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[QUOTE=Flasteel;517107]It all stems from two separate games in 2001 and 2002. The first link below will explain the Lee Flowers "paper champions" comments he made following the '01 game (and leading up to the ensuing rematch).
[URL]http://old.post-gazette.com/steelers/20021219steelers2.asp[/URL]
This link will further illustrate Sapp's douchebaggery and how he was punked in his own crib. The article doesn't really mention how badly the Bucs were whipped in this game after Sapp's fiasco however.
[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2012/6/6/3067458/pittsburgh-steelers-ike-taylor-larry-foote-nfl-network-warren-sapp-bankrupt[/URL][/QUOTE]
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Very good reads. Thanks for posting.[/COLOR]
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thanks guys. sapp is a perfect example of someone needing to put another down so they can fel good about theirself. if this guy didn't have a football career i would bet he would have been another welfare case..... you don't think a fat mouthy slob like him could have the will to work, hold down a job and get along with his employer, employees and the customers at mcdonalds do you ?
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[B]Hampton vows Steelers aren't done yet[/B]
Associated Press
UPDATED JUL 28, 2012
At 35 to begin the season, Casey Hampton, by NFL standards, is old.
Generously listed at 325 pounds, coming off knee surgery and on the physically-unable-to-perform list, Hampton is, at the moment, slow.
But the nose tackle says it's far from over - for him or for the Steelers defense.
More than 10 months ago, Warren Sapp went on Showtime and labeled the Steelers defense ''old, slow and it's over.'' Pittsburgh since has released the unit's three oldest players, leaving Hampton the eldest statesman on a defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season.
Recovering from a torn ACL sustained during the Steelers' January playoff loss in Denver, Hampton said a Pittsburgh defense that remains among the oldest in the league is far from over the hill.
''They've been saying that for how long?'' Hampton said. ''They've been saying, `You're getting old,' and all that for years, and year in and year out we do our thing. So I don't see it being any different this year.''
Hampton was referring to the Pittsburgh defense in general. But he could have also been referring to himself.
Entering his 12th season, Hampton turns 35 on Labor Day. Only backup quarterback Charlie Batch is older among Steelers players. But Batch spent the first four seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions, leaving Hampton the only Pittsburgh player who was around for the opening of Heinz Field in 2001.
Linebacker James Farrior and defensive linemen Aaron Smith and Chris Hoke retired during the offseason - as did receiver Hines Ward - leaving the stout Hampton no one left to figuratively look up to.
''No question about it, when you've been around those guys 10-plus years, it's definitely different,'' Hampton said. ''But that's part of it. You see guys come and go all the time. Those are definitely special guys, but I think those guys will fill in and do their best to make up for it.''
Steve McLendon is filling in for Hampton throughout these early camp practices, and Pittsburgh drafted Hampton's eventual long-term replacement in April, University of Washington defensive lineman Alameda Ta'amu.
Hampton insisted his rehab is going well, saying ''I'll be ready to go'' in time for the season opener Sept. 9 in a Sunday night game against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
Hampton was hesitant to estimate when he'd be able to come off the PUP list. Notorious over the years for his tongue-in-cheek anti-training camp stance, Hampton failed the Steelers camp-opening conditioning test in 2008. Coach Mike Tomlin put him on the PUP list as a result - a daring move for a coach who was in his second season against a veteran.
That season, Hampton often joked that he relished the time away from the two-a-days on the practice field. He's not embracing it as much now.
''It's different when you're forced to miss it because of injury,'' Hampton said. ''You never want to be hurt and that to be the reason you're on PUP.''
That said, Hampton doesn't want to rush back.
''I don't have no problem with being on it as long as I need to be. I just want to get it right and be right when I'm out there. I don't want to be out there hobbling messing around; I wanna be out there ready to go.''
A first-round pick of the Steelers in 2001, Hampton became a starter almost immediately. Back then, Pittsburgh was one of only a handful of teams running a 3-4 defense - a system Hampton is perfect for at nose tackle.
His career statistics aren't gaudy - nine sacks, 197 tackles (an average of less than 20 per season). But Dick LeBeau's defense isn't designed for the nose tackle to be making tackles or pressuring the quarterback. In layman's terms, Hampton's job is to take up space so that others get the glory.
