Warren Sapp Ties His Football Legacy to Late Miami Legend in Gut-Wrenching Admission: “It’s Kind of a Personal Thing”

Athletes are often synonymous with the numbers on the back of their jerseys. From Michael Jordan’s #23 to Cristiano Ronaldo’s #7 across the pond. What seem like hollow digits become an extension of your identity. But these aren’t hollow digits at all- they almost always hold weight. Jersey numbers are woven not only with threads and needles but with sentiments and stories. There’s generally some emotion attached to why certain players pick their numbers and then stick to them. The reasons could range from being a homage to their favorites, superstition, wanting to add to a historic lineage associated with the said number or, in a more modern sense, their brand and its marketability. But this is still pretty surface-level. HOFer and every quarterback’s nightmare Warren Sapp has a much deeper reason behind his iconic #99 strip. Baked into said reason is grief, mourning and pride alike.

Before he was inducted into Canton and donned that gold jacket. Before he had his #99 jersey retired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even before he was a 6x All-Pro selection, Super Bowl winner and DPOY. Before all of these NFL accolades, Warren Sapp was already the biggest, baddest battering ram in Coral Gables. The Florida native was a superstar at Miami. Where the weighty and profound story of how he came into his jersey no. came about.

Warren Sapp, currently an assistant to Deion Sanders at Colorado, guested on 97.1 The Fan and was asked the lore behind his no. 99. The host mentioned how he expected there to be some sort of emotion attached to the selection, and he was right. Sapp delved into how he didn’t pick the number, but indeed it was the number that picked him. A number that was previously worn by a fellow Canes D-tackling sensation that tragically passed away while then-no. 76 Sapp was entering his redshirt freshman year. “I was at the University of Miami. They moved me to defensive tackle [from tight end]. Bob Karmelowicz- god bless his soul- and Ed Orgeron looked at me, and they had coached Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Jerome Brown. And they looked at me and said I can be better than all of them,” began Sapp.

Pause and take a second to deep the icons he’s mentioning. The coaches as well as the players. Yet, what he said doesn’t seem hyperbolic whatsoever. Warren Sapp proceeded to say, “The guys kept telling me [that] I reminded them of Jerome, and Jerome wore #99. I was never supposed to wear anything else. He passed away the summer of my redshirt freshman year, [before] I started playing.” As aforementioned, Sapp wore no.76 as a rookie before making the switch. “It’s kind of a personal thing. It was my number from the get-go. And it was there waiting on me when I got to Tampa,” continued Sapp.

Warren Sapp may have been destined to follow in Jerome Brown’s footsteps and continue that legacy anyway. But the circumstances under which this vicarious passing of the baton happened were gut-wrenching. Sapp would’ve wished he could onboard the number with Brown’s blessings. But unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

Warren Sapp’s predecessor and Miami’s fallen hero Jerome Brown met a terrible demise

The U has a storied history with defensive tackles, and Warren Sapp named some legendary ones himself. All of them had different degrees of eminence and success in the NFL, too. This includes no.9 draft pick Jerome Brown, who made 2x Pro Bowls in his first 5 seasons. The last of the 5, mind you. Meaning he had found his footing and had a world of momentum behind him. Begrudgingly, these would be Brown’s only 5 seasons in the league. The Eagles stalwart saw his career and life cut short prematurely by a motor accident in June 1992.

Jerome Brown, 27, Brown passed away following an automobile accident in Brooksville, Florida. He was accompanied by his 12-year-old nephew, who was also killed in this fateful tragedy. Brown reportedly lost control of his ZR1 Chevy Corvette and crashed into a tree. A national champion with the Canes in ‘83, Brown also has his #99 retired by the Eagles akin to Sapp’s with the Bucs. Terribly morbid but poetic nonetheless.

If only Jerome Brown could witness how Warren Sapp, his successor for the Canes in some ways, carried the baton. Alas, no. 99 will forever be associated with both these legends down at Miami. This intrinsic bond they inadvertently share remains strong, despite the two likely having no personal relationship whatsoever. That’s the power of football, eh? May Brown and his nephew’s souls rest in peace.

The post Warren Sapp Ties His Football Legacy to Late Miami Legend in Gut-Wrenching Admission: “It’s Kind of a Personal Thing” appeared first on EssentiallySports.