Buccaneers Legend Warren Sapp Kicked Out of Tampa City Hall
· Yahoo Sports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Warren Sapp is known for disrupting opposing offenses on the football field.
Now the Hall of Fame defensive tackle is being accused of disrupting a Tampa City Council meeting.
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On Thursday, September 17, the City Council approved a $100 million flood-prevention project after extremely tense meetings.
According to Nina Moske of the Tampa Bay Times, as a presentation was being made for the project, council chairman Alan Clendenin paused the presentation to tend to a disturbance in an adjoining office.
Clendenin addressed the disturbance, saying, ""We've got something going on out here, I can't pay attention." He then walked out to see what the fuss was.
The fuss turned out to be Sapp, who claims he was just at City Hall to pick up some paperwork.
The meeting would start again a few minutes later, but it didn't take long until Clendenin again banged his gavel to stop the proceedings.
"I am ruling the folks that are in our offices that are being disruptive to City Council procedures out of order. I have asked them to leave the premises, and they have refused to leave the premises."
He would call a recess and instructed the people at the meeting to remain in their seats.
The Tampa Police Department, speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, released a statement about the matter.
"This afternoon Warren Sapp went to City Council Chambers. Council found him to be out of order by creating a disturbance and requested him to be trespassed for the day. Officers responded and asked Sapp to leave. Council encouraged people to remain inside as officers addressed."
Sapp Only Picking Up "Some Paperwork"Sapp also spoke to the Times, saying he was only at City Hall to pick up "some paperwork."
He said Clendenin entered the room he was in and instructed Sapp to "get out." Sapp stood his ground, asserting that Clendenin had no authority to remove him from a public building.
"(Clendenin) said, 'I'm not leaving until he leaves.' And I said, 'You're going to be here a long time because this is a public place and I haven't committed no crime.'"
The police did not say whether Sapp complied with the request to leave.
Final ThoughtsWhat an odd situation.
Sapp is one of the most beloved players in Bucs history. He was Tampa's first-round pick, 12th overall, in the 1995 NFL Draft after playing his college football at Miami.
He would play the first nine of his 13 NFL seasons with the Bucs, who used their second first-round pick that same draft, 28th overall, to select linebacker Derrick Brooks.
Together, Sapp and Brooks became the heart and soul of a fearsome Tampa defense that dominated for years. Both players ended up Hall of Famers and helped the Bucs win Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders.
It was the first of the franchise's two Super Bowl titles.