ATLANTA, Ga.- The Black College Football Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2013. The newest members were selected from a list of 35 finalists who had been determined earlier by the Black College Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee comprised of journalists and former football executives from around the country. Former inductees also submitted their votes for who will join them in this elite group.
Among the 11 new inductees will be former Savannah State wide receiver Shannon Sharpe.
Sharpe was a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection from 1987 to 1989 and the SIAC Player of the Year in 1987. He was selected as a Kodak Division II All-American in 1989, and was a three-time Pittsburgh Courier Black College All-American (1987-89). He led the Tigers' football team to their best records in the program's history: 7-3 in 1988 and 8-1 in 1989. He was the first Savannah State player to play in the Blue-Gray Classic (1990) and East-West Shrine Game (1990). Sharpe owns SSU single season receiving records for yardage, touchdowns and yards per catch. His #2 football jersey was officially retired on Shannon Sharpe Day in October 2009 at SSU.
Sharpe received his B.S. degree in criminal justice in 1990. He was enshrined into the Savannah State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
The Glennville, Georgia native was drafted in the 7th round of the 1990 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, 192nd overall. He played 12 seasons for the Broncos, winning two Super Bowls. He also had a two-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens that included another Super Bowl win. He would finish his NFL career with the Broncos and retired as the NFL's all-time leader in receptions (815), receiving yards (10,060) and receiving touchdowns (62) by a tight end. Sharpe holds the distinction of being the first tight end to amass over 10,000 receiving yards. Shannon was also named a member of the NFL's first team All-Decade team of the 1990s. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Others in the Class of 2013 includes Elvin Bethea, Charles Brackins, Joe Gilliam Jr., Ken Houston, Charlie Joiner, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Larry Little Jackie Slater, John "Big John" Merritt and Charlie Neal.
The inductees will be honored February 16, 2013 at the Loews Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia at the Black College Football Hall of Fame's Fourth Annual Enshrinement Ceremony presented by the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL Network's Charles Davis will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the Enshrinement Ceremony.
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