Warren Sapp A Football Life

[Music] my society world what I wanted to do enough sales from the NFL play she bust out lad must I laughed right out the door I'm like why not why not he was a living breathing havoc wreaking paradise you just knew you're not on balk America he was relentless a man who exude charisma and intimidation there were moments where he dotty overpowering sighs and surprising Grace Warren changed the way that position was played who brought to a once bleak franchise controversy and also from the halls of Apopka High School to the halls of Camden his energy was boundless his ability limitless and his sheer force of will and personality remember [Music] [Music] my life my job convinced me team game nobody can ever tell you that I was just looking at how cheap the gas was right there for the phone come on say green oh yeah let me know the lights green [Laughter] Warren Carlos app was born in December of 1972 he grew up just ten miles from Orlando in the tiny hamlet of Plymouth Florida the youngest of six children at nine pounds six ounces he was a big baby they say she carried me for a year you talk to my other idiom they tell his story all the time they say I came I pretty much standing up head up everything it was like you got to go see this ball he got his hair done anything I would say he never was a baby he was a little boy born young I don't know how to describe it but he was a good big baby and he was a good bar growing up we are at the home where Warren grew up in and it used to be 26 Barrett Drive and his mom went down to the counter and had to change the warrants that drive [Music] we called the dirt come from the dirt the clay nothing just open feels and not even a stoplight now to McDonald's the piece of man didn't deliver no cable determined to provide for her kids the best life she could and he worked up to four jobs to make ends meet not an easy undertaking for a single mother of six last time I saw my dad was I was 30 and before that I was 11 he wasn't there wasn't something that I was missing I always said that my mom was my dad a momma cuz I feared her more than I feared any man and that's just as their guard on his true five I feed her to death he was he wasn't tough to keep in line McCall once I told him something to do and he didn't do it I will line him up and then from then oh he know momma didn't play but Warren's older brothers did Arnel and Parnell were standout running backs in high school and college and Warren idolized their football prowess and he learned from them too just outside the back door this is the greatest feel I do right here me and my brothers play right here that was my Cathedral you know my yard and whenever they got off from work I had to attack him at the door I'm gonna get me a win larger contests were settled just down the street the two fields I used to play this one hit was a big field this is the big field that was like the Taj Mahal this right here right here will we get dusty right here right there that's the Dust Bowl that's why I spent most of my afternoon Saturday Sunday any time I had to go play right here yeah I've no more than 80 feet from home and if she yelled I heard us up man number day we called the dustbowl coz window grass it is dirt damn all of a sudden there's a big cloud of dust ivy we just going at it and just will be all of us all of our clothes I mean it was I played man and it was nothing fabulous but boy did we not know it I mean we knew nothing else did you talk about somebody that came from the dirt I came from the dirt playing in the neighborhood was one thing but to Warren's mother organized football was a whole different animal played with his friends and with his brother so that was good enough for me but to go on a football field no put on those helmets and people knocking and clacking and stuff no well he had a friend named Troy Rainey and him and draw was that school one day and sophomore year it was the first day of school and I'm getting ready to walk out the school door and Troy's like whoooo homies I know you ain't it so I had to call the school where she was working at an Oscar cuz I play I'm almost she's like go ahead and hung up the phone so I push him we run run straight to the locker room I'm playing football and who better to guide the budding talent than the same man who mentored his superstar brothers he was a different kind of coach the perfect foil to Warren's bold persona was like that fun uncle when I got my opportunity to be with him it was the absolute best for me I loved I knew there was something special at one and we had a great relationship any high school coach wants the best available talent on his team and Warren was one of those guys but it was much more so than that for me is that I wanted these kids at Apopka to go on and have a future and I knew that he had it he was a terrific basketball player could have played baseball so he had that kind of athletic ability for a big guy I played everything I punted and played outside linebacker and I played tiny never came off the field that was the only way we always played that was like it the Dust Bowl or in the backyard and wasn't anybody better so why should I come off the field while his on-field abilities were honed to a sharp edge the young man from Plymouth still had a lesson to learn about respect and discipline Sapp disagreed with his coaches run heavy play calling one game and he let gurkey know you run