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 Alfred D. Sharp (February 6, 1902 – November 1981) was an American football player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. Early years Sharp was born in Nashville on February 6, 1902, to Vernon Hibbett Sharp and Lorene Sele ...

was also a Vanderbilt center.

Vanderbilt University

He was a prominent

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He was in the same class as the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Jimmy Armistead James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 – March 1984) was an American college football player. Early years James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate. High school Ar ...

. Sharp received the second most All-Southern votes of any center, behind

Elvin Butcher Elvin Oscar Butcher (February 9, 1907 – June 6, 1957) was a college football and basketball player for the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Football Butcher was a prominent football player for Rober ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. 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 The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

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