Built From The Ground Up
May 3rd, 2013
Throughout the weekend, Joe will bring snippets of the many, many, many stories Bucs great Warren Sapp shared Thursday with the Bucs pen and mic club about his career.
Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is obviously proud of his accomplishments but perhaps there is nothing he is more boastful about is that he — and Sapp is quick to point out Derrick Brooks and John Lynch as well — transformed the “Yucs” into a Super Bowl champion.
And while a good argument can be made that if Father Dungy’s offense wasn’t so archaic that it made Sid Luckman cry, the Bucs, with the Sapp-led defense, cheated themselves out of maybe another ring or two.
Sapp doesn’t look at it like that. No regrets with just one ring.
“No! Because I know people who’ve got none,” Sapp said “It is very nasty when you are having that conversation and they have none. Trust me. I have just as many championships as Brett Favre and he has three MVPs. I have just as many [rings] as Peyton Manning and he will be considered as one of the greatest quarterbacks that has ever played the game.
“But I won in Tampa. That holds a lot of significance when you are sitting in a room with a bunch of people. I get it with Michael Irvin all the time. He breaks out all three of his rings on Super Bowl Sunday. He brings them out like they are flower pedals, sets them on the desk [smooching noises] and kissing them and everything. Nobody talks more trash than a Cowboy because [derisive voice] they are America’s Team. So [Irvin] says, ‘Yeah, I won three but he [Sapp] won one in Tampa!
So [Irvin] goes into a spiel, 0-23 and all of those years, man. I wore that orange, too! It means a lot more that we built the team from the ground up, no doubt about it.
Joe still thinks the Bucs got jobbed out of at least another ring the way Father Dungy ignored the offense. Sapp and Lynch have all but admitted it year ago.
But it is cool Sapp is happy as heck with his solo, and the way it came about.
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:18 pm
I watched that induction announcement on buccaneers.com. Sapp is truly candid when he is up there and it was actually nice to hear him speak (something usually not said in the same sentence as Sapp) about the old days. If you haven’t checked it out, you really should.
Had me reminiscing. I still pop in that Super Bowl dvd from time to time. (Tonight might be one of those times.)
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:20 pm
A season ticket holder in 1976…watched all the losses….. came to the rainy NFC Championship to see us lose 9-0. How sweet it was to beat Philadelphia and go to SD.
At least when we got the chance we won!!! That victory erases an embarrasing past.Thank you Warren for your part!!!
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:21 pm
Multiple rings might give those players more to boast about, but working hard as a team and finally getting the big prize has to be special all the same. Sapp, Brooks, Lynch, Barber and the rest of team were all a part of something special. There was no greater feeling as a fan to cheer on a perennial losing franchise that eventually (finally) turned things around and won a Super Bowl. It was a special time and Sapp was a big part of it. Here’s to getting back to the glory days.
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Hey Warren!!! There is no I in team. Its not about you – it was a TEAM EFFORT during the glory years. Don’t say “I won”, say “we won”!!!
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:39 pm
great memories of your super bowl run. now if our defense can play on par with our offense… we may be able to make another run at this thing.
May 3rd, 2013 at 6:00 pm
bert emanuel rule…If anything robbed us it was that.
May 3rd, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Dilfer. Mother….F*ckin….Dilfer. I still have no idea why Dungy kept him around for so long. SMH. Dilfer…..that motherf*cker.
May 3rd, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Like him or hate him, Sapp was a baddass on the field, was just as mean off it, but his accolades are definitely justified, he was a manbeast that looked like an elephant, but moved like a deer! But I don’t get what he means about Michael Irvin winning 3 SB’s(in Dallas), but Sapp won 1 in Tampa…..I’m a little dense, but I don’t understand what he meant by winning one in Tampa, didn’t Irvin win all 3 of his in Dallas? Between them both, all 4 SB’s were never in Tampa OR Dallas, so what am I missing?
May 3rd, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Bucfever40:
Given how miserable the Bucs franchise was, to get them to a Super Bowl win was monumental and maybe harder than the Cowboys winning three titles when Irvin was there.
The Cowboys were a dynasty who went through a few bad years before they turned things around. The Cowboys didn’t (and don’t) have the history of miserable football like the Bucs did. The Cowboys did not go 0-23; the Cowboys did not have 11 straight years of double-digit losses.
May 3rd, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Of course! The whole meaning of turning around an image that was etched in stone, having been known at the time as the worst team in SPORTS history, and having lost 26 games in a row sure helped do that. I appreciate you clearing that up for me Joe, I really should’ve got that. lol
May 4th, 2013 at 5:49 am
That same Dilfer who took that Ravens team into our own stadium and came out with his ring? As I recall, Dilfer went to the Pro Bowl in 1997. Perhaps if he, and not that lazy ass Shawn King, had played in the 1999 game in St. Louis the Bert Emanuel play wouldn’t have mattered. As always, we blame the QB in Tampa.
May 4th, 2013 at 10:26 am
Dilfer could not hit a open wide out with a mac truck let alone a football almost every
Throw was at there feet 7 feet away.