that ball three more times and I'm coming off this field oh yeah he ran it three more times I can't right there got right here to his face took my pants off and swim right here on the ground little stands of fool fool I go and walk right off the field being go inside get my clothing and go right out the damn stadium that could have been the last football story I could ever been telling your mother what an idiot I was [Music] I'm not gonna allow a kid to fail and I'm not gonna loud one episode to let him fail regardless of what anybody thinks it might not be anybody else's coaching philosophy to do that but it's been mine my entire career nor the coach would have let me do what I did and pick you back if it wasn't him and it wasn't my family with my mom and my brother in our history with him no it's pretty neat the fact that from that point that we had the incident that it was him that saw the light you know I provided the opportunity but he took advantage of it it takes a little mistakes like that and people giving you a second chance to have your life roll out in front anyway I'm glad I could stand here today he finally realized that football was his ticket and just maybe as important was that he wanted to go to college and get an education I gotta get out of here this is my shot and I was grabbing it I was grabbed I won't let nothing stop me from getting there coming up on a football life nobody dreamed we could get a player of Warren SEPs caliber and when he dropped to our position it was a miracle [Music] if you went back to plummet nine times out of ten you'd be on the truth you're gonna be out there doing nothing getting off at five o'clock coming to the tree behind you'll be at the local store coming to the tree I can't believe it tree was the place for drunks fast women parted they were shoot dice play cars Domino it was just some place in Plymouth that I wouldn't allow my children to go to and I didn't even go there if she was gonna let me hang out here and it was the same people that was gonna be there for the next 40 years and why would I want to be that self this was the one place that motivated me to get the hell out of here that's the truth [Music] long before he wreaked havoc on offensive lines in an NFL backfields Warren Sapp made waves as a standout tight end linebacker kicker and punter at Apopka high school in Florida colleges around the nation and especially in the state of Florida took notice Warren Sapp had offers from Florida Florida State Ohio State and one of the recruiters from Miami he said what do you think coach I said I know he's got it that at a high level I said there's just not many kids that are this big this a July this much balance this much athleticism and he agreed Dennis Erickson warning me that was the thing how's that high school watching my girl play basketball the phone rang because my mom little phone number to the student a phone that's how crazy it was you could call payphones and you know this this man sitting on my couch weigh you in this Eriksen man I'm on my wig that man did it's Harrison sold to my home and asked me to become a my American it was nowhere hell I went no other colleges never did mention education and the later was named Ana she said Miss Sapp say you don't have to worry about Lauren's grade because if he don't come up to par I will personally let you know and they're sold me right then [Music] sap was redshirted his freshman year and by the time he suited up for the 1992 season he had gained 70 pounds there wasn't much need for a 300-pound tight end in Miami but the coaching staff had other plans for SAP Bob Cobb mellowest comes to me and says sonim I need you to try defensive tackle what's you crazy never put my hand to dirt I don't know what y'all doing out there all the time I do is help my tackle with the little end with a hand push and go see the linebacker that's all I know about the D line I push the end over and I go get the guy he said yeah and you good at I wanna see can you stop somebody pushing you over in the three technique I'm like what get away my face you say son you wanna come down I seen you move you'll be great [Applause] and the system fit like a glove for him because you know he is so hard to block he's you know he's so low he's got such speed and agility and quickness and he just those are natural that's what a bad boys played I suppose Russell spot that was cortezes but all the badasses that my he played right tackle and it was my spot and it was for three hitting and get it trampled on on your way to the court [Applause] under Miami's system the all-american defensive tackle thrived earning numerous collegiate honors including the Lombardi Award the Bronco Nagurski Trophy and Defensive Player of the Year ready for a new challenge Sapp decided to enter the NFL Draft after his junior season he couldn't dominated the game any more than he did at the college level you won every award had all the hardware and was the best player I thought in college football at his time and was ready and should have been the first pick of the draft but it was one piece of the draft that always said uneasy with me it's when they asked me to come to New York and I was like no I'm gonna be in plumbing in the backyard good buddy on the grill the beer is flowing yeah more people you know cuz that's what it was about for me made my people I was gonna retire my mother I was gonna take my mother from this little yellow