Vernon Hibbett Sharp, Jr. (November 30, 1906 – April 5, 1991) was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach.

Early years

Vernon Sharp, Jr. was born in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

on November 30, 1906 to Vernon Hibbett Sharp and Lorene Seleney Dandridge. His older brother Alfred Sharp was also a Vanderbilt center.

Vanderbilt University

He was a prominent center for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. He was in the same class as the quarterback to whom he snapped the ball,

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

member

Bill Spears William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992) known as "Bounding Bill Spears" was an American football player and stand-out quarterback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams from 1925 to 1927. Spears was elected ...

1927

Sharp was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 1927 team, which included the nation's leading scorer in running back Jimmy Armistead. Sharp received the second most All-Southern votes of any center, behind Elvin Butcher of Tennessee. Sharp arguably had the better season, but was seen as having been outperformed by Butcher in the Vanderbilt–Tennessee game. Sharp was suffering from a knee injury at the time, including the week before against Georgia Tech and

Peter Pund Henry Rudolph "Peter" Pund (January 27, 1907 – October 17, 1987) was an American college football player. He was elected to the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1958, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, and the College Football Hall of Fame i ...

. He was called by coach McGugin the greatest Vandy center since

Stein Stone James Nollner "Stein" Stone Sr. (April 18, 1882 – August 25, 1926) was an American football and basketball player and coach. "Stein" is the German for stone. Vanderbilt University At Vanderbilt he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternit ...

Coaching career

In 1936, he coached Vanderbilt's freshmen team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Vernon 1906 births 1991 deaths All-Southern college football players American football centers Vanderbilt Commodores football players Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches