“He’s Killin’ Me”
April 12th, 2012
The man charged with presenting Warren Sapp’s case for entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a matter months is unhappy about the high-profile negativity surrounding Sapp in recent days.
Tampa Tribune NFL writer Ira Kaufman, the Tampa Bay area’s only representative on the Hall induction panel, joined Tom Krasniqi of WHBO-AM 1040 yesterday and painted a grim picture of Sapp becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer with the class of 2013.
“He’s killin’ me. He’s killin’ me,” Kaufman said of Sapp. “And by that I mean that in nine months it’s going to be my pleasure, my privilege to present the case for No. 99 in front of the Hall of Fame panel. Forty-four people are going to be looking at him. I have very powerful ammo to get this man in [to the Hall of Fame,] I believe, based on the merits of what he did on the football field.
“But you’re right. Some of those people in that room are looking for a reason to vote, ‘No’, on this guy based on the way he treated them. We don’t need anymore ammo. We don’t need him getting fired from NFL Network, which could happen. We don’t need the bankruptcy. We don’t need him getting him in trouble with Jeremy Shockey; Whether it’s true or not, he shouldn’t have said it. All these ancillary things are not helping my case. So from a very selfish and personal point of view, he’s killin’ me.”
Kaufman said he doesn’t want to accept the consensus that Sapp won’t get into the Hall of Fame on his first try. Kaufman said he’ll feel like he failed if that’s what plays out. Thought Kaufman added that if Sapp were to be inducted into the Hall the following season with Tony Dungy and Derrick Brooks, that wouldn’t feel so bad.
For Joe, it’s just beyond weak that scribes who elect members of the Hall would make the whole process personal and keep Sapp — or anyone — out because they think he’s a jerk. There’s not much point to the whole thing without an objective, intelligent process.
April 12th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Ammo? Sapp on field was a 50 calibur, mean and nasty. Off field he was #8 birdshot, coarse and annoying.
The way he played and changed his position is HOF! He deserves to be in the HOF!
April 12th, 2012 at 9:03 am
Getting into the Hall of Fame should have absolutely NOTHING to do with what a player does off the field. Sapp is the second best DT to ever play the game behind John Randle. Plain and simple, Sapp could kill someone and still be in the hall of fame, because what he did on the field is the only thing that should be recognized. What happens off the field is peoples own personal lives, it has nothing to do with the way they played the game of football. The one thing bad about being rich and famous no matter what sport someone plays or what movie someone is in, the media is obsessed with their personal lives. People who care about athletes personal lives are losers and should get a life of their own.
April 12th, 2012 at 9:08 am
Sapp>Randle
April 12th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Watch any ‘draft expert’ discussing DT prospects. Sooner or later, they will talk about how that DT fits into one of two DT ‘types’, the “traditional tall, rangy DT type” and the “Warren Sapp type” – I specifically last year, NFL Network were using that exact verbiage to compare Dareus and Fairley. I’m sorry, but when you have so greatly excelled at a position that you, as an individual, have become so widely accepted as THE prototype, for all other players that come after you to be compared with, you don’t just deserve to be in the hall of fame – you have a valid claim to being one of the most important players to have ever played the position. If Sapp doesn’t get in on the first try, the HoF will have lost all justifiable validity. Remember, the Hall is a private organisation that the NFL has chosen to consider as ‘valid’ – in the same way that they have chosen to accept the AP’s winners for end-of-season awards over PFWA, etc. If the HoF refuse to give this honour to a player who has had such widespread and longlasting effect his position, the NFL should starting entertaining offers from other private companies interested in establishing a hall that judges players on their play, not on whether or not that player orally gratified the voters’ rectums during their playing days.
April 12th, 2012 at 9:17 am
*recta?
April 12th, 2012 at 9:18 am
I agree with Ira for once. He’s spot on. Still Michael Irvin got in and he was far worse than Sapp after football, and although a Michael was a great player, Sapp had as much of an impact on the game for sure, but fewer rings.
Many players like Michael make great teams better or play a major part. Sapp , Brooks and few others made a mediocre team great. They would have possibly had 2 rings if not for the BS call in the Rams Championship game.
April 12th, 2012 at 9:31 am
Sapp WILL be in the HOF, he was a HOF player and nobody can question that.
Personally it doesn’t matter if it’s first ballot or not. These people who claim John Randle or anyone else is “the best ever to play the position” obviusly did not see Bob Lilly play, or Merlin Olsen, or Joe Greene, or Alan Page or etc., etc, etc.
Isn’t it good enough to BE in the NFL Hall of Fame? It is to me and Warren Sapp IS a Hall of Famer whether or not his personality keeps him out for another year or two.
Nobody here can claim to know who the best player all time was simply because they haven’t seen them all play all their games. It’s talk radio BS.
Being in the Hall of Fame IS the highest honor a player can achieve individually…..period.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Good player, terrible human being. Period. I’ve met Sapp several times and each time he is an even bigger A-hole than he was before. Hall of Fame player? Yes, of course. Hall of Fame person? Nowhere even close.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:17 am
thibs5599:
Joe will share a story.
There’s a very, very popular Tampa Bay athlete, retired, who Joe will not name, a borderline Hall of Fame player. To the public, and to a lesser degree with the electronic media, he was wonderful. To the writers, he was a complete and utter A-hole.
(On Joe’s list of worst a-hole players he ever dealt with, which includes Neil Lomax and Bo Jackson, this guy is No. 1 by a lap. FYI, Sapp is not on Joe’s list and yes, Joe had a run-in with him once which was actually pretty funny.)