Shack and I still put in a nice place with a nice Mercedes Benz out front and she was gonna have to work no more SAP went to New York but as he feared things didn't go well the night before the draft erroneous reports surfaced that he had failed multiple drug tests allegations that have been disproven a month earlier the reports were out of control they were not accurate we were still confident going into draft day but we had no idea that he would fall out of the top ten with the 11th pick in the first round the Minnesota Vikings select defensive end from Florida State Derrick Alexander well there's no mystery anymore Derrick Alexander is a fine player but certainly was not as high up as Warren Sapp let's go to Craig James Greg Warren right now the emotions I mean it's just a tough situation I'm just sitting here waiting around but I mean it's not that tough your aunt Drew Rosenhaus says the agent what are you hearing on the phones right now right now so I think it's gonna be any second literally this could be the key call it's Sam Weiss on the phone yeah we're thinking about drafting you and I'm like you think it you know Tampa Bay Buccaneers buddy 11 straight double-digit loss seasons the last time I checked I looked at this phone like I want to hang this damn pillow so bad but it's been 2 hours and 45 minutes so let's get this over with nobody dreamed we could get a player of Warren SEPs caliber and when he dropped to our position it was a miracle drew are you surprised that Tampa Bay's the team oh I'm surprised yes we didn't expect it they would we had talked to them pretty extensively but I didn't think that'd be the team but at least he's in his home state he's an hour and a half away from his hometown only silver lining did a real real dirty dog day in my life that I would be playing 80 miles from my mother's home there wasn't no game she'd miss I knew that Carlo just took it as I'm a Florida boy I would high school in Florida I went to college in Florida now I'll play pro football and flora [Music] up next on a football life can you believe Tampa Bay is 1 and 19 lifetime on the west coast I look Deborah and I say this stuff today [Music] I'll never forget the first time I ever met him Warren and Derrick Brooks they come bustin into this room he said hey Brooks there's there's that a hard-ass white guy that knocks people out and so I got upset hello and he said to me right away you ready to go win a championship and I said let's do it as eager rookies in Tampa Sapp and fellow first-round draft pick Derrick Brooks were hell-bent on winning but in 1995 for a team mired in a culture of mediocrity victory would prove more elusive than anticipated he's trying to figure out how we don't get this thing turned around because it's 11 straight double-digit loss season so I see Lynch I see Brooks that's okay we can force this thing cuz I'm not used to losing you're not used to losing at the midway point the Bucks were five and two in first place but it felt like we were in last place because we wasn't a tight-knit team and the second half of the season we went into tanks and it seems as if it was going to be the same old bucks boy when Tony Dungy walked in that door structure was born and a path was shown and I love we hired 20 Dungy because we needed somebody to turn this team around to make it respectable and to build a winning team I got to tap in 1996 and it was kind of a defeatist attitude it was a losing culture there were talented players there but they didn't feel like they were going to win didn't feel like they couldn't win and that was the thing we had to change around Dungey and his staff preached a philosophy of discipline and fundamentals and the young Buccaneers fell in line things felt different even though the losses continued to stack up why people get set today to host camp abate they've won two in a row they're now six and four we went out to San Diego we're watching Chris Berman and the boys do they count down he comes on the TV and he says the San Diego super chargers play their yucks can you believe Tampa Bay is 1 and 19 lifetime on the west coast I turned and I looked at Brooks and I say this tops today I was upset he was pissed off big difference I didn't like it he hated it we get up go down the breakfast I say please tell me somebody else just saw what I saw watching Chris Berman got us in front of the nation this stops today we went out and we got smash 14 of zip before we even tied our shoes we down 14 to done [Applause] and in the past team would have folded up but some guys got on the sideline and said this is ridiculous we're a better team in this we just got to keep playing and slowly and surely we fought our way back guys didn't give up and we came back and won the game now we didn't go win a World Championship that year but that's when the tide started to turn in 1997 Dungey led the bucks to their first winning season in 15 years the key to their success was the 4-3 defense Warren Sapp thrived in done Gees virgin became known as the Tampa - we weren't gonna blitz a lot and take a lot of chances we were gonna get our pressure by rushing four guys and having seven defenders the linebackers and the defensive backs running free to make tackles it was all based on defensive line stopping the run game and creating pressure on the quarterback so it was a Lyman's dream in a lot of ways because you got a lot of freedom but along with it came a lot of responsibility