Rick Sharp Was Never Dull As UW Football Player

Rick Sharp was a worldly guy who was born just outside of London and died last month in Australia, where he lived in a rural area near Sydney.

In between, his personal passport showed him to be a three-year starter as a two-way tackle for the University of Washington football team and a three-year NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos.

Sharp, who was 78 when he passed away on August 28, was one of the more talented Huskies of his time, yet people might not readily remember him because he played during a notable downturn for UW football.

His teams finished a forgettable 5-5, 3-5-2 and 1-9 in 1967-69.

Yet the 6-foot-3, 275-pound Sharp was a proven talent, a strong man, someone his teammates referred to as the "The Hulk."

"He had short, powerful legs and tremendous upper body strength," said Bob Burmeister, a UW defensive back back then. "He was like a truck in there, plowing into people. He was a one-man tush push giving brotherly shoves."

While this was a time where the college game began to move from single- to two-platoon football, Sharp was so good he continued to switch back and forth between offense and defense.

Jim Owens' staff initially started him as a left offensive guard as a sophomore, the first year anyone could join the varsity in those days.

Yet he turned up on defense, too, and caused and recovered a fumble against Oregon State in 1967 and blocked a punt and recovered it near the goal line against California in '68.

"He and Clyde Werner were the studs of the whole deal," said Burmeister, also referring to a UW linebacker who spent six years in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and died just last December.

While born in England, Sharp grew up in Seattle and played football for now-defunct Queen Anne High School, winning a Metro championship with a hard-nosed 7-6 victory over Nathan Hale in 1965.

After he went from the Huskies to the NFL as a 12th-round draft pick, and was made a defensive player in Pittsburgh, he suffered a knee injury that ended his pro football ambitions, which included a season in the WFL with the New York Stars.

Sharp became a certified public accountant and worked for multiple companies in Seattle.

Yet the world was calling out to him.

In 1985, Sharp went on vacation to Australia and liked it so much he moved there permanently the following year.

He got married, engaged in other business ventures, coached football and became an organic farmer.

While Sharp had all of this physical prowess, he otherwise was a well-read and studious person.

"He was a quiet giant," Burmeister said.

As is the case with a lot of former UW football players, Sharp will be remembered at the Duchess Tavern, a place he used to frequent not far from Husky Stadium, in a Wednesday, Nov. 4, gathering at 6 p.m. that is open to the public.

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