Former NFL safety Darren Sharper, who pleaded guilty or no contest a decade ago to multiple charges of rape, is moving closer to being released from custody.
Via Ramon Antonio Vargas of the Guardian, Sharper was transferred from federal prison on May 27 to either home confinement or a halfway house.
Sharper, 50, had allegedly drugged and raped (or attempted to rape) multiple women in Louisiana, California, Nevada, and Arizona. He was sentenced in August 2016 to 18 years, with credit for the time he had spent behind bars following his original arrest in February 2014.
A second-round pick of the Packers in 1997, he spent eight seasons in Green Bay, four in Minnesota, and two with the Saints. He was a member of the New Orleans team that won Super Bowl XLIV.
A court filing advocating for early release argued that it would allow Sharper “to finally receive treatment for . . . traumatic brain injuries . . . and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy . . . disease developed from his years playing football.” That motion was denied in August 2025.
Sharper is currently due to be freed on December 27, 2028.