''You're kind of freeing (linebackers) up, making them make all the plays,'' Hampton said. ''Get your head up on the guy, try to draw the double-team, be as disruptive as possible ... And let the linebackers eat.''
Eating has gotten Hampton into trouble at times with Tomlin, most notably after the conditioning test in 2008.
In street clothes, Hampton looks slimmer than he has at many points over the past decade. He's been working out on his own at St. Vincent College, rarely seen on the practice field even as most of the other Steelers PUP players are regularly on the sidelines during workouts.
''Every man out there, in their uniform or not, has a plan,'' Tomlin said, ''not only in the big scheme of things but daily and by a.m. and by p.m., and he's no different than the others.''
[URL]http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/hampton_vows_steelers_arent_done_yet/11321836[/URL]
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[QUOTE]Hampton the only Pittsburgh player who was around for the opening of Heinz Field in 2001.[/QUOTE]
Wow...just one left...I hadn't made that connection yet, but considering all the older guys who were let go this offseason, that makes sense.
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I watch past steeler games and I see players that I've kind of forgotten about with guys like Keisel standing the sidelines as a backup and now they're the veterans of the team. It's a big cycle of turnovers. I used to worry about losing the veterans and will the backups be able to tow the traditional Steeler line and they always manage to do so. Big Snack, Joel Steel, Gerald Williams were pretty good nose tackles over the years and Lebeau knows that he needs a stud up front to make his defense click. I'm high on McClendon but I think and I believe the Stelers feel he is the short term answer until our rookie ( can't think of his name right now ) that we drafted gets enough experience to be the starting nose tackle.
Sidebar: I remember when the coaching staff said Williams was good had all the tools but, wasn't aggressive enough. I also remember they said Joel Steed lacked confidence in the start of his carreer. Hampton, I never heard nothing but praise about him when he came onto to the scene.
If you guys had to pick, whom do you feel was the better nose tackle, Hampton or Steed ? My longterm memory is bad but, I'm guessing right now it would be Hampton.
I just checked out Steeds stats, with that, Hampton has it all over him.
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I think Sapp was pretty close to being right on last year. This team was old (on defense). And as a result they got knocked out of the first round by a not so great playoff team. And as a result the Steelers FO saw that there was a problem and then trimmed this fat (old age), that was on this roster. Sometimes what others say about our team (the negative), is true guys. It's ok to see it too.
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I also believe our defense was old last season and I had no problem with that and that he said it. I just don't like how Sapps presents things as if he has a chip on his shoulder about the Steelers. I don't think an old defense was the reason why we lost to the Broncos in the playoffs. We lost because the coaches acted like the Broncos quarterback had no arms.
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Steed lacked confidence early in his career because he had his @$$ handed to him every day in practice by Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson...
I remember reading how Cowher and Donohoe were afraid Steed wasn't worth the 2nd round pick they used on him because he didn't look great in practice...
It turns out, he was a damn fine NT...
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I remember when dawson was aked, " who was the best nose tackle you have played against when, the Steelers were looking to replace Steed. " Dawson answered, Kimo Von Oeloffen "
I remember thiose days too when Dawson controlled everyone but, Kimo would give him difficulties. Obviously the Steelers tried Kimo out for a while until they replaced him. Kimo was another darn good guy that made me happy to see him in the black and gold.
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[QUOTE=Dee Dub;517443]I think Sapp was pretty close to being right on last year. This team was old (on defense). And as a result they got knocked out of the first round by a not so great playoff team. And as a result the Steelers FO saw that there was a problem and then trimmed this fat (old age), that was on this roster. Sometimes what others say about our team (the negative), is true guys. It's ok to see it too.[/QUOTE]
The quote by Sapp was "old, slow, and over". I think we could universally agree that the defense was a little long in the tooth last year, but they were far from over. Sapp wasn't even close in his "prediction" that the Steelers would struggle and it was born from nothing less than his ignorant reaction to the Baltimore game.
Sometimes the negative things others say about this team are true. But in this case, it was nothing more than a lot of hot air from a world-class douchebag.