Hall of Famer Warren Sapp used a few words last week to object to Ravens defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan wearing his old No. 99 as a tribute.
And given the brevity of the message, it might have been fair to think he was kidding, or not particularly serious about his objections.
But no, this is Warren Sapp, one of the greatest defensive tackles of all time. Also a tackler of prostitutes, head-stepper of girlfriends, and a defaulter of debts.
You know, a real butthole.
So it’s probably not a surprise that when asked about Jernigan’s gesture by Mark Cook of PewterReport.com, Sapp responded with what can only be described as a screed that says a lot more about him than it does Jernigan.
Sapp began his explanation by saying he met Jernigan through a mutual friend prior to Jernigan entering the league out of Florida State, and that they exchanged numbers and Sapp offered to help. Jernigan was picked 48th by the Ravens, lower than he might have imagined, but Sapp could identify with that, having fallen to 12th in his draft because of reports of drug use.
But according to Sapp, Jernigan never called back, hence his objections to the number which Sapp apparently has given himself provenance over.
“I’m not just trying to hold up my standard,” Sapp said. “I’m only the fifth defensive tackle first ballot Hall of Famer in NFL history — the ones before me were Bob Lilly, Merlin Olsen, Mean Joe Greene and Randy White. I am in a company of five, so when you talk about me, you better bring the other four with me because that is the standard that I held myself to. . . .
“Joe Cullen, the old D-line coach that was down in Tampa, is in Baltimore now, and I have already had four conversations with him about coming up to Baltimore.So how am I not going to have a conversation with the guy that wants to put a number on his back? That’s not my number. He [Jernigan] put my name in it [the story]. And to put my name in it, makes it personal to me.”
Sapp encouraged Jernigan to:“Go out and make a name for yourself for you. Don’t go and use a first ballot defensive tackle that you will now be judged against. Are you kidding me? Who signed up for that?”
After that kind of response, it would be fair to wonder if Jernigan might be re-thinking his decision to wear Sapp’s number. And it’s also fair to wonder how many people would buy one if he finally called Sapp back and told him to stick 99 where the sun didn’t shine.
