Harry James Sharper Jr. (born November 23, 1974) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. Sharper played professionally as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for nine seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), and played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Virginia Cavaliers. He was selected by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft. Sharper spent five seasons in Baltimore, where he was part of the team that won the franchise's first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

in Super Bowl XXXV. In 2002, he was selected by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in their

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

and played three seasons with the team. During his final season in 2005, Sharper was a member of the Seattle Seahawks. He is the older brother of former

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Darren Sharper.

Career

Sharper attended Hermitage High School in Henrico County, Virginia. He played for the school's

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team as a

. His younger brother, Darren, played for the football team as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

.Paul Woody
"Hard work, confidence key Sharper’s NFL success"
''

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatch'' has the second-highest circul ...

'', December 6, 2009. After high school, Sharper enrolled at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, and played

for the Virginia Cavaliers. The

selected Sharper with the 34th overall pick in the 1997 NFL draft. He made an impact right away, recording 68

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, three sacks and one

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

in his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

year. He became an important part in the record-setting 2000 Ravens defense, making a crucial interception which sent Baltimore to the Super Bowl, and he started in Super Bowl XXXV. His career totals with the Ravens included 328 tackles, 14 sacks, 2 interceptions and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. After the 2001 season he was chosen in the

by the

. From

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, while a member of the Texans, he led the NFL in tackles in that period with 301. After the 2004 season he signed with the Seattle Seahawks for one season, helping the team reach their first

. Sharper then retired after one season with Seattle due to a knee injury. During his 9-year career Sharper only missed 8 games, and did not miss a game until his final season, playing in 136 straight games.

Post-playing career

Jamie Sharper joined the coaching staff at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans and served as Linebackers coach from 2016 to 2018. He joined the Georgetown University football program in August 2018 as the assistant linebackers coach and held that position until 2021. From 2021 to 2022, he served as the Defensive Line coach. Sharper was hired by the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

on September 13, 2022. He did not return in 2024.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharper, Jamie 1974 births Living people American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia Seattle Seahawks players Virginia Cavaliers football players