Jun 30th 2008 10:05AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Buccaneers, Raiders, NFL Hall of Fame, Oakland, Tampa Bay
Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden and former Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp haven’t always seen eye to eye. Sapp has said that he thinks Tony Dungy deserves more credit than Gruden for the Bucs’ Super Bowl title, and Gruden didn’t shed any tears when Sapp left Tampa Bay for Oakland.

But if there was any bad blood between them, it’s gone now. At a retirement party for Sapp over the weekend, Gruden had this to say:
“If Warren Sapp doesn’t go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, you’d better check the IQ of the voters. No disrespect to anyone, but he’s the favorite guy I’ve ever coached.”
I would be fine with Sapp getting into the Hall of Fame, but I don’t think he’s a sure thing, and I’ll be quite surprised if he gets in on the first ballot, considering that he’s coming up at the same time as several players who I think were better, including Brett Favre, Michael Strahan and Jonathan Ogden.

It might be a good idea to check the IQ of the Hall of Fame voters, but Sapp not getting in wouldn’t be the reason.