he's called herself two runs and he called ourselves on the defensive line with mongers and I was gangs so we're gonna kick a hole in your great wall kick killer ass and leave one to tell the story and that's the film we pride ourselves on that [Applause] great defenses to me they start up the middle and when you had 99 right there in the middle wreaking havoc and just making life miserable on offensive lines on quarterbacks it was just a lot to deal with 1999 was special every single game there were moments where he dominated teams dominant I think is a word that's thrown around too often there are too many people that dominate at the NFL level he was dominant and that year in particular I come back 99 I have 12 and half sets and I said you know what right now is my prime chance to carve out my piece in the NFL I can carve out my low legs and carve out what people think of my plan career right now at this moment sap was voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 but while the Tampa defense inched toward perfection a championship still eluded them we finally put ourselves in the right frame of mind it'll give a championship because we were forged by fire when you forged by fire it don't get no better than that they go - we're coming up on a football life every toy he was touching me hitting me he was a disruptive [Music] how many times you said 411 what did I do it like that 11 11 times I didn't know worn sack me know it's such a joke Brett Farve in 1996 was a two-time MVP and a world champ he was the best player in football and in my division Tony Dungy walked in the room and said the Green Bay Packers are the target and Brett Favre is yours are you ready for the challenge no problem if I wanted notoriety of the world getting all over the hill would definitely do it he was relentless you just knew you're not gonna block him every time my just vivid memory of Warren Sapp is every play he was touching me hitting me he was a disrupter we play some of the most classic battles no other quarterback that did that I knew I was gonna get his best it was a bitter cold day at Lambeau Field when the seeds of this epic rivalry took root in their first playoff meeting the boy from Plymouth made his presence known and felt by the league's reigning MVP get your hands off me hands on me so that's what somebody held a playboy I ain't going nowhere so now he's got to go to this bitch so I'm standing there whooping the whole town where he's going and you come back I'll be right here waiting if he and I were to meet on the street corner dark alleys whatever I would not be near as brave as I was in that game or in any other game I had my teammates I had equipment I really had protection from everyone not to mention in that game we were playing home he's running away from you I go to heck this ball it's so kind of way I hit him right on the bridge of the nose he jumps up like you have a hell minim how did I almost break your nose already that might've been the closest we've ever come in each other but oh my god without that play old game oneself just another guy that playing position that day everybody identified with two people fighting for their two T's and it was no malice in it at all it was all funny joking we play like two kids man as good as he was as a player he was equally as good as a talker and if you were not careful you would get caught up in that and it would take you out of your game I think that's the brilliance of Warren he always got under my skin the best part about it was he wanted it to he loved it you come at me I'm coming back at you he would be like ma'am we'll be on your face all day for and I could I didn't disagree but I would say yeah but Warren look at the scoreboard man [Applause] then all of a sudden there came a point and I was like look well y'all are winning so it just rubbed salt into the wound while the fortunes of their franchises rosenfeld the clashes between these two future legends made for great football and an unexpected friendship if you'd have told me in 97 or 98 one day you're gonna look back and you're gonna be talking about warren and good like very respectful to be like yeah right but here I am the relationship kind of just developed over time I mean every sack added to it every hurry added to it every jab he would say to me add it to it you know and just the competitive fire was there for both of us it was a match made in heaven you country boys that really really really loved the game I mean loved it on a pure level a pure level to where hey you have to pay us this just go ahead with our boys let's go play up next on a football life we turn tap into a champ [Music] we got to practice doing things right all the time little things on details under Tony Dunne G's leadership Warren Sapp and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers perfected the art of defense turning the perennial losers into a winning franchise but despite their success the ultimate prize of a Super Bowl ring still lay beyond their grasp we have all the ingredients of a champion because Dungey had instilled it but as much as I love Tony Tony had a floor and it was that he didn't demand that our offens give us more and I think that was a disservice to the amount of expectations that he have us as a defense 2001 that season just felt we wasn't reaching our potential on one side of the football for greater coaches coach Dungy was and his change was needed I own