Q: What types of activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
A: I travel a lot. I go to different cities and countries; I’ve been to a lot of different places. I like to visit different cultures and different countries. I also try and get out and play golf, and I do the beach thing a lot. I also do all the water sports.
Q: What’s the coolest place that you have been?
A: South America was very nice. I like the energy down there. I like Europe, too, because it kind of has a New York-type feel to it—all the buildings and structures—and it has a lot of history over there.
Q: Soccer is huge in Europe. Are you a big soccer fan?
A: Yeah. When I went to Europe to broadcast NFL Europe (now defunct) games, I had a really good time watching the soccer games. I went to a couple of soccer games when I was in Europe and South America, so I’m a big fan of Euro soccer.
Q: So what’s the real football? Is it the American kind or what they call it over there (fùtbol)?
A: I’d have to say American. Football is football and soccer is soccer. The biggest sport in the world is soccer, but we’ll steal the real football.
Q: What countries have you been to in South America?
A: Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica (but that is Central America) and is really nice.
Q: How about in Europe?
A: I’ve been to Frankfurt, Germany; Dusseldorf, Germany; Berlin, Germany; and Amsterdam.
Q: Which parts of those places did you like and dislike?
A: Frankfurt was really nice. I liked the fact that they were big football fans over there. Berlin isn’t too spectacular, though.
Q: Would you ever consider bringing your standup comedy act to these places?
A: No, I wouldn’t. I’m not that funny.
Q: You’ve got to work on it, right?
A: (Laughing) No, I think I’ll stick with my day job.
Q: What’s your main passion in life?
A: Family is always first. I have good children—a son and a daughter—so family is always going to be my No. 1 passion over my job of football.
Q: Tell me about your interest in broadcasting. Do you still want to go into that when you are finished with football?
A: Yes, I definitely want to do that. I want to be able to stay around the game. It’s just a matter of giving the fans a different perspective. You’ve got a lot of guys who have played the game, but I think I can give them a different look and certain things that they see in the game. It’s also good because you get to stay around football and I love to watch football when I’m not playing it, so it will give me a chance to be around it when I’m not playing.
I had a chance to do NFL Europe games and I also called some high school games in Wisconsin, so I have had a chance to do a lot of work calling football games—being a color analyst.
Q: Is there a broadcaster you have admired over the years?
A: I would say from a football side of things, John Madden. He kind of set the framework of how to be a color analyst and then also taking it to different avenues of society as far as being a spokesperson for this and that, and also with his video game. Outside of football, Marv Albert was a guy I liked before his incidents. Marv Albert was always an energetic broadcaster and a good guy.
Q: As a Richmond, Va., native, what is it about Virginia that you miss?
A: Well, my hometown is my hometown. There are a lot of people there that are real people. They grew up with humble beginnings and a lot of them are hard-working people that you know will help you whenever you need help. There are a lot of people that are nice and don’t go around and try and have an attitude and walk past you without saying hello. The atmosphere is soothing and a lot of people are real good, down-home folks. That’s why I always like to go back, because family seems to be stressed a lot more in my hometown and in Virginia than a lot of places I have been.
Q: Many players have told me about a defining moment when they realized that they had a chance to be really good at football. Did you ever have one of those moments in your life?
A: I would say it was my first day when I started in the league. I started in the secondary as a rookie and I returned an interception 50-something yards on Thursday night football. It was the first pick of my career and I returned it for a touchdown. It kind of told me that I could do some good things in the league and that I could definitely play.
Darren Sharper
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