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Green Bay Packers countdown to NFL football season 2017 – #84, Sterling Sharpe

By Raymond Rivard

PASADENA, CA - JULY 22: Analyst Sterling Sharpe from 'Football Night in America' attends the 2006 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour for the The NBC Network at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel on July 22, 2006 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JULY 22: Analyst Sterling Sharpe from 'Football Night in America' attends the 2006 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour for the The NBC Network at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel on July 22, 2006 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /
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LA QUINTA, CA – JANUARY 20: Former NFL receiver Sterling Sharpe hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during round two of the Bob Hope Classic at the La Quinta Country Club on January 20, 2011 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LA QUINTA, CA – JANUARY 20: Former NFL receiver Sterling Sharpe hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during round two of the Bob Hope Classic at the La Quinta Country Club on January 20, 2011 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

Sterling Sharpe, a Green Bay Packers wide receiver whose career ended way too early, is also one of those players who, had he stuck around for a few more years with Brett Favre, could have been the best wide receiver in franchise history … maybe in the entire NFL.

That’s saying a lot, considering the pedigree of receivers who have played in Packers News … including one Don Hutson, the player considered by many to be one of the best of all time in league history.

Here at Lombardi Ave, we are taking the time to count down the days to the start of the 2017 season by looking at the numbers from 99-to-1 and the players who wore those jerseys.

Embed from Getty Images

Today we stop at #84 – a jersey worn by 15 players since 1950 – some well-known and highly successful players.

The team’s history – as we all know – is well worth remembering and writing about. It is my focus at this time of the off-season.

That’s the goal here – to remember many of the dozens of players who have been counted as a professionals in Packers News.

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Sharpe’s sharp tongue almost always got him into trouble, and for a pre-social media player, he garnered a lot of criticism for his refusal to talk to local media and to shut out the fans because of it.

But it was his actions on the field that placed Sharpe deeply into the hearts of Packers fans.

He was that good.

Sharpe never made it to the Super Bowl, but it was his play during the early days of Brett Favre’s career that helped set that mid-1990s Packers team up for success.

There have been plenty of really good players to have worn #84 for the Packers, including Carroll Dale and Bill Schroeder – and even Andre Rison and Steve Odom had pretty good moments wearing the uniform for the Packers.

Today we focus on Sharpe, a colorful individual who was forced to retire because of a neck condition. His talkative nature would later land him with the NFL Network as an analyst.

The number 84 is currently worn by tight end Lance Kendricks, one of the two tight ends that general manager Ted Thompson brought in off of free agency this past spring.

When the Seattle Seahawks visit Green Bay to play the Packers in the kickoff to the start of the NFL season Sept. 10, we’ll know a little bit more about the team’s history and many of the players who have worn the Green and Gold.

The countdown, from the beginning:

Many have passed through Green Bay – players who don’t necessarily stand out in the statistics, but still had some sort of impact on the franchise.

Sterling Sharpe was one of those guys who had a huge impact …

This focus is on #84 …

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