Day 2 of the Washington Commanders’ mandatory minicamp saw the continued absence of Terry McLaurin, but they did get a visit from a Hall of Famer.
Warren Sapp, a 2013 Pro Football Hall-of-Fame inductee, came to the Commanders’ Ashburn facility Wednesday.
Wednesday in Ashburn
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“This is fun for me,” Sapp said. “I’m sharing my 13 years in the National Football League with these young men now that are going to take this game into the 22nd century. You see what I am sayin’?”
“You have to make this game better. And the way you make this game better is sharing the knowledge you have,” continued Sapp.
Washington defensive end Montez Sweat, looking forward to his third NFL season was upbeat. “It was great. A yellow-jacket guy, a Hall of Famer. You just feel his energy. You feel the way he loves the game. Of course he was giving us tools and gains that he has learned upon. It was great.”
Sapp and Washington general manager Martin Mayhew were teammates on the Tampa Bay Bucs during the 1995 and 1996 NFL seasons. Mayhew with the Redskins from the 1989-1992 seasons, then went to Tampa, playing for the Bucs in the 1993-96 seasons.
Sapp was the 12th overall selection of the 1995 NFL draft and thus played his first two seasons with Mayhew playing his last two in the league.
Though playing 13 NFL seasons inside at defensive tackle, Sapp recorded 96.5 sacks, 440 solo tackles, 138 assists, 91 tackles for a loss, 19 forced fumbles and 12 fumble recoveries.
Sapp was the 1999 AP defensive player of the year, a member of the All-2000s Decade team, a 4-time All-Pro, 7-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl winner with Tampa Bay.
With good reason, Mayhew thought it worthwhile to have Sapp come and interact with the defensive line Wednesday. The timing was also good by Mayhew. You wouldn’t necessarily want someone to come during the season when coaches are deep into game plans and the techniques already having been established to be instructed and emulated during the season.
Incidentally, also part of that Hall of Fame Class of 2013 was former Redskins and Packer linebacker Dave Robinson. Robinson played for the Packers from 1963-1972 and then started each game in his two seasons with Washington (1973-74) under George Allen.
When asked why he was at the Commanders practice, Sapp responded, “I don’t want to die with all this knowledge.”
When asked if he would consider being a coach, Sapp responded, “Absolutely not. It takes too many hours.”