FAB 4. Surprised To See Sapp Call Out McCoy

It was an absolute treat to have legendary Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp on the Pewter Nation Podcast this week.

Not just because he’s Sapp and my relationship with him goes back to 1995 – his rookie year in Tampa Bay and my first year covering the Bucs for Buccaneer Magazine, which was the precursor for PewterReport.com. It’s because when you interview Sapp you simply don’t know what you’re going to get – and as a reporter that’s exciting.

Sapp was the most unpredictable Buccaneer I’ve ever covered in my 24 years of reporting on the Tampa Bay franchise. Even in retirement Sapp still holds that title and wears that crown to this day.

Bucs legend Warren Sapp and Scott Reynolds – Photo by: PewterReport.com

Always entertaining.

Always interesting.

Always controversial.

Always brutally honest.

That’s always been Sapp.

And that was Sapp when he joined the Pewter Nation Podcast this week when he was back in Tampa for the Bucs’ Alumni Day at training camp on Tuesday, which was also the day of Ronde Barber’s induction into the Bucs Ring of Honor press conference.

We touched on a bunch of topics from the old glory days Bucs teams he was on from the mid-1990s through the Super Bowl – to his thoughts on this year’s Bucs team with the new coaching staff. And I couldn’t help but ask him about a former Buccaneer that he was very close with over the last nine years.

That would be Gerald McCoy, who is now playing for the Carolina Panthers.

To be honest, I expected Sapp to still support McCoy and show him some love even though he is now an NFC South division rival.

But Sapp surprised me yet again and had some harsh words for the Bucs’ first-round pick in 2010.

Sapp’s criticism centered on McCoy sharing his hard feelings over the organization allowing new defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to wear McCoy’s former No. 93 jersey – even though that’s the number that Suh, a five-time Pro Bowler, has worn for the last four years in the league.

Here is a transcript of Sapp’s comments about McCoy from the Pewter Nation Podcast:

Bucs legendary DT Warren Sapp – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The way I look at it, the thing that kind of threw me sideways was Gerald talking about now that this organization doesn’t have a right [to give away his 93 jersey], or it’s business that they moved on. You know … they moved on! And then he wanted to say that Sapp, [Derrick] Brooks, Lee Roy [Selmon], [John] Lynch, Ronde [Barber], nobody wore their numbers. Last time I checked, those were Hall of Famers and champions. We didn’t go to one playoff game with him and not one damn divisional title, so, I think he owes some of those hundred million dollars back in that sense. If you’re going to put it up against the bad asses that run this bitch before you, you better put up some chips in this game because that’s the way it is. He didn’t have no chips in his game. No Defensive Player of the Year, and that’s what Brooks and that’s what Lee Roy Selmon did. Lynch got his name in two damn Ring of Honors. What am I missing here, Gerald? You’re talking about something silly. If you’re mad, you’re mad, but don’t put it on the organization that the organization did it. Every NFL team has to move on.”

“He was a damn good player – damn good player – [but] not even close. You damn sure don’t get legendary status or tell somebody to put your jersey up if you didn’t take them to any playoff games. I still remember when that bitch (Raymond James Stadium) was rocking when San Francisco came here and all them flags were waving. That was my last home playoff game. You could run that thing back any day of the week and I’ll keep watching that thing. Not one playoff game, not even a wild card [with McCoy]. I went to nine [playoff games]. We went 5-4.”

“Hey listen, we bought championships and divisional titles, and that’s why that wall [on the Bucs Ring of Honor] is marked up with our marking (names and jersey numbers). That’s why nobody wears 55, 99, 47, 20 and 63 – fool! – 40, the A-Train. Come on, man – fool! That’s what that is. He’s a nice guy – nice guys finish last. That’s why his jersey’s getting worn [by Suh].”

I think Sapp is dead on with his remarks at McCoy – nice guy, damn good player because of those six Pro Bowls, but just not a legend. And when McCoy was comparing himself to legendary players like Sapp, Brooks, Selmon, he was suggesting that he was of the same caliber of those players – and he’s not.

Legendary Bucs DT Warren Sapp – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Nobody wears the Bucs legends’ numbers. 

McCoy isn’t a Bucs legend – and for the reasons I’ve stated publicly over the summer. McCoy didn’t help the Bucs make a single playoff game and he didn’t set a single team record in his nine years in Tampa Bay. Those things matter when you’re separating legends from very good players.

That’s not just my opinion. That’s also coming from an actual Bucs legend – a Bucs Ring of Honor inductee, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999, a seven-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and a Super Bowl champion.

That’s about as credentialed as it comes in Tampa Bay.

Sapp didn’t come out and say, “Gerald can come to the picnic, but he gets to sit at the kids table, while the legends will be over at the grown-up table” – but it was pretty much the implication.

Sapp drew a clear distinction between the Bucs legends and the non-Bucs legends, and playoff appearances are the big criteria in his mind. One of the reasons Sapp is a bit frosty over McCoy’s remarks on the Fox Sports show Undisputed is because McCoy put the Bucs organization on blast.

In Sapp’s mind you don’t do that.

The Bucs organization is Sapp’s family.

The Glazers are Sapp’s family.

The AdventHealth Training Center – formerly known as One Buccaneer Place – is Sapp’s home away from home.

Raymond James Stadium is the house that Sapp built, and where No. 99 is welcome every Sunday he wants to visit.

Panthers DT Gerald McCoy – Photo by: Getty Images

Maybe one day McCoy’s name will be up in the Bucs Ring of Honor at Ray-Jay, but it doesn’t sound like Sapp would necessarily endorse that distinction.

But Sapp covered more ground than just talking about McCoy in the Pewter Nation Podcast interview. He also touched on his playing days in Tampa Bay, his thoughts on new Bucs of Ring Honor inductee Ronde Barber, as well as current Bucs defensive tackles Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh, in addition to new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

Make sure you listen to the full 20-minute interview for some classic Warren Sapp commentary.