 yards and five touchdowns en route to his second All-American selection. 

He finished his college career as the school’s all-time leading receiver with 169 catches for 2,497 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three of those records have been broken in recent years, but one could imagine what Sharpe’s numbers would look like in the pass-heavy era of today. 

Sharpe’s No. 2 jersey was retired in 1987 while he was still playing. He is one of two players in program history to have their number retired while active at the school. George Rogers was the first as the school's only Heisman Trophy winner.

Following his collegiate journey, the Gamecock great entered the 1988 NFL Draft. He was selected in the first round, seventh overall by the Green Bay Packers.

Sharpe’s impact was felt immediately. 

He started all 16 games of his rookie season before having an explosive sophomore season, where he led the league with 90 receptions. He became the first Packer to achieve that feat since Don Hutson in 1945.

Sharpe earned his first of three All-Pro selections during that 1989 season. His second selection came in 1992 when he achieved the triple crown by leading the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He became the second player in the Super Bowl era to claim the triple crown. Since then, Steve Smith Sr (2005), Cooper Kupp (2021) and Jamar Chase (2024) added their name to the list of triple crown recipients. 

1993 was Sharpe’s third and final All-Pro selection. He set a new career high with 112 receptions that season and became the first player in NFL history to catch more than 100 balls two years in a row. 

His career came to a screeching halt in 1994 ​​after a neck injury required fusion surgery on his vertebrae. The injury limited his range of motion and came with an increased risk of re-injury,

Sharpe’s NFL career was over after seven years, leaving many to wonder how dominant he could’ve been had he not gotten injured. 

Despite the shortened career, Sharpe finished with career totals of 595 catches for 8,134 yards and 65 touchdowns.  

In February of this year, it was announced that Sharpe would be enshrined as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class. Sharpe joined other football greats, including Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Antonio Gates, in the 2025 class. 

He also joined his brother Shannon in the hall. The longtime Bronco entered the hall in 2011 and is known as one of the greatest tight ends of all time. 

Sterling and Shannon become the first pair of brothers to ever be selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

During his acceptance speech, Sharpe called his brother on stage. While wearing one of Shannon’s Super Bowl rings he was gifted, Sharpe took off his newly acquired gold jacket and gave it to his brother.

“ I wear this ring because of love, and you gave me this not knowing you were going to get another,” Sharpe said to Shannon. “You said that you were the only pro football player in the Hall of Fame that could say that you were the second-best player in your own family. Well. I agree with that statement … but it would be my extreme pleasure for you to be the only player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with two gold jackets.”