us they made a bold play to get Jon Gruden draft picks cash Jon Gruden it was known for his offense he had been so successful with the Raiders if we could match up his offense with our defense we knew great things could happen come on Gruden he pushed us he motivated us he said you guys can be better and it started with SAP it started with Brooks started with me he challenged us all in front of everybody else every day you built you put blocks now I challenged him if you're really this good how about scoring some touchdowns on defense was the right mix of fun and drive and we love playing for the minute he made it fun he really really made it fun I needed more from SAP I wanted him to play offense I wanted his football charisma on both sides of the ball Warren actually had a package named after him and it was part of our game plan we're running the white hurricane but I'm usually blocking then we get to a landing this crazy ass man wants to throw me the ball so he grew the legends by allowing him to play tight end which take him back to his high school days and the pogo stick I mean it's not always God he was trying to implement Beyonce crazy and love dance what I was doing in practice was way worse version of the dance and what I did in public I was doing it like I mean let's just say that dance didn't fly high on the Buccaneer charts I used to love saying why hurricane you know he could impact the game on both sides he was a real true throwback football player that could play both ways all the pieces came together in that 2002 season but SAP and the Bucks still faced one last hurdle the Philadelphia Eagles had derailed Tampa in the postseason two years running but not this time [Applause] the yutz were going to the Super Bowl 37 is Tampa Bay versus the Oakland Raiders [Music] it was no question out mind that we were gonna get this big tough I think I have two Magnum bottles of champagne ready to go so we go to putting our clothes and plastics we go spray the lock [Applause] [Applause] we weren't surprised at all our confidence was incredible we could add the Steelers but the Stila curtain we will win in that game it meant too much to us from where we had come from and we put a whooping on the Raiders it was fun it's great great I mean we turned tap into a champion and it was absolutely a place where careers went to die it overtakes you it really does you realize we're the best football team on the planet coming up on a football life al Davis is on the phone he said he's not getting off into you know you [Music] the greatest thing my mom taught me was Jesus Christ was the only perfect man to ever walk the earth and they hung him on a cross so you know you are fair game no that's backwards dumbass we tell you facing oh you know Warren is very opinionated and sometimes can be outspoken but I've done with a box of rocks he didn't turn it on and off off the field he was the same guy and people had a hard time with that he'll listen to you and he'll take advice but in the end he's gonna do it his way and he's gonna be willing to take the consequences we needed him to walk that fine line of confidence in calculus Warren had no fear none and something needed to be said he would say it that come from his mama side he could be rude at times when he shouldn't be I think to a certain point but they're just worn outspoken brash honest to a fault Warren Sapp was not often at a loss for words nor the instinct to share them for better or worse yeah I call myself an can be just as only hard-headed focus loved dedicated loyal all that but you get it sitting on what you bring out of me I made a choice to carry that persona I always look for something that was a slight or you're not good enough and that was my few that was my few at times the big man and his big personality incited the ire of officials players coaches and the media there were fines and altercations but there was no bigger controversy in saps career then the hit he put on Green Bay's Chad Clifton in late 2002 yet they look at the lower half of Clifton Jack lifts and I want him to get up but what I'd not hit him he'll know he's gonna take it getting it every time when they get an interception what do you do get your head on a swivel that's the first rule just turn it to the office and we're coming to get you was Chad gonna make the play absolutely not Warren knew that Chad knew it everyone in the building knew it it kind of pissed me off and I know it pissed Chad off I mean it almost ended his career get you Argus it was unnecessary yes because football if you want to score with an interception or score with a fumble you're not the only one that finishes the play just because you have the ball the other ten of you you better go get a block it was well within the rules and the game was going on so to me he was just playing the way he always played he's a tremendous player and I think he always played by the rules I think in that case he just it was a legal hit you have to remember that it's a legal hit it was just uncalled for Packers coach Mike Sherman only aggravated the situation when he confronted Sapp on the field after the game [Applause] both guys were out of line but I could also see how it happened it's hard for a Coast Guard challenger player like that and did each other someone that's not gonna back down I called a spade a spade nothing illegal about what I did but I'm vilified for it if you know the nature of the beast don't