Former Buccaneers and Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp is having a retirement party in Tampa this weekend to benefit the Tampa Children’s Cancer Center.
In promoting the event, he gave an interview to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times in which he had some interesting things to say about the coaches he had in Tampa Bay.
Asked about winning the Super Bowl in 2002, Jon Gruden’s first year as the Buccaneers’ coach, Sapp suggested that in reality, former Bucs coach Tony Dungy deserves more of the credit than Gruden.
“I always say this: The damn cake was already in the oven,” Sapp said. “It was just a matter of when it came out. All Jon had to do was put the icing on it.”
Of course, you could also make the case that a big part of the cake was in the oven even before Dungy got there, considering that defensive stalwarts like Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch were drafted when Sam Wyche was the Bucs’ coach.
Sapp does give Gruden credit for making the Buccaneers’ offense accountable, but Sapp suggests in the interview that he prefers Dungy to Gruden. He also suggests that he didn’t much enjoy playing for longtime Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, saying that Kiffin is the main reason Sapp left Tampa Bay.
“Me and Monte had the rockiest relationship — a stepson-to-stepfather relationship,” Sapp said. “It was always his defense, and he barked people out of the building. It was too much about him.”
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June 26th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
“…It was too much about him.”
Mr. Kettle, I have Pot on Line 3.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 13 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I was in Tampa during the Dungy years and the Gruden years, and Sapp could not be more wrong. Dungy made them respectable - that is all. The fans never stopped bitching about him not being able to win the big one - and that is the truth….he got them team into the kitchen and made the cake, but nobody could eat it until Gruden came in and served it. People can sal all they want about how ggreat of a guy Dungy is and what an ass Gruden may be - but the cold hard truth is that Dungy couldn’t close the deal in Tampa and Gruden did.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
this isn’t anything new….just about everybody gives dungy credit for that superbowl and not chucky
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I think most of us were able to deduce the ‘Dungy being a better coach thing’ already.
What next? Rich Gannon coming out and saying Bill Calahan doesn’t deserve all the credit for bringing the Raiders to that same Super Bowl?
Although I was unaware of the not so good relationship with Kiffin.
Anyways, the real headling to this story should be:
SAPP’S NEXT STEP? DANCING WITH THE STARS
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
As a Buc fan, I’m tired of the Gruden/Dungy comparisons. Dungy built a great defensive team, but they underachieved his last two years. Gruden came in a motivated them to achieve in a way they never had before, but he hasn’t been as consistent as Dungy was.
They’re both very good coaches. Can we leave this topic alone?
As for Sapp, thanks for the memories, Big Guy. He made that defense an all-time defense. We haven’t been the same since he left.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
“It was too much about him.”
Thanks for the laugh of the day, Warren.
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June 26th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Go figure. A player preferring a player’s coach over a disciplinarian coach. I never saw that one coming.
I can’t stand Sapp. The guy has a WR mentality as a DT. He should leave the premadonna, constantly needing the spotlight crap to guys like TO, Chad Johnson, etc.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Hmmm, I get it but…
Does that mean Marty Schottenheimer gets nearly all the credit for the Chargers making it the the AFC Championship game last year?
Or, should he get virtually none of the credit since he could not win in the postseason and the post season is a totally different beast as we all know?
Personally, I think Gruden deserves most all of the credit.
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Rating: 4.25 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Fact: Sapp hates white people.
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June 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
anybody with a functioning brain could have figured
out that dungy did 95% of the heavy lifting.
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Lets not forget that Gruden would have won a championship in 2002 regardless. The team he built in Oakland would have destroyed anyone, including whoever would have knocked Dungy’ Bucs out of the first round.
Gruden definitely deserves more credit and people need to respect coaches who don’t let players walk all over them.
Dungy’s 9-7 seasons were way past due, he had the greatest defense and chose Shaun King to lead it (got to hook a brotha up - his deceased son’s myspace profile should be enough evidence that there was reverse racism present). The only reason he succeed in Indy was because of the disclipine Manning puts on his players for failing.
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
The Bucs were not going to win with Dungy, Gruden wasn’t going to win without the team Dungy built.
