Sharper Edges Up the Dirtbag Scale
By Dan Zinski
We already knew Darren Sharper was a selfish, preening candy-ass – what we didn’t know was that he is also a slimy jerk with a monstrous sense of entitlement. But now the Vikings’ star has been called out on his nonsense, by C.J. of the Star-Tribune, who wrote in her Wednesday column of an encounter with Sharper and his illegally-parked SUV:
"Darren Sharper’s body may have been sore but the Vikings’ safety was obviously physically fit when he parked his luxury SUV in a handicapped spot at the FOX 9 studios Sunday in Eden Prairie.Sharper was at the station to make his regular “FOX 9 Sports Primetime” appearance after the Vikings’ 24-17 loss to the Falcons. I was there looking for Sharper — who had not returned my calls to the cell phone number he had given me — to get video for a bit of mischief that you can read about in Thursday’s column.Before I noticed where the SUV was parked, Sharper made a joke to my video camera about having to “get my flexibility back” and said, “See how I’m walking?”"
Parking in a handicapped spot and mocking the disabled? What next, Darren? Gonna kick some puppies? Steal some candy from little kids? Claim George Bush gets a bad rap?
To those who would say the whole thing is no big deal: Consider that the Vikings thought it significant enough to have a PR person defend Sharper when C.J. called around looking for an explanation for his thoughtlessness. “All right,” Vikings flack Bob Hagan told the columnist. “Nothing I can do. But he’s a very good guy. He does a lot of really good [charity] stuff. Obviously, if he did it, he did it. It was probably some misunderstanding.”
What kind of misunderstanding? Sharper saw the wheelchair symbol and thought that meant the parking space was reserved for him? I could understand Gus Frerotte thinking that, but Darren Sharper?
Unfortunately for Darren, this story of wanton assholishness comes fast on the heels of his now-infamous whiffed fumble-scoop, which contributed to the Vikings’ demise against the Falcons on Sunday. A guy with some sense of how people perceived him might be inclined to mind his P’s and Q’s for awhile after such a gaffe, but obviously, Darren is oblivious to the opinion of others…and to laws intended to help the less fortunate. This dude has become a big, throbbing boil on the ass of the Vikings organization. Now I know why Packer fans weren’t that sad to see him go.