Famously boorish Sapp should still be a Hall of Fame lockSo Warren Sapp is having a retirement party Saturday night in Tampa. Wonder who the life of that shindig will be?
If you've ever encountered Sapp, you know it's always about the big guy. Put him in any room and that Sapp voice -- and signature laugh -- will rise above all, much like it always did when he was playing the game as a dominant defensive tackle for Tampa Bay and Oakland.
In my dealings with Sapp, which were limited, I found him to be loud, obnoxious, rude, nasty, controversial, combative and downright mean at times. The stories about his boorish behavior dealing with the public are even worse. They say asking him for an autograph at times was like poking a stick into a pen of rattlesnakes.
He treated the media like crap. And that's being kind.
But before you think I'm kicking a man on his way out the door, there's another reason for pointing out all of this.
Warren Sapp should be a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, his attitude and actions might hold him back some from getting there.
That shouldn't happen. But you can bet when the Hall voters gather in the room to discuss his candidacy in five years, Sapp's negative approach to dealing with the media will come up. They will point out how difficult he was as an interview subject, how he was rude to questioners, how he berated those asking questions he didn't like.
None of that should matter. I was one of Sapp's biggest critics in terms of the way he handled himself. He was rude to me on several occasions. Big deal. Didn't bother me none. Those more sensitive will see it another way.
The vision I have of Sapp is of him sitting at his locker after a game, just a towel covering his privates, his ample belly hanging over it, a cup on the ground in front of him to catch the drip from the wad of chew in his mouth, and him holding court.
One by one, especially after a loss, the media would approach him to ask a question. If Sapp didn't like it, the response was one of these two:
• Who you?
• Next question.
At times, when he was in a good mood, Sapp was engaging, fun and analytical. That wasn't often.
What was common was his dominating play on the field. For much of his career, he was a disruptive a force inside in that Tampa-2 defense. Teams doubled him with regularity and he often beat them. His quickness was amazing for a man who weighed 325 pounds at certain points in his career.
In 2000, he had 16½ sacks, showing off his ability to get push inside. He had three other seasons with 10 or more sacks, finishing with 96½ in his career.
It's too bad all the other stuff overshadows his greatness.
That's what bad actions can do to a player. In addition to his angry relationship with the media and fans, Sapp had the high-profile "dirty" hit on Green Bay Packers tackle Chad Clifton. That led to a postgame confrontation with then-Packers coach Mike Sherman in which Sapp essentially challenged Sherman to a fight.
Sapp also dropped former teammate Chidi Ahanotu during a locker room disagreement. Nice teammate. During an interview in 2004, Ahanotu described his time playing with Sapp as "six years in hell."
He also said he wasn't the only player who disdained Sapp.
"I think everyone raised their hand on that one," Ahanotu said.
Even so, Sapp should still get a bust in Canton. Those voters who might think about holding his ways against him should realize it's the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's not the Life Hall of Fame. If it were that, we'd go back in and take a lot of players out.
One does have to wonder how much of a lock Sapp would be if he played with the class of former teammate Derrick Brooks. As it is, if we rated Warren Sapp on how he treated people in his career, he'd be a scrub. As a football player, he was one of the best.
Here's hoping his retirement party Saturday night will signal a new start. Being nice really isn't so bad, Warren. Plus, you might need it now.
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