The Sad Demise Of Warren Sapp
July 1st, 2015
Joe knows some folks out there are ready to dance on Warren Sapp’s grave. When Sapp played with the Bucs and lived in Tampa, he made more than a few enemies along the way.
Bucs fans wanted nothing but to bear hug the guy. He is the billboard of the turnaround from the Yucs to Super Bowl champions. Yet Sapp did his best to alienate fans like few athletes ever had. Sapp could have owned the Tampa Bay area with his bigger than life personality, but he chomped on most fans he encountered like an angry bear.
Recently, Sapp’s life has been circling the drain. Going bankrupt. Numerous hassles with women and the law, the two worst coming this year. They not only cost him his $500k annual gig with NFL Network, but also very likely torched any bridge of a chance to get TV work again.
Veteran sports columnist Gary Shelton wrote about the Fall of Sapp on his website, GarySheltonSports, and had a few poignant words.
He is a complicated man. I have never met anyone as polarizing as Sapp, anyone who is determined to show you both his good side and his bad. In one minute, he could be funny, loud, friendly. Sitting in the middle of a circle, he would have you laughing at all the stories.
Then something dark would pass over his eyes, and in the next heartbeat, he could brush by you without a sound. There is a coldness there, a distance that most of us cannot penetrate. I used to say that I knew him better than most people, and still, I did not know him at all.
Cover a guy for years, and you get to know him. [He] and I have argued. We have agreed. We have discussed his place among the fans of Tampa Bay. I watched all of his big plays, and there were many of them, with the Bucs. And still, if he were to pass me on the street, I do not know if he would acknowledge me.
Again, Joe knows fans who tried to interact with Sapp and he all but chased them from loving their beloved Bucs. Who knows why Sapp did that? Still, it saddens Joe to see how a guy is slowly begin to slip away based on stupid crap, rank distasteful actions of his own doing.
And no, there should be no thought of removing his name from the Ring of Honor. Sapp earned that feat with his play on the field. As Tuna Parcells once said, “No one can take that away from you because you did it.”
July 1st, 2015 at 10:10 am
Uh..because he is what he is, complete idiot? Then again, maybe he has a mental Illness that was never diagnosed?
July 1st, 2015 at 10:14 am
Sapp was a D-Bag before he was rich and famous. Adding wealth just amplified it. Warren Sapp I like to introduce you to Karma- she’s a real b*tch.
July 1st, 2015 at 10:20 am
Give them hell Warren. Your fans await your next outburst, you big teddy bear.
July 1st, 2015 at 10:21 am
Sapp has ALWAYS acted like someone who has SEVERE bi-polar disorder. Joe you are absolutely right, Sapp could have been the “Mayor Dailey” of Tampa, and could be in office right now, if he had the kind of direction, advise, leadership, and instilled character that hopefully young Jameis has and has had, and hopefully, will continue to have for the rest of his days. I very much see Jameis and Sapp in the same light when it comes to the polarizing personality and the way above standard potential for good or bad. The difference to me is what I kept coming back to in my research of Jameis prior to the draft. He time and again noted his father as his character example and how he must continue to exude that example for his little brother. The only upstanding example of behavior that has come from Sapp has been his play on the field. I hope he somehow is able to turn his life around and find a way of doing as much good for himself and the world around him as he did on the field and for his teammates.
July 1st, 2015 at 10:32 am
People like Sapp, who continue to live this way, usually have their lives end tragically…
July 1st, 2015 at 10:45 am
It really does seem like he has some sort of mental disorder. I hope he gets his life on track, but it sure seems like that’s a long shot.
July 1st, 2015 at 11:11 am
Good Luck, Warren!!!
July 1st, 2015 at 11:20 am
I’m sure Tony Dungy has reached out, I wonder what that relationship is like. Hopefully, he is not too far gone, because we all enjoyed his exploits on the field, giving Bucs fan a demeanor on defense we haven’t seen since he left
July 1st, 2015 at 11:27 am
Sounds like a progressive mental health disorder. My Ex wife was borderline personality disorder and she would have highs and lows every 4 hours. I thought I was going nuts. She was a brilliant trama nurse and worked hard….if she made it to work. She was always a delight to be around,very fun and then BAM!! She would go sit by herself and not talk to anybody. She also had the tendancy to make very poor life decisions whenever “fun” was available. Sounds like Sapp. Anyone remember Aron Sears?
July 1st, 2015 at 11:37 am
Privateer:
You would not be the first person to suggest Sapp is bipolar.
July 1st, 2015 at 11:54 am
Sapp is a HOF football player. And in the same token he is a HOF jerk as well.
July 1st, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Agreed, stop barking for his name to come down.
Otherwise, you have to take down the Superbowl flag. Without him, you don’t have that.
July 1st, 2015 at 1:06 pm
One minute he could be on the couch eating hot Cheetos watching Brazzers. The next minute he’s on the street trying to be Pimpin Ken smackin a biatch.
July 1st, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Maybe he didn’t like most of you. My one and only encounter with #99 was back in 1998. There I was being passed like a fart when the team is leaving Pepin Rood Stadium to get into the showers. There goes Brooks, Barber, Lynch…not even a wink or a nod towards my direction. I turn my back on the pathway from the field to the locker room, resigning my loss at getting zero autographs, when Warren Sapp calls me out (I’m wearing a cream sickle colored jersey at the time), says “nice jersey 99”. He looks me in the face, smirks at my ear to ear grin I have, then proceeds to offer his autograph, signs my jersey, then goes inside. Seems a contradiction from what I read about him, So I return to my first statement that he must not like most of you….. Go Bucs!!!
