Warren Sapp is never one to shy away from his opinions, so when the Miami Hurricanes legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle was asked to name his top five players for Miami and FSU, it would create some discussion.
Sapp made sure to omit himself, telling Chris Simms that he could not name himself in his top five of Miami Hurricanes and his begrudging respect for the rivals in the northwest part of the state is evident by the way he speaks of the Seminoles on his list. Of course, with Sapp being a defensive lineman, you aren't surprised to hear there were no quarterbacks in either list.
Warren Sapp's top five FSU players
CB Deion Sanders
LB Marvin Jones
LB Derrick Brooks
OT Walter Jones
RB Warrick Dunn
This list makes a lot of sense for Sapp since Brooks and Dunn were longtime teammates of his with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He won a Super Bowl with Brooks in the 2002 NFL Season. Sapp played at Miami from 1991 to 1994, so he competed against three players on this list (Jones, Brooks and Dunn). Three players (Sanders, Brooks and Jones) are also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
If there was a glaring omission, it was probably Charlie Ward. As quarterbacks go, he was ahead of his time. But since Sapp isn't choosing quarterbacks, I would say one of the great FSU pass rushers, like Peter Boulware or maybe Corey Simon, but there's no problem with this list.
Warren Sapp's top five Miami players
LB Ray Lewis
DB Ed Reed
DE Ted Hendricks
C Jim Otto
WR Michael Irvin
Ok, so all five players are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and you can legitimately call Lewis and Reed the best to ever play at their respective positions. Sapp decided to go deeper into the Hurricanes history with Otto, who played for the Hurricanes in the late 1950s before becoming the NFL's premier offensive lineman of the 1960s.
Hendricks, who was a three-time All-American for the Hurricanes in the late 1960s before a storied NFL career where he was a six-time All-Pro and in the NFL All-Decade team in the 1970s and 1980s. Irvin is an obvious selection as he was arguably the face of the iconic era of Miami football in the 1980s.
Warren Sapp's top five lists had a surprise omission
I expected Sapp to list his mentor, Jerome Brown, who has one of his top five Hurricanes. Brown was a two-time All-American for the Hurricanes (1985, 1986) and led the legion of great defensive linemen that have come through the program over the past 40 years.
Brown was the ninth overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft and was a two-time All-Pro before tragically dying in a car accident in 1992 at the age of 27. Sapp has often mentioned Brown as one of the great influences on his career and wore No. 99 in the NFL to honor his mentor.
Of course, there are so many great Miami Hurricanes that could be on this list, especially at the defensive line position. Russell Maryland and Vince Wilfork are two of the greats that could be mentioned. Heck a list of the top 5 or top 10 Miami defensive linemen is worth a discussion on its own.
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