If convicted of domestic violence, Warren Sapp should be . . . Removed from neither. 44.87% (2,652 votes) Removed from both. 29.23% (1,728 votes) Removed from the Buccaneers Ring of Honor. 20.57% (1,216 votes) Removed from the Hall of Fame. 5.33% (315 votes) Total Votes: 5,911Kaufman knows he’d have a hard time getting Warren Sapp in the Hall of Fame nowPosted by Mike Florio PFT on July 2, 2015
Warren SappAPIn early 2013, Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune managed to persuade the Hall of Fame voters to induct former Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp on the first ballot. While off-field, post-career behavior technically isn’t an official factor in the selection process (although maybe it should be), Kaufman knows that he’d have a very hard time getting enough votes for Sapp if Sapp were up for election in the aftermath of a pair of arrests in 2015.“I’ve already heard from three or four of the selectors saying, ‘Kaufman, you want to rescind that speech and do it all over again?'” Kaufman said on PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio.Kaufman explained that Sapp’s primary competition for first-ballot induction was Michael Strahan, and that Kaufman managed to persuade the voters to set aside their personal opinions of Sapp and focus on a football career that included election to a pair of All-Decade teams.“As soon as I got to town in New Orleans, I talked to my guys on the committee that know which way the wind’s blowing,” Kaufman said, “and they were saying, ‘You got your work cut out, Ira. A bunch of guys, they want to make Sapp wait. They don’t want to put him in that first year. They still remember how he treated them.’ I knew what I was up against.”Kaufman kept the focus on Sapp the football player by addressing the problem of his off-field persona from the outset of the presentation.“I had a quote from Keyshawn Johnson, ‘Yeah, he belongs in the Hall. He’s an A-hole, but he belongs,'” Kaufman said. “And so I think that’s the first time that word was ever used, Mike, in a Hall of Fame speech. And I didn’t mine saying it, because I got Keyshawn to say it. I didn’t have to say it. And that put it to bed right there. He’s an A-hole, but he belongs.”It’s one thing to be an A-hole. It’s another thing to be twice accused of violence against women in a three-month period.“He had a lot of problems here in Tampa, the way he treated people, without question,” Sapp said. “He would be out with Tony Dungy in a public situation, and Tony Dungy would cringe at some of the things Sapp did. Chewing out a father whose five-year-old asked for an autograph. Chewing out the father in front of the kid. Just gross, boorish behavior.“But you know what? He did not have a history of putting his hands on people, specifically women. He did not. And now, with the Phoenix affair coupled with this one in Vegas, I’ve been telling you, Mike, it’s not gonna end well for Warren Sapp. But when I said that, I didn’t think it would evolve into domestic violence. This is a new area for Sapp.”Some have suggested that Sapp, who was fired by NFL Network after the February incident in Arizona, should be removed from the Hall of Fame as a result of the allegation that he assaulted his long-time girlfriend in April. That’s something that won’t happen unless the rules of the Hall of Fame dramatically change — and unless plenty of other guys are removed, too (e.g., O.J. Simpson).Kaufman pointed out that, locally, some are suggesting Sapp should be removed from the team’s Ring of Honor, pointing to the word “Honor” in that specific recognition. Since that’s an award controlled exclusively by the Buccaneers, it’s something to keep an eye out — especially if Sapp ends up being convicted of domestic violence for the April incident.Warren Sapp's Nevada arrest re-opens Arizona caseGreg Auman, Times Staff Writer Thursday, July 2, 2015 8:19pm
Former Bucs star and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp's arrest in Nevada on domestic violence charges has caused him to be dropped from a pre-trial diversion program in Arizona, where prosecutors have summoned him for a July 31 court date to re-open an assault charge against him.According to court documents issued Tuesday in Arizona, the 42-year-old Sapp "failed to meet the terms and conditions" of a plea agreement he entered into after a February arrest in Phoenix on charges of soliciting a prostitute and assault. Sapp was able to have the solicitation charge dismissed by completing a pre-trial program, but will now go to court on the assault charge.Sapp's plea agreement included language stating that if he was "arrested or charged with any criminal offense" before completion of its requirements, he can be terminated from the program and prosecutors can ask the court to impose a sentence including 30 days in jail and two years of probation. The Arizona arrest cost Sapp his job as a TV analyst with NFL Network.Sapp's Nevada arrest relates to an alleged April 28 incident in which he is accused of biting his girlfriend, throwing her to the ground and stepping on her head during an argument at a resort in Henderson and at her Las Vegas residence. He has a court date on those charges July 23.Sapp, who played defensive tackle for the Bucs from 1995-2003 and was part of the 2002 Super Bowl championship team, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Bucs' Ring of Honor in 2013.
