Darren Sharper Darren Mallory Sharper ( born November 3 , 1975 ) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League ( NFL ) for fourteen seasons . He played college football for the College of William & Mary . He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft , and has also played for the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints . Sharper is a five - time Pro Bowl selection , and was named to the NFL ' s 2000s All - Decade Team . Early years . Sharper attended Hermitage High School in Richmond , Virginia , graduating in 1993 . College career . Sharper attended the College of William and Mary , where he played for the William & Mary Tribe football team . In high school Sharper had primarily played quarterback , and he wanted to be a quarterback at William & Mary as well , until his college coach , Jimmye Laycock , told Sharper that he had the potential to succeed in the NFL as a defensive back . During his college career , he earned All - America honors twice and was named first - team All - Yankee Conference selection three times . As a senior he was the Yankee Conference Defensive Player of the Year after intercepting 10 passes . He finished his college career with a school record 24 career interceptions and a I - AA record 468 career interception return yards . He also set the school record with 1 , 037 career punt return yards . Professional career . Green Bay Packers . Sharper was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft . During his rookie season he played in 14 games , finishing with 19 tackles and two interceptions , both of which he returned for touchdowns . The first of which was a 50 - yard return in week 10 to help the Packers to a 20 – 10 victory over the Detroit Lions . His play helped Green Bay reach Super Bowl XXXII which they lost to the Denver Broncos by a score of 31 – 24 . During his second season he started all 16 games for the Packers , finishing with 73 tackles . In 1999 he started all 16 games for the second consecutive season finishing with a career high 113 tackles and three interceptions . Sharper ' s breakout season was in 2000 . He finished the season with 92 tackles and a league leading nine interceptions , and made his first career Pro Bowl . Sharper had another great season in 2001 finishing with 94 tackles and six interceptions . In 2002 Sharper made his second Pro Bowl after intercepting seven passes for a league high 233 interception yards in only 13 games . In 2003 he finished with 82 tackles and five interceptions . During his last season with the Packers in 2004 he totaled 70 tackles and four interceptions and led the league in defensive touchdowns with two . On March 10 , 2005 the Packers released Sharper . He finished his eight - year career in Green Bay , fifth in Packer history with 36 career interceptions , 616 tackles , six sacks , 677 interception yards , and five touchdowns . Minnesota Vikings . Sharper signed with the Minnesota Vikings on March 12 , 2005 . Sharper made an immediate impact for the Vikings intercepting nine passes for a league high 276 interception yards and two defensive touchdowns , in only 14 games . His great play earned him a trip to his third Pro Bowl . During his second season with the Vikings in 2006 he made 67 tackles and four interceptions . On November 11 , 2006 in a game against the Miami Dolphins , Sharper bumped a member of the officiating crew , but he was not immediately penalized , later the following week the NFL fined him $ 15 , 000 for the infraction . Sharper made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in 2007 , after totaling 63 tackles and four interceptions . On September 16 , 2007 , Sharper became the 22nd player in NFL history to intercept 50 passes . In 2008 Sharper recorded 69 tackles and one interception . He finished his four - year career in Minnesota with 18 interceptions , 250 tackles , 359 interception yards , three touchdowns , and a sack . New Orleans Saints . 2009 season . An unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season , Sharper signed a one - year deal with the New Orleans Saints on March 18 , 2009 . On October 4 , 2009 , Sharper returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown , the longest in Saints history . It was also his second 95 + yard interception return for a touchdown for the season . On October 25 , Sharper returned his third interception for a touchdown on the season , a team record . At the end of Week 8 , on Monday Night Football , Sharper intercepted a pass from Atlanta ' s Matt Ryan to help keep the Saints ' perfect record . It was his seventh interception of the season . On November 30 , once again on Monday Night Football , Sharper intercepted a desperation pass from New England ' s Tom Brady and returned it 35 yards , which would have left him 4 yards short of the NFL record for interception return yards in a season , set by Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens in 2004 , but the interception was called back due to a penalty . Sharper then broke that record in a December 27 game against Tampa Bay , intercepting Josh Freeman ' s pass and returning it 21 yards . This gave him 9 interceptions on the year and 376 return yards ( including 3 interceptions returned for touchdowns ) . It was the 63rd interception of Sharper ' s NFL career , tying him for sixth on the all - time list . His 376 interception return yards broke the NFL single season record of 358 previously held by Ed Reed . Sharper also shares an NFL record with Deion Sanders for most games with 50 + interception return yards ( 9 ) and owns the NFL record for most games with 75 + interception return yards ( 6 ) . For his performance in 2009 , Sharper was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl and as a first team All - Pro . On February 7 , 2010 , Sharper earned his first Super Bowl ring as the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV by a score of 31 – 17 . Characteristically of the play of New Orleans defense all season , the game was decided when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted a Peyton Manning pass late in the 4th quarter and returned it 74 yards for the winning touchdown . 2010 season . Sharper had micro - fracture arthroscopic surgery on his left knee during the off - season . On March 5 , 2010 , Sharper became an unrestricted free agent , allowing him to sign with another team . However , on May 3 , Sharper re - signed with the Saints for the 2010 season . On September 3 , Sharper was placed on the PUP ( Physically Unable to Perform ) list , causing him to miss the first six weeks of the 2010 NFL season . He was activated on October 24 , but he later missed another two games after a further injury . He was selected as a second team All Pro , despite having missed much of the season . Retirement . After workouts with the Denver Broncos , New England Patriots , and Green Bay Packers without a contract offer , Sharper reportedly announced his retirement after a 14 year career . He finished with 63 career regular season interceptions , placing him sixth all time . He took 11 of them back for touchdowns , which ranks him third only to Hall of Famer Rod Woodson & Charles Woodson , with 12 . Sharper is the only player to ever lead the NFL in interception return yards in 3 different seasons ( 2002 , 2005 , 2009 ) . Life after football . After retiring , Sharper did some work for both ESPN and NFL Network as an analyst . He ' ll join WWL - TV in New Orleans as an analyst for the New Orleans Saints beginning in August . [ http : / / www . wwltv . com / sports / black - and - gold / Darren - Sharper - added - to - WWL - TV - sports - team - Doug - Mouton - named - Sports - Director - 151733655 . html [ Link < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > ]