Former William and Mary and NFL defensive back Darren Sharper has been arrested on a rape charge.
The 38-year-old Sharper was arrested in Los Angeles on Friday at roughly 3 p.m. and was released close to midnight on $200,000 bond. He is being investigated in relation to two separate sexual assaults in California, one in October and one in January, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Police Department. He is also being investigated in connection with an alleged rape in New Orleans, according to ESPN.
He is scheduled to be in court Feb. 14 in Los Angeles. The rape charge Sharper faces is used when the alleged victim was unable to resist due to intoxication, anesthesia or a controlled substance, according to the California Penal Code.
Sharper, who most recently served as an analyst for NFL Network, played 14 seasons in the NFL and was a six-time All-Pro defensive back and selected to the Pro Bowl five times. He played the majority of his career for the Green Bay Packers, who drafted him out of the College of William and Mary in 1997, before being traded to the New Orleans Saints in 2009. He retired in 2010 after helping the franchise win its first and only Super Bowl title that season.
Sharper, who graduated from Hermitage High in Richmond in 1993, was a quarterback standout in high school and hoped to play the position for the College of William and Mary before Tribe head coach Jimmye Laycock told him he had the most chance to be successful playing defensive back. He went on to set school records in career interceptions (26) and punt return yards (1,037). He also set an I-AA record in career interception return yards with 468.
