football player
Personal Information
Born Warren Carlos Sapp on December 19, 1972, in Plymouth, FL; son of Annie Roberts (a teacher's assistant); married JaMiko Vaughn, 1998; children: Mercedes, Warren Jr
Education: Attended University of Miami, 1991-94.
Career
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa, FL, defensive tackle, 1995-.
Life's Work
Warren Sapp, defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a fierce sacker of opposing quarterbacks and has helped his team make it to the playoffs four times between 1995 and 2002. At 303 pounds, the five-time Pro Bowl honoree--and one of the highest-paid athletes in professional football--is an immense and often feared presence on the gridiron; on the sidelines, he has gained a reputation for another of his talents: his dramatic verbal fireworks both in and out of the locker room. "Sapp," noted Esquire writer Charles P. Pierce, "will do the dance, the chest bump, and the howl--now de rigueur--on every sack, but it is the way he throws himself into the play that makes him unique."
Sapp was born on December 19, 1972, in Plymouth, Florida, a town outside of Orlando, where friends and family still call him by his middle name, "Carlos." The youngest of six children, he was raised in a single-parent household, and never knew his father. His mother, Annie Roberts, often worked three or four jobs to support the family, but Sapp has said that such early hardships were not a hindrance. "I had a very loving and caring mother," Sapp told Sports Illustrated journalist S. L. Price. "I had people around. I had a big family. I took what I had, and I worked with it. Sometimes life deals you a dirty hand. So you just have to rearrange it."
Budding Career Almost Nixed by Rumors
Roberts was a firm disciplinarian with her son, and once managed to get him suspended from the Apopka High School football team, where he was a star player, until his grades improved. Sapp entered the University of Miami as a redshirt freshman, or off-the-roster team member, in 1991. He went on to play three impressive seasons with the Hurricanes, and won a number of honors for best defensive player at the college level, including the 1994 Vince Lombardi award for best collegiate lineman/linebacker in the United States. Though known for his immense size--he weighed in at 285 pounds at Miami and stood six-foot, one inch in height--Sapp soon gained a reputation for fleet-footedness when going after opposing-team quarterbacks. "He leaps over blockers, reads linemen at a glance and runs an absurd 4.69 40-yard dash," wrote Price in Sports Illustrated. "He is strong, smart, bubbly."
Sapp decided to forego his senior year of college at Miami and enter the National Football League (NFL) draft in 1995. He was eager to begin a professional career and help his family, he told Price. "I saw a way for my mother to retire," Sapp said in a Sports Illustrated interview. "She's been working a long time. I'm her last kid, her last shot, and I have an opportunity for her to kick up her feet and say, 'I don't have to go to work today if I don't want to.'" In February of 1995 he participated in the NFL scouting combine, and his stellar performance caused sportswriters to deem him one of the top-five draft picks that season. But a few weeks later, rumors surfaced that Sapp had tested positive for both cocaine and marijuana. The report had been leaked to the media from someone inside the NFL organization.
The League quickly issued a statement saying that the report was erroneous, and that Sapp had not tested positive for cocaine, but their backpedaling did not address the marijuana question. Sapp and his agent denied that he had ever tested positive for cocaine, and Sapp told Price that he was willing to submit to weekly drug tests by any team that drafted him. The damage was done, however, and he dropped out of the top five, losing what was potentially a $4 million rookie contract. He remained undeterred by the fracas. "If they drop me to 10th, that's still more money than I've ever seen in my life," Sapp told Price. "It's still an opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL. So if one team feels this incident makes me less of a player or the wrong kind of person for their franchise--to each his own."
Emerged as Strong Defensive Player
Sapp's tale devolved into a "ghoulish draft-day sideshow," noted Alexander Wolff, another Sports Illustrated writer, as television cameras registered Sapp's every reaction after eleven teams bypassed him that day. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a chance, however. At the time, the franchise had suffered 12 consecutive losing seasons of 10 or more games. Its new owner, Malcolm Glazer, and coach Sam Wyche were optimistic that Sapp was still a good bet. Wyche told Greg Cote at Sporting News that the newest Buc "is a tremendous football player who may become one of the glowing examples of how you can overcome a college mistake in a society that is filled with these kinds of temptations."
Sapp donned jersey No. 99, in honor of Tampa native and former University of Miami star defensive tackle Jerome Brown, who died tragically in a car crash in 1992. During his rookie season, Sapp did not start in many games, but he racked up 27 season tackles and several sportswriting organizations named him football's rookie defensive tackle of the year. The following year he began to emerge as one of the Bucs' star players, starting in 14 of 15 contests and taking down a number of opponents despite a chronic ankle injury. In June of 1997 Sapp's name once again appeared in headlines when he was arrested for marijuana possession after police searched his car. The drugs had been in a backpack belonging to friend, and a judge later ruled that police had lacked enough evidence to conduct the search without a warrant.
