It’s rare when a football team finds two offensive tackles in the same draft who not only start immediately as rookies but become longtime pillars of the line. 

That was the case in 1982, when the Cardinals drafted UCLA’s Luis Sharpe in the first round (16^th overall) and East Carolina’s Tootie Robbins in the fourth round (90^th).

The Big Red traded down five spots in Round 1 and made Sharpe their first offensive lineman taken in the first round in 20 years (Irv Goode, 1962). An All-American and a three-year starter in college, the 6-5, 275-pound Sharpe was voted UCLA’s most valuable player in 1981. Jim Hanifan, who had been an NFL offensive line coach before being named head coach of the Cardinals in 1980, recognized Sharpe’s potential from Day 1.

“Looking at Luis here, I’d say we’ve got an exceptionally talented athlete to put over on that left side, where you’re always facing the screaming meemies (the opposing teams’ best pass rushers)” Hanifan said. “I want him on the field, not on the bench.”

So, it was not exactly a surprise when Sharpe, who had played for a powerhouse college in one of the top conferences in the nation opened the 1982 season as the Big Red’s starting left tackle.

Less predictable was that Robbins, who was from a lower-profile college, would start at right tackle. But Robbins (6-5, 303), who was East Carolina’s offensive MVP in 1981, so impressed Hanifan in training camp that the coach moved longtime right tackle Dan Dierdorf, a future Hall of Famer, to center to make room for the rookie.

Sharpe, Robbins and free safety Benny Perrin, a third-round pick from Alabama, started all nine games in the strike-abbreviated 1982 season. And all three were named to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team.

1982 St. Louis Cardinals Draft

rd-overall	player name	position	college team
1-16	Luis Sharpe	T	UCLA
2-38	David Galloway	DT	Florida
3-65	Benny Perrin	DB	Alabama
3-73	Rusty Guilbeau	LB	McNeese St.
4-90	Tootie Robbins	T	East Carolina
5-119	Vance Bedford	DB	Texas
5-125	Earl Ferrell	RB	East Tennessee St.
6-150	Craig Shaffer	LB	Indiana St.
7-178	Bob Sebro	C	Colorado
8-205	Chris Lindstrom	DE	Boston University
9-232	Darnell Dailey	LB	Maryland
10-259	Eddie McGill	TE	Western Carolina
11-290	James Williams	DE	North Carolina A&T
12-317	Bob Atha	K	Ohio St.

Luis Sharpe started every game in which he played for the Cardinals—six seasons in St. Louis (1982-87) and seven seasons in Arizona (1988-94)—and missed only 12 games in his career. His 189 games played rank sixth overall and first among offensive linemen on the franchise’s all-time list. Sharpe was so durable that he played every game in 1985 even after becoming a free agent and playing 10 games in the spring for the Memphis Showboats of the USFL. Once called “possibly the best left tackle in pro football” by Hanifan, Sharpe was voted to the Pro Bowl in three consecutive years (1987-89).

A finalist for the 1981 Lombardi Award, emblematic of the nation’s most outstanding lineman, David Galloway was a force for the Cardinals as a defensive lineman. Nicknamed “Bull” for his habit of kicking up his leg when in his stance, Galloway played in 99 games with 76 starts in eight season for the Big Red (1982-89), and had 36 sacks and five fumble recoveries. His best year was 1983, when he had 12 sacks. 

Benny Perrin played four seasons for legendary coach Bear Bryant at Alabama and was on two national championship teams. He started 47 of 48 games in four years with St. Louis, including all 41 games in his first three seasons. Perrin recovered five fumbles and had nine interceptions during his career, including four each in 1983 and ’84.

Although hamstring problems slowed him at times, Tootie Robbins played in 132 games (121 starts) in 10 seasons with the Big Red. Nicknamed “Big Smooth,” he started every game in 1982, ’84 and ’90. After 10 seasons with St. Louis, he played two years in Green Bay before suffering a torn triceps in 1993 and retiring after that season.

Primarily a backup running back and special teams star in his first four seasons, Earl Ferrell played a bigger role in the offense from 1986-89. He led the team in rushing in both 1988 and ’99, and scored 20 of his 24 career rushing touchdowns in his final three seasons. For his career, he rushed 685 times for 2,950 yards, and caught 186 passes for 1,168 yards and eight TDs.