Sharpe set the (then) NFL record for receptions in one season with 108 in 1992 and broke it the next year with 112. He also led the league in TD receptions twice, including his final season with 18, before a neck injury forced his early retirement.

“I know from experience, Sterling was a beast, a complete receiver and game-changer, a dominant force in every game he played,” said former Pro Bowl safety Eugene Robinson, who played for the Packers after Sharpe retired, discussing Sharpe’s candidacy in a 2024 Packers Yearbook story.

“He led the league at times in Jerry Rice’s era, who outshines everyone like a Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. Sterling carried their offensive load when every opponent was geared to stop him. We couldn’t, no one could.”

Hall of Famer and former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who came to Green Bay midway through Sharpe’s career, agreed with Robinson.

“Every NFL defensive coordinator thought all they had to do is take Sterling Sharpe away and they could beat the Packers,” Wolf said in that same article. “But you know what? They could never take Sterling away.”

Sharpe retired as the Packers’ all-time leader in receptions (595) while ranking second in receiving yards (8,134) to James Lofton and second in TD receptions (65) to Don Hutson, both Hall of Famers themselves.

Here are additional notes related to various team records Sharpe set during his career:

• His franchise career receptions record stood for 15 years until broken by Donald Driver in 2009, and Sharpe now ranks third in team history in that category behind Driver and Davante Adams. Sharpe currently ranks third in receiving yards behind Driver and Lofton, and fourth in TD catches behind Hutson, Adams and Jordy Nelson.
• His NFL single-season record of 112 receptions in 1993 was broken the following year by Minnesota’s Cris Carter, also a Hall of Famer, but it stood as the Packers’ single-season mark for 27 years until surpassed by Adams in 2020.
• His 18 TD catches in 1994 broke the previous franchise record of 17 by Hutson, which had stood for 52 years, and it still ranks tied for first in team annals, having been matched by Adams in 2020.
• His 1,423 receiving yards in 1989 broke Lofton’s single-season team record from five years prior. Sharpe broke his own mark with 1,461 yards in 1992, only to have that eclipsed by Robert Brooks the year after he retired.