be surprised by what it does his brash persona and take-no-prisoners attitude would fit right into the final chapter of SAP's football career unable to recreate their championship magic in 2003 the fabric of that tightly woven Tampa family began to unravel my own worth coming shaking hey Rosa House on the phone what does he yeah al Davis is on the phone he said he's not getting off into you an Oakland Raider now would have been great to see him finish his career in Tampa but the Raiders were kind of fun you know because the Raiders with Al Davis kind of had that bad-boy image if you will and it just seemed like a good fit for him at that stage of his career one of the most chants woman's I have a the whole time I was a Raider it's just sitting out with mr. Davis just toggle football everything about the man was great everything except his ability to pick a football team all by himself despite his best efforts Sapp was unable to recreate in Oakland the chemistry of that vaunted Tampa defense near the end of the 2007 season and his final contest with an old friend the veteran Trench Minh knew his playing days were done [Music] they came out of the hood he had their little shim get I know that look I said I know this place Beth I've known you going back to bed I know that look I hate Jenny to the right driver of the Left bar takes fakes a handoff humans came while number 73 and he grabbed my ass Brett Favre play-action pass that thing went back had a cup of tea put it up there took a sip went up over the top launched [Applause] I see it it's time for me to go home he told me in that game this can be it I think he still had something to tank he just needed someone to bring it out of him he just needed the right environment the right person to push those buttons which which would have been me I tried to talk him out of retiring by the way a number of times they said Lauren this is a lot of money for you and you're still a top notch player are you sure you want to do this and he told me drew I do not want to play this game when I'm not at my best I've made an imprint on this game and I don't want to tarnish that he went out in his prime [Music] up next on a football life when you make the Hall of Fame you're considered to be the best of all time [Music] [Music] what began as a child's backyard passion let a young boy from the dirt fields of Plymouth to fame and glory in the National Football League for 13 years he played the game he loved at the highest level accumulating 96 and a half sacks and one Super Bowl ring achieving all the dreams of dustbowl fantasy except one you make the Hall of Fame you're considered to be the best of all time at what you did for a living I stand before you today one humble proud country boy from Plymouth Florida I love this game I love the passion of it there's nothing else I know our love has taken me from a dirt road to a gold Jackie oh my goodness there's a lot of great players but to me the Hall of Fame is for those guys where you say I would love to still be able to watch that guy play you don't go to the Pro Football Fame without earning it first ballot you got to earn that Warren changed the game he changed the way that position was played he pursued the quarterback relentlessly he changed the whole complexion of football games they'll never be another Warren set I don't think you make seven Pro Bowls I don't think you'd turn around to franchise I don't think you lead a team to the Super Bowl without having that that great quality and if you talk to the key players that play this game they're all gonna tell you the same thing 99 is a beast because he kicked my ass he kicked their ass he kicks everybody's ass I would say that his legacy was second to none and that's how he should be remembered a guy I've known since out 15 years old it's all a favor that's what's special to me I never played this game to get in the Hall of Fame I played this game to retire my mother he worked hard at anything and everything he could so never one thing he wanted to accomplish making me proud and he has done that what I want you to say about me is that I was consistent and I had a game on a Sunday afternoon that you could sit in your grandma could enjoy I was having a blast [Music] you

Channel: Zach Crutcher

Views: 1,392,598

Rating: 4.7004743 out of 5

Keywords: Warren Sapp, A Football Life, NFL, NFL Films, NFL Network, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders, Miami Hurricanes, Tony Dungey, Jon Gruden, John Lynch, Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice, Keshawn Johnson, Super Bowl, Mike Alstott, Brett Farve, Beyonce, Fat Guy Touchdown, Hall of Fame, Hall of Famer, Defensive Tackle, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Diva, Loud Mouth

Id: zObFi_tkmh8

Length: 44min 48sec (2688 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 24 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/luv2fit]

Religious advice from Sapp

[u/FactCheckOnTheFly]

Chris Berman on ESPN: This team is 1-19 on the west coast!

Warren Sapp: This shit stops TODAY!

[u/TheFencingCoach]

There was only one perfect man to walk this earth, and he’s now an Oakland Raider.

[u/Slylok]

Stake. Not a cross. 🤦

[u/FactCheckOnTheFly]

Think about it. How many teams have a defensive system named after your team? The "Tampa 2"?

[u/FactCheckOnTheFly]

I'm not saying this just because I posted it, but at about 8:00 time, there is a good lesson to learn.