Here is a sweet article I read today on the www.startribune.com
The Vikings tight end and Saints safety, former teammates, will battle for bragging rights at the Superdome.
By CHIP SCOGGINS, Star Tribune
Last update: January 18, 2010 – 11:02 PM
Visanthe Shiancoe walked into the locker room Monday and before beginning an interview broke into a celebration dance.
No, it had nothing to do with “Pants on the Ground.”
“How about this?” he said, shaking his arms and shoulders. “That’s the ‘Sharper Shake’ that I’m going to do after I score.”
This, of course, was a playful jab at former teammate Darren Sharper, who sat next to Shiancoe in the locker room the past few years and performed his ‘Sharper Shake’ after collecting interceptions.
Sharper had plenty to celebrate in his first season with the New Orleans Saints, the Vikings’ opponent in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
The veteran safety tied for the NFL lead with nine interceptions (returning three for touchdowns) to earn first-team All-Pro honors. Sharper’s nine interceptions equaled his combined total from his final three seasons with the Vikings.
The Vikings elected not to re-sign Sharper after he posted only one interception and five pass breakups in 2008. Sharper proved to a bad fit for the Tampa-2 scheme because he excels as a freelancer on the back end. The Saints’ system allows him to gamble and take more risks.
“Nothing he’s doing this year surprises me,” said Shiancoe, who remains close friends with Sharper. “He’s a Pro Bowl guy, playing at a Pro Bowl level. When he was here, playing that Cover-2 was a little different than freelancing, you know? He was stuck up there in that Cover-2 box, but down there he has a lot of options and a lot of freedom to exploit his strengths. I feel like Sharp is playing like Sharp. … He’s in a good system for him.”
Shiancoe expects to see a lot of Sharper in coverage on Sunday and promised to “put my hands on him when we get down there.”
Asked what he meant by that, Shiancoe said: “You’ll see what I mean. I’m going to put hands on him because he is going to come down in the box.”
Sharper posted a career-high 15 pass breakups this season while also collecting 71 tackles, his highest total since 2003. Shiancoe said the Vikings have to be aware of Sharper’s position on the field at all times.
“Sharp is going to be in the box,” he said. “He’s going to come right down from up there in the box and he’s going to see me. Usually strong safety comes down and faces the tight end. He’ll be there. He likes to stick his nose in the run game. He tries to shut down tight ends and he tries to create mismatches. He orchestrates that defense pretty well. He manipulates that defense and he’s a head honcho over there. That’s going to be a guy that we definitely have to account for.”
