'Boot camp' preps Vikings' Sharper for TV

Darren Sharper decided a few years ago that he wants to go into broadcasting once his NFL career is finished. This week Sharper took a step toward trying to make sure that happens.

The Vikings safety was one of 20 current and former players who participated in a four-day broadcast boot camp at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J.

"It's excellent," Sharper said Wednesday during a break. "I'm learning a lot about all the different areas of broadcasting from script writing, to reporting, to interviewing guys. It's a great because I'm meeting a lot of great contacts and learning things that will help you grow to be in whatever type of broadcasting that you want to get into."

Sharper, who will be entering his 12th NFL season in 2008, is no newcomer to the broadcast business. He worked as an analyst from 2004 to '07 on NFL Europe games and spent last season doing a variety of assignments for the sports department at Fox-owned KMSP (Ch. 9). Sharper said he will be back at the station this season.

Last spring marked the first year the NFL conducted the broadcast camp, but Sharper did not participate in part because he didn't submit his application in time. The camp, which finished Thursday, is directed by the NFL Broadcasting Department and features instructors from each of the television and radio networks that airs NFL games.

Sharper and the other students -- former Vikings offensive lineman Mike Rosenthal was included in this group --received experience in everything from taping segments as a studio and game analyst to being briefed on how to prepare for assignments.

"It's nice learning, but I'd rather go and get out there and learn on the run," Sharper said. "That's how we learn as players, and we're doing a lot of that here. ... My main goal is to call games [as an analyst]."

Sharper, 32, has no plans to move into the booth anytime soon. Entering his fourth season with the Vikings after spending his first eight NFL seasons in Green Bay, Sharper said he wants to play into the next decade.

"I want to be a three-decade guy; that's one of the goals I set," he said. "That would take me past the 2011 season, and then I'll see how I feel. If I've gotten a [championship] ring before then, that would help me out in my decision."

Sharper will be in the final year of his contract with the Vikings this season, and it's unclear if he will return in 2009.

"That's not up to me," Sharper said of staying in Minnesota. "You'll have to talk to management about that."