With just one the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still have zero championships. The team needed a bit of both and the sooner this is realized the better.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Gruden is 36-44 in Tampa since the Super Bowl year.
Take from that what you want.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Dungy is a defensive coach as Gruden is offensive (no pun intended).
Dungy and Monte Kiffen set up the Tampa 2 Defense and Gruden came along and added a respectable offense that could score more points than the defense could hold the other team to.
Dungy left Tampa and took over the reigns in Indy. Dungy was presented with a team that was already very strong on offense, but needed much work on defense. Dungy built of the defense and got Peyton his ring.
If you argue that Gruden’s trophy isn’t rightfully his, then you must agree that Dungy’s trophy isn’t rightfully his as well, though Dungy was in control for several seasons before going to the big dance.
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Rating: 3.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
BlabberMouth Sapp likes Dungy better than Chucky…what a surprise. I bet he’s going to vote for Obama too. You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out why.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think Sapp is completely forgetting about the way Gruden played Rich Gannon to a tee in practice and prepped that defense for EXACTLY what they would see vs. the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Warren, you can’t tell me that Dungy would have prepared you for that game the same way Chucky did. Read this:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_5_227/ai_97174288
***(excerpt)***
So how did it get to the point where Bucs defensive lineman Warren Sapp was dancing in the locker room wearing nothing but a jock strap and the smile of a champion? Preparation.
The Bucs were so well prepared for one Raiders play that safety John Lynch called it before it happened. The result was Dexter Jackson’s second interception of the game. “I was in the slot with (Jerry) Porter one-on-one, so I told Dexter cover me, and he did,” Lynch said. “I ended up coming off on the smash, but Dexter got over there.”
The Raiders’ formation and their situation tipped Lynch, who had seen the exact same play from the exact same formation in a similar situation in practice earlier in the week. “We were so well prepared today,” Lynch said. “It’s uncanny how the plays we ran in practice showed up, same formation, same motion.”
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
95% of the lifting my ass. Gruden brought 26 new players to the Super Bowl team including major contributors to the offense.
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
funny how he left tampa disgruntled with one kiffin, only to leave oakland disgruntled at his son.
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Dungy did the heavy lifting, but could not put the weight above his head. Gruden could and did. /the end.
I have believed this for a long time: “Of course, you could also make the case that a big part of the cake was in the oven even before Dungy got there, considering that defensive stalwarts like Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch were drafted when Sam Wyche was the Bucs’ coach.”
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
He didn’t like Monte Kiffin & that was the reason he left. How is Sapps career since he left TB?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
sure looks like a bias toward the dusky saint cant-crest-the-hump dungy and against the foul-mouthed yet immediately effective caucasian.
and dungy continued his cant-win-the-big-one string for quite a while after leaving tampa for a more talented team…
oakland was a dream matchup for tampa, however. gruden was able to tell the defense exactly what to expect. and oh was he right.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Not to mention the fact that Gruden’s playoff run went up against his former teams in Philly and Oakland. Makes it kind of easy when know all the other teams tendancies that you used to coach. Dungy didn’t have that advantage. Remember before the Super Bowl Gruden had Gannon’s cadance(sic) down to a T. I think that aspect is over looked often.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hey MDS,
Sapp has always been a guy with a thoughtful streak that I respect, and a tendency to be bluntly honest when it’s not always necessary to do so, which I question.
When you just got out of the league, is that the time to tell tales, diss this one and say this and that about the next one the stuff you always wanted to tell them? I don’t beleive it is.
“You got your Super Bowl Ring in Tampa, Warren. You went to pasture out in Oakland. Now that it’s all said and done, make kissy kissy and nicey nicey with Jonny and Monte and Tony and everybody. You’re going to the Hall Of Fame…”
That’s how I see it MDS. Wonder what you guys think of Warren today?
F2B
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
June 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Surprise! He likes the black guy and not the white guy….
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June 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I liked the comment about Sapp hating white people as it was just as relevant as the piece. As for assigning credit, it is a subjective exercise. Objectively, I can say that no one could have picked apart the Raiders offence like Gruden did in that superbowl (which, in and of itself, proved the value of knowing the other team’s plays) and that few defensive coordinators have been as good as long as Kiffen.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)