Sapp went on to an impressive 1997 season, with 68 tackles--45 of them solo--and 10.5 sacks, and the team made it into the playoffs. He made it into the Pro Bowl again that year, and at the end of the season renegotiated his salary and signed a new $36 million contract, making him one of the two highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL. In 1998 Sapp did not perform as well as expected, though the team did emerge as one of the League's strongest defensive squads. Yet Sapp still had much to be happy about that year as he wed girlfriend JaMiko Vaughn. In 1999 both Sapp and the Bucs rebounded. Sapp had a career high of 12.5 sacks--missing the League all-time record by a half-sack--and the Bucs took the NFC Central title. He was named to the Pro Bowl for a third time, and was becoming a favorite of sportswriters for his ability to deliver a quip. In 2000 and again in 2001, the Bucs again advanced to the top of the rankings and entered the playoff season.
Controversial Season Led to Superbowl Victory
Near the close of the 2002 season, Sapp came under fire in the media after a game against the Green Bay Packers. Sapp had blocked Packers' tackle Chad Clifton with a hit to the shoulder, and Packers' coach Mike Sherman confronted Sapp and claimed that he had used his helmet as a weapon. Tampa Bay's newest coach, Jon Gruden, defended his star tackle. "Warren Sapp did nothing illegal or malicious," a New York Times report quoted Gruden as saying. "He made an aggressive play. When a ball is intercepted, we're trying to score. No matter how that play is interpreted by a coach on another team or a fan of another team, Warren Sapp made no error whatsoever." Sapp had his own characteristic spin on the incident, and a report by Thomas George of the New York Times noted that Sapp and Sherman were disputing each other's statements to the press. Sapp remarked that if Sherman refused to "tell the truth about it, I'll just leave it at that. We get an interception, we're returning the ball and I turn and look for somebody to block. I get double-teamed and worse all of the time. I get one good, clean hit and now I'm the dirtiest player in the league? Tell him to carry his tail home with that loss."
Sapp did not allow this incident to disrupt his play as he racked up 7.5 sacks and two interceptions on the way to a NFC Division title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp and the Bucs entered the playoffs as a favored team and they did anything but disappoint. The Bucs rolled over their opponents on their way to their first Superbowl appearance where Sapp and his teammates beat the Oakland Raiders to end the season as Superbowl champions. For Sapp, it was the pinnacle moment of his career and he credits everyone with the victory, including his teammates, his coaches, and even his fans whom he told, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart," during a post game celebration.
Though known for his fiery temperament both on and off the field, his colleagues respect Sapp. His Tampa Bay teammate Jerry Wunsch told Sports Illustrated's Michael Silver that Sapp is "a good leader, a guy who points us in the right direction and is always focused on winning. You always know where you stand with him." Sapp himself is more sanguine about his abilities and reputation as one of the League's most formidable players. "Head, heart and feet," he told a writer for the Tampa Tribune, "that's what it takes to be a great player."
Awards
Vince Lombardi Award, 1994, for best collegiate lineman/linebacker; named to Pro Bowl, 1997-2001.
Further Reading
Periodicals
— Carol Brennan and Ralph Zerbonia
Sapp with the Buccaneers in 2003 |
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No. 99
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| Defensive tackle | |||||||||||||||
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Personal information
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| Date of birth: December 19, 1972 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: Plymouth, Florida | |||||||||||||||
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Career information
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| High school: Apopka High School Apopka, Florida |
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| College: University of Miami | |||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: 1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12 | |||||||||||||||
| Debuted in 1995 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||||||||
| Last played in 2007 for the Oakland Raiders | |||||||||||||||
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Career history
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Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics as of 2007
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| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is a former American college and professional football player who was defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He played college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes, was recognized as a consensus All-American and won multiple awards. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1995 NFL Draft as the 12th overall pick, and played professionally for the Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. He spent nine seasons with the Buccaneers where he earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl ring in 2002. He moved to the Raiders in 2004.
His 96.5 career sacks (100 counting the playoffs) are the second-highest career total sacks for a defensive tackle and the 28th highest overall for a defensive lineman. His 77 sacks with the Buccaneers is second in the team's history.
During Sapp's career, he has been the source of some controversy because of his hard-hitting style of play and his occasional verbal outbursts, both on the field and off. Some of these resulted in NFL fines, and he was once ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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Sapp was born and raised in Plymouth, Florida by a single mother.[1] During the late 1980s he was honored as an outstanding football player at Apopka High School in Apopka, Florida as a linebacker, tight end, place kicker, and punter.[2] Holds school records for sacks, tackles for a loss, and longest field goal. While playing football for Apopka High School, Sapp delivered a hit on baseball player Johnny Damon, a player from Dr. Phillips High school, resulting in a concussion for Damon.
