Sapp’s Football Career
Warren Sapp was born on December 19, 1972, in Orlando, Florida. He was an American sports star notable in the field of football, positioned in a defensive tackle. As well as that, Sapp was also one of the players who played in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for about thirteen seasons.
During his high school, Sapp received an honor after his outstanding football play at Apopka High School. Aside from football, Sapp also played on the baseball team. In there, he had hit a school record of twenty-four home runs during his junior years with the Blue Darters.
On the other hand, in a football game against Dr. Phillips High School, Sapp’s hard tackle move on Johnny Damon had given the latter a concussion.
During his college years, among the several top-ranking football programs that had recruited Sapp, he chose the University of Miami. In there, he was positioned to defensive lineman, in which he had won the best defensive player award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. In addition to that, in the year 1994, he had won the Rotary Lombardi Award for being the best linebacker. In the same year, he had also won the Bill Willis Award for being the best defensive lineman.
Furthermore, aside from the previously mentioned awards, he had also achieved the Outland Trophy as the best college football interior lineman and the Big East Defensive Player of the Year Award, all in 1994.
After his football career as a defensive standout at the University of Miami, Tampa Bay Buccaneers had drafted him into the NFL, for the first round in 1995.He was the 12th pick overall and was thought to be drafted much higher. However, due to his reports of several failed marijuana and cocaine, many teams passed on him. The National Football League had denied the rumors, although it seems like Sapp had sabotaged his own chances back then. In 1998, Sapp had signed a contract extension and was paid $36 million for six years.
During that time, he was immediately given a job as the Buccaneer’s right defensive tackle. This had remained as his position for the span of nine-years he was in Tampa. Following that, in 2002, Sapp had been a big help in the Buccaneers’ victory in Super Bowl XXXVII against Oakland Raiders. During the 2002 to 2003 postseason, Sapp had made two sacks and five tackles, a key component in the team’s defense.
In 2004, Sapp had a $36.6 million seven-year contract with the Oakland Raiders. In there, he had started his sixteen games at defensive end, as well as in defensive tackle, which he had a record of about thirty tackles and 2.5 sacks. Subsequently, Sapp had started the first ten of the 2005 season with a record of twenty-nine tackles and five sacks.
In 2007, Sapp’s name was included on the Florida High School Athletic Association among the thirty-three players in his home state. On the year 2008, he announced his retirement over the phone to Al Davis, the Raider’s owner, and general manager. Sapp had also confirmed this on his website, saying, “I’M DONE.” His official retirement was on March 4, 2008.
Bankruptcy and Financial Crisis
Although Sapp was one of the richest sports players, he was also one of those who got broke because of several issues.
In 2010, two years after his retirement, Sapp was reported to owe $68,738 for his unpaid property taxes in Windermere. Aside from that, he owed $876,000 for child support on his former wife. PNC Bank had also awarded a judgment of $988,691.99, alongside the monthly lien of $33 333. Unfortunately, he also had about $853 000 debt on Internal Revenue Service from his 2006 income and $89 775 in 2010. He also owed an amount of money to friends, attorneys, as well as to a speech therapist.
In the year 2012, Sapp had filed for bankruptcy to discharge his debt from failed businesses. He had also claimed that he lost his Buccaneer Super Bowl ring and his University of Miami Championship rings. During that time, the reported amount of his savings and checking was about less than $1000. Although he had claimed that he had no credit card debt, he owes an amount of $90 685 to National Car Rental through his Nine-Nine LLC business.
His estimated asset was $6.45 million against his $6.7 million debt. In the same year of November, his 10,000 square-foot house in Windermere was auctioned and sold for $2.9 million.