Sterling Sharpe

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Third Class Boy George Hollat (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 24, 1862, on board the USS Varuna. His citation reads:

Hollat served as third class boy on board the U.S.S. Varuna during an attack on Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 24 April 1862. He rendered gallant service through the perilous action and remained steadfast and courageous at his battle station despite extremely heavy fire and the ramming of the Varuna by the rebel ship Morgan, continuing his efforts until his ship, repeatedly holed and fatally damaged, was beached and sunk.

First Sergeant Lovilo N. Holmes (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 15, 1863, at Nolensville, Tennessee. His citation reads:

Was one of a detachment of 16 men who heroically defended a wagon train against the attack of 125 cavalry, repulsed the attack and saved the train.

Private William T. Holmes (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 6, 1865, at Sailors Creek, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag of 27th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).


RIP Beno Cook

RIP also to Command Sergeant Major Basil J. Plumley - a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.  If you saw We Were Soldiers Once ... then you will remember him as the guy played by Sam Elliott (who did such a great job in that movie... but doesn't he always?).  I know movies are movies... but that movie was just like the book.  I know books aren't always 100% true, but if this book was just a little bit true then I can say without a doubt that this man was one tough SOB. There's one scene in the book (and movie) when all hell has broken loose and bullets are flying all over the place and everyone is hugging the ground (most likely thinking the end was near) and there was (then) Sergeant Major Basil J. Plumley, standing tall taking shots at the enemy with a handgun.  Men like that don't die in combat because bullets are scared to hit them.
 
I’m going on a “trip” this weekend with my banker Michael, my good friend Ross and Danny (yes, that Danny) along with some other men who are friends with Ross. This weekend is a little something we’re doing for Ross. If all goes well, we should have a great weekend of golf, college football and activities that (if we play our cards right) will lead to a little jail time (nothing too bad… just maybe an overnight stay due to a “misunderstanding”). I’m just kidding, of course, but still… it’d probably be a good idea if my friend KC kept his cell phone on overnight just in case we only get one call. I’m just sayin…


The I’m just sayin… Know Your South Carolina Athlete

Our South Carolina Athlete of the week this week is former USC and Green Bay great Sterling Sharpe. Sterling Sharpe is a former NFL wide receiver and current analyst for the NFL Network. He attended the University of South Carolina, and played from 1988 to 1994 with the Green Bay Packers. As a wide receiver at the University of South Carolina, Sharpe set school records with 169 career receptions and 2,497 receiving yards and a since-broken record of 17 career touchdowns. He also set the school record for single-season receiving touchdowns with 11, which was broken in 2005 by Sidney Rice. Sharpe's #2 jersey was retired by South Carolina at the end of the 1987 regular season, making him only the second Gamecock to be granted this honor while still playing. His college coach and mentor, William "Tank" Black, left the Gamecocks to become a player manager and represented Sharpe throughout his professional career.

Sterling was a first round draft pick by the Packers (7th overall pick) in 1988 and had an immediate impact on the team. In his rookie season he started all sixteen games and caught 55 passes. His sophomore season he led the league with 90 receptions, the first Packer to do so since Don Hutson in 1945, and broke Hutson's records for receptions and receiving yards in a season. A few years later, in 1992, Sharpe and the new quarterback, Brett Favre, teamed up to become one of the top passing tandems in the league. In the final game of that season he and Favre hooked up for Sharpe's 107th reception of the season which broke the NFL's single-season receptions record, set by Art Monk in 1984. That season, Sharpe became one of only seven players in NFL history to win the "Triple Crown" at the receiver position: leading the league in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and receptions. Don Hutson (1936, 1941–44), Elroy Hirsch (1951), Pete Pihos (1953), Raymond Berry (1959), Jerry Rice (1990) and Steve Smith (2005) are the only other players to accomplish this feat. In the 1993 season Sharpe subsequently broke his own record, with 112 receptions; this also made him the first player to have consecutive seasons catching more than 100 passes. In 1994, his 18 touchdown receptions were the second most in league history at the time, behind Jerry Rice's 22 in 1987.

Sterling Sharpe's tenure at wide receiver was cut short by a neck injury suffered during the 1994 season, ending a career in which he was named an All-Pro five times (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1994). Sharpe is currently an NFL analyst. After several years with ESPN, he moved to the NFL Network in time for the 2004 season, while continuing to do occasional work for ESPN as a commentator. Starting in the 2006 season, he joined NBC's new NFL programming, serving as an analyst, along with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Peter King and Jerome Bettis. In 2007, he left his role at NBC and was replaced by Tiki Barber. He continues to work on the NFL Network where during NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football schedule, Sharpe, alongside analysts Kurt Warner, Jim Mora, Brian Billick, Jay Glazer and host Fran Charles, can be seen on Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears from Los Angeles. Sharpe can also be seen with Joe Theismann, Brian Baldinger, Mike Mayock and Brian Billick on NFL Network's "Playbook".

Congrats to Sterling Sharpe on being this week’s South Carolina Athlete You Should Know.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info.