In 2007, Sapp was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the Top 33 players in the 100-year history of high school football in the state of Florida.
| “ | Warren [Sapp] has the power of a Cortez Kennedy and the quickness of a Russell Maryland. | ” |
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—former University of Miami defensive tackle Mark Caesar.[3] |
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Many top national colleges sought him out as a football player; Sapp chose to play for the University of Miami. Converted to defensive lineman while there, Sapp would win the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player), the Rotary Lombardi Award (best lineman or linebacker) and the Bill Willis Award (best defensive lineman) all in 1994. He was also named to many All-American teams.
After playing college football at the University of Miami where he was a defensive standout, Sapp was drafted into the NFL by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 1995 draft (12th pick overall) and signed a contract paying $36 million over six years.[1] Sapp ran the fastest time in the 40-yard dash for a defensive tackle, recording a 4.69 time. Upon joining Tampa Bay, Sapp was almost immediately given the starting job as right defensive tackle, a position he held for his entire nine-year stay in Tampa. He finished his rookie season with 27 tackles and one interception. Sapp continued to be a prolific, intimidating tackler for the Buccaneers, tallying 51 tackles and nine sacks in 1996 and 58 tackles and 10.5 sacks in 1997. In 1997, Sapp was named to his first Pro Bowl. It was the first of seven straight selections. Sapp was named 1999 NFL Defensive Player of the year.
He flourished in the Bucs' aggressive Tampa 2 defense, which allowed him to put his devastating combination of size and speed to good use. He was known to disrupt plays even when being double- or even triple-teamed on the line.[4]
In 2002, Sapp helped lead a resurgent Tampa Bay team to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders. Sapp had five tackles and two sacks during the 2002-2003 postseason, and was an instrumental staple in the league leading Buccaneers defense.
In 2004, it was reported that Sapp was interested in accepting a contract offer from the Cincinnati Bengals for four years worth US $16 million. However, on March 20, he announced that he had agreed to terms on a seven-year, $36.6 million contract with the Raiders.[1]
Sapp started all 16 games in his first season in Oakland, splitting time at defensive end as well as defensive tackle. Sapp recorded 30 tackles (18 solo), 2.5 sacks and recovered two fumbles.[5] Warren lost an estimated 20 pounds before joining the Raiders in 2004. Sapp's 2005 season started out as a great year for Sapp, as he was moved back to his familiar DT position. He started the first ten games of the season recording 29 tackles (26 of them solo), and finished second on the team to Derrick Burgess with five sacks.[5] Sapp was sidelined for the last six games of '05 with a shoulder injury.
Sapp returned to his All-Pro form in 2006. Sapp and the Raider defense were one of very few bright spots for the 2006 Raiders. Sapp had 10 sacks to go along with 32 tackles (16 solo) and one forced fumble. Before the 2007 season, he lost 49 pounds. He finished the 2007 season with 37 tackles (24 solo), 2 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.
On January 3, 2008, Sapp told Raiders owner Al Davis over the phone that he would retire. The next day, January 4, 2008, Sapp confirmed it on his website qbkilla.com in just two words: "I'M DONE!"[6] The retirement became official on March 4, 2008.[7]
Sapp is now reckoned as the prototype three-technique defensive tackle; ever since his retirement NFL teams scouting defensive tackles have reportedly been looking for a "Baby Sapp."[4]
On November 24, 2002, at Raymond James Stadium, Sapp drew criticism for blocking the Green Bay Packers' Chad Clifton during an interception return by the Buccaneers. Clifton was jogging down field, away from the main action, and was blindsided by Sapp.[8] The hit sent Clifton to the hospital. He was hospitalized for almost a week and could not walk unaided for five more weeks. In 2005, the NFL Competition Committee agreed on new guidelines for "unnecessary roughness", making hits such as that suffered by Clifton illegal.
In an exchange caught by television cameras following the game, Packers' coach Mike Sherman approached Sapp and said to him, "That was a chicken shit play."[9] In response, Sapp screamed at Sherman: "You're so tough? Put a jersey on!"[8] Sapp later called Sherman: "a lying, shit-eating hound. ... If I was 25 years old and didn't have a kid and a conscience, I would have given him an ass-kicking right there at the 30-yard line."[8] Sherman later said of Sapp: "The joviality that existed after [the hit] when a guy's lying on the ground, with numbness in his legs and fingers, I just thought that wasn't appropriate for any NFL player."[9]
During pre-game warm-ups of a December 23, 2002 Monday Night Football game at Raymond James Stadium, Warren skipped among the Pittsburgh Steelers players during their pre-game warmups. Steelers running back Jerome Bettis shoved Sapp, and this was followed by a heated argument between the two teams. Sapp was not fined for the incident, but it added to his controversial image. Sapp felt that he was made an example by the NFL by being fined for that first skipping incident. "That's all this is about," said Sapp. "In my nine years in this league, no one's been fined for verbally abusing officials. It's unprecedented."[10] The Buccaneers had been earlier ridiculed by Steelers' Lee Flowers as being "paper champions." Despite losing to the Steelers in that game, Sapp and the Buccaneers went on to win Super Bowl XXXVII five weeks later.
