Buccaneers donate Sapp items for Hall of Fame display

TAMPA - Warren Sapp won't officially be inducted until Aug. 3, but the former All-Pro defensive tackle of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has already left a mark at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To celebrate Sapp's upcoming honor, the Bucs donated several artifacts from the two-time All-Decade player's career for permanent preservation in the NFL's shrine to excellence.

Sapp, who played nine of his 13 seasons in Tampa, is the second Buccaneer to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, joining the late Lee Roy Selmon. Among the items now on display in a special exhibit dedicated to the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 are the jerseys worn by Sapp during the 1996 and 2000 seasons.

Sapp earned NFL All-Decade honors in the 1990s and 2000s and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. The next season, he posted a career-high 16.5 sacks, earning one of his seven Pro Bowl berths with Tampa.

In 2002, Sapp was an integral part of the franchise's first and only Super Bowl victory. To commemorate that accomplishment, the team sent a special collector's edition bobble head of Sapp following Tampa Bay's win against the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII and a commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated, chronicling the franchise's run to the Super Bowl. Sapp is featured on the magazine's cover.

Sapp and the six other members of the Class of 2013 - Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, and Dave Robinson - will be enshrined Aug. 3, when a bust of Sapp will be unveiled. Sapp already met with lead sculptor Blair Buswell as the Hall prepares for its 50th anniversary, with a record number of members expected to attend the weekend festivities in Canton.


(tbo.com)