Former Texans Linebacker Turned Entrepreneur Transforms His River Oaks Home Into a Party Paradise After Selling His Furniture Company

Darryl Sharpton Turns 36 With Exotic Fire Dancers, Cigars and Former Teammates

By Shelby Hodge // Feb 1, 2023

Photography Emile C Browne

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Former Houston Texan Darryl Sharpton celebrates his 36th birthday and the multi-million dollar sale of his furniture company, Albany Park. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Jackson Smith, Sarah Jawda,Saba Jawda, Stephanie Wong at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Kam Franklin, Christa Havican at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

An exotic fire dancer performs at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash in his River Oaks home. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Alex Finnie, Eric Houston at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Amobi Okoye, Darryl Sharpton at the latter's 36th birthday bash in his River Oaks home. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Taylor Langford, Kathleen Medina at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Former Houston Texans Owen Daniels, Shaun Cody at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Bernardo & Mayra Rios at Darryl Sharpton's birthday bash. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

It was a doubleheader when former Houston Texans and University of Miami linebacker Darryl Sharpton invited a clutch of friends and former teammates to his River Oaks home to celebrate not only his 36th birthday, but also the multi-million dollar sale of his furniture company.

Proof that there is life after football, Sharpton’s entrepreneurial success with his e-commerce furniture company Albany Park, featured in various publications including PopSugar, House Beautiful and Architectural Digest, is leading to another enterprise. In the coming months, Sharpton will roll out a Houston-based boutique hospitality brand.

Sharpton has had a focus on e-commerce since his college days at the University of Miami. During his senior year, Sharpton said he stumbled across the opportunity to sell furniture after purchasing a sofa from Craigslist. His entrepreneurial spirit was born.

Champagne toasts all around were led by a Sharpton bestie Nick Scurfield.

Fire dancer, River Oaks, Darryl Sharpton (Photo by Emile C Brown) — An exotic fire dancer performs at Darryl Sharpton’s birthday bash in his River Oaks home. (Photo by Emile C Brown)

Close to 100 partygoers joined the celebration that in addition to the birthday cake and candles included a smoking hot fiery dance presentation around the pool. The array of tastebud-tempting entertainments featured food stations from Churrascos Catering, tastings of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and luxurious hand-painted sweets from chocolatier Cacao & Cardamom. The orchestration of the energized evening was handled by Kara Smith of CommonPolished events company.

Stogies and Bowties provided the hand-rolled cigars while DJ QHolic delivered on the spins that kept the energy pulsating.

PC Seen: Houston Texans players Owen Daniels, Earl Mitchell, Garrett Graham, Amobi Okoye and Shaun Cody, the latter of whom made the trip all the way from California to celebrate his former teammate; Kam Franklin, front woman of popular band The Suffers; FOX 26 reporter Chelsea Edwards, KHOU’s Brittany Ford, Riel chef Ryan Lachaine; and dynamo design duo Saba Jawda and Sarah Jawda.