Warren Sapp: Hard To Thrill
Warren Sapp isn’t easily impressed.
6 All Pro honors, 7 Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl ring will do that to you, one could say.
Whether he’s addressing a former teammate or an opposing coach , #99 has never been one to bite his tongue. And that’s why many of us fans loved him then and love him now.
However, Sapp’s also raised some eyebrows for not only his choice of words, but also the timing and the target.
Most recently, he seemingly took a jab at Vita Vea. It’s been reported that Vea has opted to get minor surgery on is hand late last month.
And when did @Buccaneers get Hand models to play DT? #GoodNightYall
— Warren Sapp (@WarrenSapp) June 28, 2020
While it’s not the most harsh of criticism, it is kinda petty.
It was said by radio host Ian Beckles that Sapp had a good deal of skepticism towards Vea shortly after the 2018 Draft. And that’s understandable seeing as that there’s a whole new level of play that had to be reached coming going into the League. His physical stature and the fact that he was gonna be playing in Florida heat didn’t help that assessment either.
After two seasons, the Hall Of Famer still doesn’t appear to be on the bandwagon. Granted, Vea has only played one full season healthy. His first year in the League was abbreviated due to a knee injury on the first day of training camp and kept out of the starting lineup until Week 7.
Vea did, however, tie Sapp’s 3 sacks in rookie season.
My Defensive Tackless gotta have more sacks than touchdowns.—Warren Sapp
The biggest example of Sapp’s expectation level was his take on former face of the franchise, Gerald McCoy, who spent 9yrs trying to be the next best thing to Sapp in Tampa. Undoubtedly, McCoy became the best DT in a BUC jersey since Sapp’s departure. But it wasn’t enough. Not enough some fans. Not enough for #99.
Even after becoming “ like family” to McCoy during his mentorship, Warren pulled no punches when assessing McCoy’s grievance with the Team after being released and promptly having his former number taken by Ndamkung Suh.
“No Defensive Player of the Year -- that's what Brooks and that's what Lee Roy Selmon did. Lynch got his name in two damn Ring of Honors. What am I missing here, Gerald? You're talking about something silly. Come on, man -- stop. If you're mad, you're mad, but don't put it on the organization that the organization did it. Every NFL team has to move on.
You damn sure don't get legendary status or tell somebody to put your jersey up if you don't take 'em to playoff games .
Not one playoff game. Not even a wild card. I went to nine. We went 5-4."
I’m a huge fan of tough love and hard conversations, but it did come off pretty badly seeing as that Sapp made his thoughts on the situation known through a website rather than directly to someone that he supposedly had a close relationship with. Borderline corny. Plus, McCoy never labeled himself “a legend” as Sapp alluded to.
Right or wrong in his approach on the McCoy situation, one thing I can’t ever argue against is that Warren Sapp LOVES the game of football. I may hate a lot of the things he’s done off the field and question much of what he says, but I’ll never question his passion for the sport and his belief that it can make a difference in a man’s life if treated with respect. I’ve personally witnessed how he seriously he takes his preparation in his commentary on the game.
During his time at the NFL Network, I got to work the set of both “Inside The NFL” and “NFL Game Day” for the Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa in 2009. Sapp would keep what he called a playbook of notes on whatever the topics were to be covered during any given segment. His “playbook” was significantly larger than that of his contemporaries. Everyone other than James Brown, that its.
Sapp stayed ready.
If a segment had to switch order between breaks, he was prepared to speak on whatever it is in full detail oftentimes without having to look at his big stash of notes tucked away in his folder that standing by. And that’s not typical. He wasn’t a paid actor memorizing lines. Even they would need minutes of rehearsal to change things up on the fly. Sapp just took talking about the game he loves that seriously.
He did slip one day and walked off the set in a hurry after wrapping up late one evening. He started to walk off the set and left his playbook behind.
I saw it and simultaneously got nervous and just a bit excited as rushed to grab it before he got too far away and before he could actually turn around remembering he left it. See, this would be the one time I’d get to speak to my favourite BUC directly.
I grabbed the playbook and caught up to him just before he got to the production trailers set up in BUCS Lot 17.
“99! Yo….Your playbook, Pimpin’.”
“Oh sh*t! Thanks, bwoy”.
“Hey, man I’m sorry to ask ya. Can I get a pic real quick?”
“Hell yea..you done saved me with this.”
The high level of preparation and the expectation of himself I saw in the few days I worked with him helped me better understand how and why some elite performers have a hard time associating with those that don’t make it to their level. It’s been seen in athletes like Michael Jordan, Roy Jones Jr., Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady and Serena Williams.
Something I did notice last year was that Sapp didn’t make any direct mention or take jabs at Ndamakung Suh. Suh has a long history of both questionable and outright dirty play in the League. He’s also a menacing , if not dominating, presence during the height of his career. Similar to that of our favorite number 99. Sapp was pretty interested in Suh’s signing in May of last year, but he remained relatively quiet during the season on Suh’s performance.
Finally I get @NdamukongSuh under my watchful eyes! #CantWait @BartScott57 voice!
— Warren Sapp (@WarrenSapp) May 24, 2019
Maybe Sapp tuned out during the 2019 season. He didn’t offer much praise or criticism via his social media.
Maybe he prefers Suh’s personality over the smiling types like Vea and McCoy. I’m curious to see what his commentary on the defensive line this upcoming season.
"He's a nice guy -- nice guys finish last. And that's why his jersey's getting worn Suh."
— Warren Sapp on Gerald
