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Double-deckers Bucs' Sapp and Brooks close friends
Posted: Thursday January 20, 2000 07:46 PM
Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks are two of a kind. They are both from Florida. It's also where they played their college ball, where they were drafted and now play in the NFL. Naturally, they play on the same side of the ball and with Sapp at tackle and Brooks at linebacker, they lead the NFL's top-rated defense. Both players sat down with CNNSI.com's Mark Morgan to talk about their life together as Tampa Bay Buccaneers. FAST FRIENDS Derrick Brooks : I can't picture not playing with him. We were drafted together. I was happy to be drafted in the first round. Then I realized I was going to Tampa [smiles]. Then I got real positive real quick [looks at Warren Sapp]. I said, "I'm gonna have my chance to play with Sapp, a guy that I watched my whole career since high school." Warren Sapp : We knew we had something special after our first year. We said, "If we go in and keep working on this thing, we could be a championship ballclub." MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY Sapp : I know that he's gonna be there to make the play whenever it's his turn to make the play, and sometimes when it ain't his turn, he still makes the play and I'm thinking, "How the hell did he get over there?" That's just the kind of player he is. And I can't imagine going on Sunday without him because if they ever get rid of him, I'm going with him. Brooks : He makes everyone around him better. Knowing that he's going to line up to win, and not just win but be dominant. I like that. I just don't want to let him down. ROOMATES ON THE ROAD Sapp : I'm just going to tell you like this, the only thing we fight over is the remote. Mark Morgan : What's the fight over the remote? Somebody wants to watch something that the other guy doesn't want to watch? Brooks : Rassling. Sapp : He wants to watch the rassling. Brooks : I've made a wrestling fan out of this guy. He never thought he would be watching the soap opera, but he is. Morgan : And you want to watch anything but wrestling? Sapp : Any kind of sport. I'll watch hockey before I watch wrestling. We fight over it, and I'm telling him, "Turn back, turn back" and he's like, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, I going to watch this match right here." 'NOLES VS. 'CANES RIVALRY Brooks : Early on, maybe we had that rivalry thing. But now, we're interested in winning a Super Bowl ring. Sapp : I tell you one thing. There's always been one comment. I tell him always that I'm 3-1 versus him and he tells me, "I got just as many rings as you do." We both got one, so we kind of balance it out that way. WANNABE BROADCASTER AND INTERVIEWEE Brooks : He would have to give me the straight answer. He wouldn't have to give me the politician answer; I'd have to get the meat off the bone. Morgan : And you'd be able to get it out of him? Brooks : Oh yeah. Sapp : Tough, it'd be tough. I wouldn't want to be sitting here with him on the other side of that camera with a notepad in his hand, I really wouldn't. Because that's a scary situation with him and me. Because him and me been together since 1991 and we've become very, very close friends. I don't think I'd take the interview. I'd tell Reggie [Roberts], the public relations director, "I don't want to sit down with Derrick Brooks." But if he's out of the game, pretty much I'm going to be out of the game. I think he might last a little longer than me because he ain't taking on 300-pounders on a constant basis, He's just ripping and running. Brooks : Thanks to this guy. THE TASK AT HAND Brooks : You can't be scared of success. I mean, if you don't think you can do it, then you probably won't. We knew back in 1996 when Coach [Tony] Dungy and them came here, we were going to be part of a turnaround and we're just trying to do our part. Sapp : We know we got something real, real special around here. Right now we just want to get it done and we're just two steps away. And if you don't realize the goal at hand, then you're going to lose sight of it and we don't want to do that. The window of opportunity in this league doesn't open very much. Right now, they let us put our foot in the door and we want to stick our bodies in.
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