In 2003, during an October 6 Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sapp was scolded for skipping through and disrupting the Colts players, who were spread out on the field, stretching during pre-game warmups. There was much anticipation and national interest going into the game, which was the return of former head coach Tony Dungy to Tampa. The Colts wound up erasing a 21-point deficit in the final four minutes, and defeated the Buccaneers 38-35 in overtime, initiating a downslide for the defending champions.
A week later, on October 12, 2003, prior to the game against the Washington Redskins, Sapp was running onto the field when he bumped into an NFL referee. The incident drew a fine of $50,000. Sapp's response to the fine: "It's a slave system. Make no mistake about it. Slave master say you can't do it, don't do it. They'll make an example out of you."[11]
On December 23, 2007, Sapp was involved in an altercation with NFL referees near the end of the second quarter of the Raiders' game at Jacksonville.[12]
The incident began when linesman Jerry Bergman mistakenly assumed that the Raiders wished to decline a Jacksonville 10-yard penalty. Sapp, the defensive captain, began speaking with referee Jerome Boger, indicating that the Raiders instead wished to accept the penalty. The conversation became heated, with Sapp gesturing and swearing. This resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct call by Boger against Sapp. Sapp and his defensive teammates continued interacting with the officials after the penalty was called, resulting in a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Sapp and another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed against teammate Derrick Burgess. Finally, the coaches and officiating staff entered the field and began physically separating and removing the arguing players. Boger claimed that during this time Sapp "bumped" him; Sapp denies making physical contact. Regardless, at this point Boger levied a third unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Sapp and ejected him from the game. Sapp did not play in the second half and was eventually fined $75,000 by the NFL; Burgess received a $25,000 fine.[13]
In January 1998, Sapp married Jamiko Vaughn and the union bore two children: a daughter Mercedes in 1998, and Warren Carlos II in 2000.[14] The couple divorced in 2003; Sapp moved out of the $2.3 million, 18,000 square foot home in tony Windermere and into a 33rd floor half million dollar condominium he owns in Hollywood Beach, Florida. He pays his former spouse $60,000 a month in alimony and child support.
Sapp also has four other children with four other women, all but one born between 1997 and 2002. He pays a total of $15,495 per month to the other mothers of children he fathered.[1]
Sapp, Devin Bush and a developer created Urban Solutions Group in 2006 to construct low income houses in Fort Pierce, Florida. The PNC Bank loaned the group money, but by 2008, the real estate market tanked and the project ended in failure.[1]
On August 19, 2008, Sapp was hired as a studio analyst for Inside the NFL on Showtime.
In the fall of 2008, Sapp was runner-up on Season 7 of Dancing With The Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Kym Johnson.
He was one of the roasters in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry The Cable Guy in March, 2009.
Sapp is currently paid $45,000 per month as an analyst on the NFL Network where he is featured on NFL Total Access and NFL GameDay Morning. He also earns appearance fees for attending events. He is presently working on a book to be titled, "Sapp Attack".[1]
On February 7, 2010 Sapp was arrested in South Florida and charged with domestic battery. Sapp was in Florida to appear as an analyst for the NFL Network's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, but following the arrest an NFL Network spokesman said Sapp would not appear.[15] On March 24, the charges against Sapp were dropped.
In 2010, PNC bank was awarded a judgment of $988,691.99. They filed a monthly lien of $33,333 against Sapp's $45,000 NFL Network paycheck in December, 2011. He also owed the Internal Revenue Service $853,003 from income in 2006 and $89,775 for 2010. He was $876,000 behind on alimony and child support to his former spouse and owed $68,738 for unpaid property taxes in Windemere. He also owes money to attorneys, friends and a speech therapist.[1]
The Associated Press reported on April 7, 2012 that Sapp filed for bankruptcy seeking to discharge debt from failed businesses. In the Chapter 7 filings, Sapp claimed to have lost the championship rings he won at the University of Miami and his Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers.[16] The balance in his checking and savings accounts was less than $1,000. He claimed no credit card debt and owns no automobiles, but owes National Car Rental $90,685 through his business, Nine-Nine LLC.[1] Court filings indicated Sapp's assets totaled $6.45 million against debt of $6.7 million. His monthly income was reported as $115,861.[17]
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Jason Taylor & Edyta Śliwińska |
Dancing with the Stars (US) runner up Season 7 (Fall 2008 with Kym Johnson) |
Succeeded by Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke |
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