Sapp Throws Monte Under The Bus

Last night on Inside the NFL (sorry, can’t find a video clip yet), Warren Sapp kept his hype train rolling as he took an opportunity to knock Monte Kiffin down a couple notches. Here’s what he said:

“He’s riding on a golden carriage that me, Brooks, Ronde, and all those other guys pulled for years. And at no point have I ever heard Monte Kiffin give any of those horses that are pulling that carriage any love, any love! I’ve seen him in the middle of a game drawing up a zone dog in the middle of a game and I looked at Brooks and said, ‘You see your coordinator giving away our defense?’ It’s all about him, it’s always about him. I’ll bark him out of the building. I’ve heard all the stories.”

Cris Collinsworth: “Wait, wait, wait… you’re dogging your own guy?”

Sapp: “My guy is Marinelli, My guy has always been Marinelli.”

I don’t know about you, but for a guy who essentially created the defensive scheme that most NFL teams at least partially use on a regular basis, I don’t see Monte in front of many cameras giving himself a lot of credit. And yes, I know double-deep safeties and Cover 2 has been around for a while, but this particular flavor of it is called the Tampa 2 for a reason. Does Monte have everyone fooled?

And who’s not giving Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks (shoe-in Hall of Famers) and Ronde Barber (very widely recognized) credit? They get shitloads of credit constantly! Whenever Monte’s name is brought up, those other three names will be tagging along right beside it. The converse won’t always be true, though. Sapp will be in the Hall of Fame and eventually the person who designed the scheme that he was so successful in will be mostly forgotten. Take a guy like Deacon Jones. Can you name his defensive coordinator? Is that too far in the past? What about Howie Long or Reggie White? Any idea who designed their plays at the peaks of their careers? In the end, Sapp will win the battle of popularity because for the most part, people remember players and head coaches, not coordinators.

Sapp blames Monte for choosing Anthony McFarland over him in 2004, which in retrospect was actually a mistake. That’s got to factor somewhere into Sapp’s decision to bitchslap Monte in front of a national audience. And let us not forget that Sapp is an enormous attention whore. A huge one. And right now, Monte is getting a little bit of media attention because of the rumors that he will be joining his son in Tennessee after the season. Maybe that bothers Sapp a little? I don’t see how it affects him, but maybe he thinks that any exposure Monte gets should also be shared with his players. It’s as though every time Monte steps up to a podium, he should open his talk by thanking all his players, past and present.

The fact that Sapp gives a lot of credit to Rod Marinelli isn’t surprising. He’s not the only one, either. Simeon Rice and Chris Hovan have both given huge props to Marinelli for shaping them into the players they were/are, and I’m sure they’re not alone. But I’m not sure why proper credit can’t be spread around to everyone. Can’t both Kiffin and Marinelli be partly responsible for the success they had? And can’t they enjoy that without having to make some kind of statement that the players also did their share?

Jesus, Warren, stop being such a bitch. Monte is a 68-year old skinny white dude with a combover who is about to take a huge reduction in both pay and national attention in order to ride off into the sunset by coaching for his son’s team. Can’t you just let him have his moment?