Background
Alf was born in Nashville on February 6, 1902 to Vernon Hibbett Sharpe and Lorene Seleney Dandridge.
Alf was born in Nashville on February 6, 1902 to Vernon Hibbett Sharpe and Lorene Seleney Dandridge.
Sharpe attended Montgomery Bell Academy with later Vanderbilt teammate Doc Kuhn.
In an interview by Edwin Thomas Wood of Robert Penn Warren, Warren spoke of Sharpe:
Warren: When I was there we had some fine teams. There was Alf Sharp—he was an All-Southern center at one time. He looked like a badly formed pirate.
He was really a menacing looking manitoba
Wood: Any good? Warren: Well, as a matter of fact, they were skillful. They were close imitations of Housman.
Very skillfully done, totally unoriginal. But the man had this need, hidden under that murderous exterior, to write poems.
Football
1921
In a 42 to 0 victory over Mercer in 1921, Sharpe recovered a Vanderbilt fumble in the endzone.
He was ejected for slugging the following week against Kentucky. 1922
He was a starter for the scoreless tie with the Michigan Wolverines at the dedication of Dudley Field in 1922. Sharpe was expected to start the game on the sidelines due to a hurt shoulder.
During that game, "Thousands of cheering Vanderbilt fans inspired the surge of center Alf Sharp, guard Gus Morrow, tackle Tex Bradford, and end Lynn Bomar, who stopped Michigan cold in four attempts." Sharpe netted an interception the next week in a 20 to 10 victory over the Texas Longhorns.
1923
Sharpe recovered a fumble in the endzone in a 17 to 0 victory over Tulane. He was cited along with Lynn Bomar and Bob Rives for holding the Tennessee Volunteers to only 7 in a 51 to 7 romp.
Sharpe intercepted a pass off the receiver"s finger tips during the 35 to 7 victory over Georgia, of which Morgan Blake, sportswriter in the Atlanta Journal, wrote "Number southern team has given the Georgia Bulldogs such a licking in a decade.".
At, Sharpe was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.