76 Days to Miami football: Warren Sapp Hall of Fame DT

Warren Sapp began his legendary Miami football career as a tight end in 1991. By the time Sapp left Miami for the 1995 NFL Draft, he was a dominant defensive tackle who was honored with multiple awards in his final Hurricanes season in 1994.

Warren Sapp continued the incredible legacy of defensive tackles for the Miami football program in the 1980s and early 1990s. Signing with the Hurricanes following the great careers of DTs Jerome Brown, Russell Maryland and Cortez Kennedy in the five years preceding his arrival, Sapp added to the history of great Miami DL.

The rise of Sapp as one of the best defensive lineman in college football began during his redshirt sophomore season in 1993. Sapp was named a second-team All-America as Miami finished 9-3. The 1993 season was the most losses Miami had since the 1985 Hurricanes went 8-5 in Jimmy Johnson’s first season.

Sapp brought his game up another level as a redshirt junior in 1994. Finishing with 10.5 sacks, Sapp was a consensus first-team All-American and was honored by winning the Lombardi and Bill Willis Awards, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and being named the Big East and National Defensive Player of the Year.

With Sapp and first-team All-American linebacker Ray Lewis anchoring the Miami defense, the Hurricanes allowed 11.9 points per game which was second out of 107 Division IAA teams. The Hurricanes finished 10-2. Miami ended the season with a 24-17 loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

The Cornhuskers clinched their first National Championship for legendary coach Tom Osborne with the victory over the Hurricanes. The Miami football team defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl three seasons earlier to win the Hurricanes’ second National Championship in three seasons under Dennis Erickson.

Sapp left Miami with one year of eligibility remaining to enter the NFL Draft. Expected to be chosen higher, Sapp slipped to the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp began a legendary career with Tampa Bay in 1995. Sapp played in 16 games with eight starts as a rookie.

After a rookie season with 27 tackles, three sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception that he returned for a touchdown, Sapp was named to the 1995 all-rookie team. Sapp became a full-time starter in his second season in 1996 and started all but two games the rest of his career with one non-start that season.

Sapp played the first nine years of his NFL career with Tampa Bay and the final four seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Some of the honors Sapp received throughout his career included Awards 1999 NFL AP Defensive Player of the Year, election to the Pro Bowl from 1997-2003 and first-team All-Pro from 1999-2003.

Sapp was also named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2nd team All-1990s Team, Pro Football Hall of Fame 1st team All-2000s Team and Pro Football Reference 1st team All-2000s Team. Sapp retired following the 2007 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2013.