Said player literally cost Joe cash because his team got him to agree to more than a few stories with Joe beforehand, and each time when Joe spoke with him, said player told Joe to f- off. And it wasn’t just Joe he was an arse to. Joe even saw the guy chew out an intern because he wasn’t getting free food and had to pay for a hot dog, even though he’s a millionaire. No joke.
When a player is a jerk to a writer, he is a jerk to fans. Writers are the middle men, the delivery men in so many words. When a player f’s with a writer, it usually results in said writer getting chewed out by his/her editor or in the worst case, pulled off the beat. Imagine your job being made miserable or puts your job in jeopardy just because some rich guy decides to be a complete a-hole.
If Joe was ever a Hall of Fame voter, and this player Joe speaks about is up for a vote, there is no way in hell Joe could ever vote for him. So this guy is going to benefit financially from Joe’s vote when he made Joe’s life miserable and cost Joe cash because he couldn’t act like a human being? Huh uh. No.
Call Joe petty, but as people on this site like to write: “Karma is a nasty b!tch.”
April 12th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Joe, what you are typing about is not all that out of line. It’s called human nature.
Karma can indeed be good or bad. you treat other people badly, it comes back to you. that’s the way it is and I have no problem with it.
Personally I avoid bothering “celebrities” and thus have not been subject to a Sapp like put down. But I certainly don’t envy writers having to put up with the kind of garbage I’ve heard about about when they are on ly doing their job. and their job is to sometimes connect the players to the fans with their stories.
Good for you man!
April 12th, 2012 at 11:04 am
I’m guessing that’s a baseball player, who probably is not most well known for his time with the Rays, but rather another team(s).
April 12th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Sapp = whatever
April 12th, 2012 at 11:23 am
@T in Orlando:
Exactly who I thought of also. Treated stewardesses like crap while drinking too much beers and chicken? LOL
April 12th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
@ Joe
When you put it in those terms I see why media members would not want to vote for someone. I guess if someone is an ass directly to you then it is a way of getting revenge back at them later down the road or simply not wanting to help them out or acknowledge them for doing something good. That is why I think the media should not be the only voters. I am not sure how the whole thing works but do current HOF members get votes, and I think players and coaches should be able to vote also. The media can be very nasty themselves and I am sure the last thing some guys want to do after play 60 minutes of football is to talk to a bunch of people sticking mics in their faces while their trying to relax. I’m not saying all media members are like this, you seem pretty cool yourself, but we have all seen clips of media members asking ridiculous questions to athletes and coaches.
April 12th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Joe? was this player on the Rays and did he have a twin brother? lol
April 12th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
In thinking the mystery a-hole spent time in Winter Haven…
April 12th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Rectum?? Sapp damn near killed them.
I wonder if this notorious asshole had a wife who would write him a note before the game, so it could be leaked to the press at halftime. Something like, “Onward Christian soldier!”
Maybe, it was the legendary player who would take underpriveleged teenagers to Africa and bring them back pregnant.
Put him in the Hall of Fame, he deserves to be there. I’ve always got a kick out of Warren Sapp and his antics, our signs of the Zodiac must be copacetic.I wish he would write a “tell all” book someday.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
Difference between Sapp and Michael Irvin is Irvin liked to chop lines but was a pretty cool dude. Sapp can be a total arsehole. Sapp deserves to get in eventually but character matters. I, for one, would be lying if I said I didn’t lose respect for Warren as a person. Selling out Shockey whether he’s guilty or not was way over the line. If you lose respect for a person, how difficult do you honestly think it is to say yes to the Hall of Fame if you have the honor of voting. I disagree with the majority. It should matter. On the field should matter most but these guys don’t get the option of being a role model. They are role models whether they like it or now and whether us parents like it or not. My kids see when John Lynch is the man of men that he is and on the flip side when Talib is the punk that he is. It matters to teams, why shouldn’t it matter to us fans and the writers that elect to bestow them into the Hall. It matters and it should.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
[Miguel: That’s some pretty slanderous sh!t you are alleging John Lynch did. Joe doesn’t need to get sued for rumors. If you are suggesting something this vile and you are going to comment on this site about it, you might want to have photos or a copy of a police report. — Joe.]
April 13th, 2012 at 12:10 am
@Miguel My post wasn’t aimed at you at all. To be honest with you, I didn’t even read your original post until you referenced it. After reading it I still didn’t know John Lynch was who you were referencing. I still love John Lynch. You proved he is a man. Well done!
April 13th, 2012 at 12:22 am
@ Joe While I was at it, I read Joe’s post above. You nailed it. I can’t imagine ever, ever, ever voting for a guy that I know is a jerk. It goes against every natural human reaction we have.
@Miguel. Don’t tell me who my kids worship. Maybe you didn’t read my post because it says nothing about worshiping any athlete. I teach them better than that. They worship their dad. Nevertheles,, they aren’t blind and they see their Dad psyched about Bucs football. Naturally, they have their favorite athletes. I must admit I was ignorant to John Lynch’s “under-age” girls night. I tried to search it but couldn’t find anything on it. I’ll take your word on it and say that is disappointing to hear.
April 13th, 2012 at 8:23 am
What is this John Lynch stuff, never heard of this in my life and have a hard time believing it.
April 13th, 2012 at 10:17 am
I knew about the bad stuff going on …
@Miguel Grande, Joe is responsible for the content here. Therefore Joe can not allow personal allegations to be made in this forum about specific people unless Joe knows they are unquestionably accurate. Joe has no interest in getting sued. Joe would recommend you build a free one-page website where you can say anything you want. There also lots of forums that will let you link that content to get the word out to the masses. –Joe
April 13th, 2012 at 11:23 am
Miguel
Stick to burritos, please!
April 13th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
@thibs. This Miguel guy was full of it.