Sapp Named Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalist
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami Hurricanes standout Warren Sapp is among 15 modern-era finalists under consideration for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hall’s Selection Committee will meet Feb. 2 in New Orleans.
The 15 modern-era finalists, along with the two senior nominees announced in August 2012, will be the only candidates considered for Hall of Fame election when the 46-member Selection Committee meets. Sapp is among four first-year eligible nominees, joining Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden and Michael Strahan.
The 15 modern-era finalists were determined by a vote of the Hall’s Selection Committee from a list of 127 nominees that earlier was reduced to a list of 27 semifinalists, during the multi-step, year-long selection process. Culp and Robinson were selected as senior candidates by the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee. The Seniors Committee reviews the qualifications of those players whose careers took place more than 25 years ago.
To be elected, a finalist must receive a minimum positive vote of 80 percent. Other than the four first-year eligible nominees, all of the modern-era nominees have been finalists in previous years.
Sapp spent 13 seasons in the NFL (198 games), playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1995-2003) and the Oakland Raiders (2004-07). A first-round pick (12th overall) by Tampa Bay in the 1995 NFL Draft, Sapp started for the Bucs en route to earning All-Rookie Team honors in 1995. He amassed 96.5 career sacks despite playing on interior of defensive line.
He was named 1999 NFL Defensive Player of the Year after helping lead Tampa Bay to its first division title in 18 years. That season, Sapp registered 12.5 sacks, 54 tackles, three forced fumbles and recovered two fumbles. A year later, he recorded a career-high 16.5 sacks in 2000. He led the Buccaneers to a 48-21 win over Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII. From 1999-2002, he was a first-team All-Pro four straight seasons and was All-NFC five times.
A second-team All-NFL selection in 1997 and 1998, he was selected to seven Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Teams of the 1990s and 2000s.
YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for election, modern-era players and coaches must be retired at least five consecutive seasons. Contributors need not be retired.
Allen, Ogden, Sapp and Strahan are in their first year of eligibility. Parcells and Shields are in their second year of eligibility and Bettis is in his third. This is the fourth year of eligibility for Brown and Williams, the sixth for Carter and eighth for Reed. Greene and Haley have both been eligible for nine years. Robinson has been eligible for election for 34 years and Culp 27.
