Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Photo Gallery: 10 Scenes from the Hall of Fame
Warren Sapp, the game-changing DT who helped rejuvenate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise, was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. It was a day and night full of uplifting sights in Canton, Ohio.
Though the seven members of the Class of 2013 would not have their bronze busts unveiled until the Saturday evening ceremony, a special room was dedicated to those about to be immortalized. Warren Sapp's display included both jerseys he wore during his nine seasons with the Buccaneers, as well as some mementos and a description of his achievements.
The crowd was thick inside the Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon, and the longest line formed outside the room where a bronze bust of every enshrinee (except the 2013 class) was on display. Each class had its own spot on the wall, which curved around the outside of a circular room. The shelves were already in place for the Class of 2013, awaiting the newest additions to the room.
Until Sapp's enshrinement on Saturday night, Lee Roy Selmon was the only player in the Hall of Fame who spent all or the majority of his career as a Buccaneer. That's a distinction he had held for 18 years, since his own enshrinement as part of the Class of 1995. While the franchise and its fans were thrilled to see the Bucs' ranks grow in Canton, there is no doubt that the great Selmon owns a special place in the hearts of everyone in the Bay area.
While the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a home to the sports' greatest figures, it is also a repository for its more than nine decades of history. Players can find a place in the Hall even if they are not (or not yet) Hall of Famers themselves, and that is currently true for several former Buccaneers. For instance, one display commemorates Ronde Barber becoming the first player in NFL history to record at least 40 interceptions and at least 25 sacks. Some of Barber's former teammates enjoyed checking out that display, as well as ones that centered on accomplishments by Cadillac Williams and Derrick Brooks.
On the day he would receive the highest honor a football player could aspire to, Sapp was all smiles and resplendent in the traditional gold jacket. Surrounded by dozens of friends and family members, Sapp obviously enjoyed his landmark day to the hilt.
The former Buccaneer chose his daughter, Mercedes Sapp, to present him for enshrinement. After a video in which she lauded her father for both his playing career and his impact on her own life, Mercedes took the stage to join her father in an emotional ceremony. Before Warren approached the podium, he and his daughter pulled back the cover on his Hall of Fame bust.
After Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Bill Parcells, Larry Allen and Curley Culp had made their acceptance speeches, it was Warren Sapp's turn as the center of attention. Sapp started by quoting the Bible and asking for divine help to make it through his speech, then proved he didn't need it, humoring the crowd with a brisk and upbeat 15-minute presentation.
Sapp used a good portion of his time at the podium to pass out thanks to many people, including members of family and key figures in his journey from Apopka, Florida to Canton, Ohio. Like all of the 2013 inductees, Sapp had special guests seated closet to the stage, including his own family and the Glazer family.
Most of the night's enshrinees had a moment or two in which they struggled to contain their emotions, and Sapp was no different. He choked up most noticeably at the end of his speech when he thanked his ex-wife, Jamiko Vaughn, for her support. For the most part, however, Sapp's speech was delivered with huge smiles and drew laughs from the crowd. Tales from his days as a high school recruit from a small town were particularly humorous.
After each enshrinee finished his speech, he was led to a special area behind and to the right of the stage. There, he posed with his new bronze bust for dozens of cameras to get that most iconic of images from the Hall of Fame.