July 1st, 2015 at 2:36 pm
If I were Warren Sapp, I would PUBLICLY admit that I have a Mental Illness, Publicly seek treatment and complete anger management, apologize, and then ask for everyone’s forgiveness.
This might save his career.
July 1st, 2015 at 3:19 pm
I think his personality is part of what made him so good on the field. Talent and personality of a S.O.B.
I still love’em though. Like family!
July 1st, 2015 at 3:20 pm
@Chris
That is seriously the best advice Sapp is going to receive from anybody!
It has been written, to those who are given a lot, a lot is expected. What did Sapp do with his incredible gift? He made millions with it. Can’t fault him for that a guy’s gotta make a living. But how did he act after receiving all these blessings?
Not for me to judge. It also says judge not lest ye be judged. I have enough difficulty explaining my own great fortune. One of my great friends simply says life is random. Some people are born with genius talent in an area…Sapp…most of us are not.
July 1st, 2015 at 3:22 pm
Dan A…that’s hilarious. It’s like the Mean Joe Green Coke commercial.
July 1st, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Pa Privateer said borderline personality disorder, not bipolar. i believe my ex was a borderline as well. It’s sheer hell with those people. my ex was violent and very dangerous when she was enraged, and that was often. one big problem: they can seem very normal for long periods of time. // I was a Sapp defender until his insane confrontation with the Robinson High football coach. Sapp is obviously conflict-oriented. And that is a hallmark of Borderline Personality Disorder…
July 1st, 2015 at 3:28 pm
StPeteBucsFan…correct about the life is random thingy. It took me to about 25 years old or so to realize that the people who tell you that you can be anything you want to be in life were full of shyte.
July 1st, 2015 at 3:45 pm
87 I’m a 5-11 1/2″ white guy who always lied about that half inch and called himself six feet.
Still by high school I was pretty well clued in that despite my love for basketball I was not going to ever play in the NBA…or Europe..or anywhere they pay money. In fact I wasn’t even good enough to get a college scholarship.
So yep…got to accept some limitations in life…Never gonna be a scratch golfer either.
July 1st, 2015 at 4:08 pm
Thank you all for the kind words and thoughts.
#Abeautifulmind
July 1st, 2015 at 6:40 pm
When Sapp was signed as a rookie he was doing an autograph signing at a sports store. We sent my Mom-In-Law down to get his autograph. She was in her 70’s and was first in line. When he arrived he sat down and asked her to step forward. He had small talk with her and was very polite. She left the store with a pleasant memory and always thought he was very nice until started getting in trouble. She is in her 90’s today and can’t believe what has happened in his life. She and our Buc family believe he needs professional help before something bad happens. Good Luck Warren and remember the days of planting Bret Farve at the old Sombrero. Go Bucs!!!!
July 1st, 2015 at 8:45 pm
I’m not a overly religious person but what’s happening to Sapp is basic biblical beliefs, you get what you give, bottom line, evidently he has washed his hands of Tony Dungys teachings!
July 1st, 2015 at 9:08 pm
I went to the same high school as Sapp. I’m a little older than him, though, so we weren’t there at the same time. Still, I hate to see a fellow Blue Darter go down this way.
Sapp grew up poor. Hell, he lived in Plymouth, almost between Plymouth and Zellwood, a nebulous area we used to call “Plywood.”
Some have suggested that he might be bipolar, and that may very well be true. The thing is, when he played for the Bucs, we didn’t focus very much on his personal life. And why should we have?
He’s a Hall-of-Famer because of his play. But that’s over now. Let’s hope he rallies and gets it all together.
Go Blue Darters and GO BUCS
July 1st, 2015 at 9:52 pm
Not the first, nor will he be the last best that ever was to go nuts. I would compare him to Bobby Fischer, but Fischer’s accomplishments dwarf Sapp. Bobby defeated the Soviet Union all by himself, with zero support or help from anyone.
July 1st, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Buc4life
I very much see Jameis and Sapp in the same light when it comes to the polarizing personality and the way above standard potential for good or bad.
*********************
People with asburgers have these traits as well. Extremely well developed portions of the brain but poor (for lack of a better word) social skills.
Brandon Marshall has a similar demeanor, beastly on the field but shunned by the public bc of his antics. He got help and started a foundation (you probably seen the commercial on nfln).
The problem? Maybe truly honestly it not them it’s us. Parallel realities, you know?
July 1st, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Dez Bryant?
July 2nd, 2015 at 12:05 am
I don’t care that Sapp was a dic off the field… He was the best!!! The freaking best DT in the freaking league… And I love the guy because without him Tampa Bay remains a laughing stock forever… No playoffs, no multiple winning seasons in a row and definitely no freaking Super Bowl!!!
It really sucks that the guy is making some really narcassitic choices… He needs to grow up and stop acting like a child but I will still love and respect the guy for what he did for this franchise…
Pull it together Warren we still love you…
July 2nd, 2015 at 9:29 am
warren sapp personal is of no importance to anyone only his play on the football field, if he cant get his own personal life in order its not like supporting a 2-14 team, no one has anything invested in warren sapp now, he’s not a buc anymore so no need to pile on now. he got his superbowl and he got into the hall of fame. he was rewarded for his elite play on the football field not what he did off the field. good luck warren hope you figure it out
July 2nd, 2015 at 11:43 pm
Warren sapp… Deserves everything bad that happens to him. He has been rude to me on a number of occasions, and probably doesn’t even remember. But then again how could he, he’s been that way to too many! He deserves everything bad that happens to him.