They Might Be Giants? Nope, They Are
Posted by SK, March 7, 2008 - 7:48 pm
The NFL lost two giants this week. Two surefire hall of famers.
One left after three years of toying with the idea of retirement, and owning every relevant career record. The other played a position that was hard to define by numbers alone. The first held an hour-long press conference to say goodbye. The other announced “I’m Done” abruptly on his website. One was a giant only in figurative terms. The other played at 300 lbs but with the athleticism of someone much smaller. Both played in the old NFC Central division. Both have Super Bowl rings.
Of course, with all the fanfare Brett Favre is getting, not many people noticed that Warren Sapp is hanging up his shoulder pads for good too. We here at DeepSlant think their careers both deserve a spotlight. As much as Sapp can fit into a normal-sized spotlight, anyway.
When I first started watching football in the ’80s, the biannual divisional matchup between the Bucs and the Packers was nicknamed “The Bay of Pigs”. And deservingly so. After all, the Bucs were the losingest team in NFL history, and the Packers were far removed from the glory days of Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr.
That all changed in the ’90s. Both Favre and Sapp fell in their respective drafts, for different reasons. Favre fell to the second round after he required surgery to remove about 30 inches of intestine due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Sapp fell to the 12th overall pick after testing positive for marijuana at the combine.
As Favre led the Packers to victory after victory, the cheesehead became en vogue again, and the Packers returned to prominence in a big way. A few years later, the Bucs used Sapp to anchor the defensive line in Tony Dungy’s version of the Cover-2. And all of a sudden, it wasn’t just the Bears and Vikings fighting for dominance in the NFC Central. Both of these guys helped make their teams relevant, and both were eventually rewarded with championship rings.
Of course, that’s where the similarities end. And it’s partially why the mainstream media has made Favre it’s darling while almost completely ignoring Sapp. After all, so much of Favre’s personal struggles have been made public and the fact that he’s fought through them all has made him a hero to many. The way ESPN spins the story, you’d think that God was retiring.
Meanwhile, Sapp’s abrasive personality, while always good for a soundbite in the locker room, only got him fines and suspensions. And after he won his ring in Tampa Bay, he eventually followed the money and went to Oakland to finish out his career. Can any of us imagine Brett Favre in anything but green and gold?
The two are giants in their own right. And they’ll both be missed. But while we watch the Favre-o-rama that ESPN has become this week, let’s not forget about Sapp, who also helped take his team from obscurity to the promised land, and who played the game with just as much competitive desire and abandon.
Photo Credit: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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i never liked Sapp and I always thought he was overrated but he was the best defensive player on a SB champion and that deserves a bit more attention than he has gotten.