If Warren Sapp had a vote, Michael Strahan would never get into Canton.
The former Buccaneers star, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer, told reporters during a luncheon at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday he doesn’t feel Strahan, whom he has criticized often, is deserving of a Hall call because “when you really measure him up, he comes up short.”
When relayed those comments, Strahan, the Giants great, fired back at his longtime critic, calling Sapp a “sheep and a coward.”
“[I’m] glad he doesn’t have a vote,” said Strahan, one of 15 finalists who will be considered for enshrinement in the Hall’s Class of 2014 when the selection committee meets on Saturday morning, during a press conference of Fox Sports’ on-air talent at the Sheraton in Midtown.
He later said: “A tiger does not pay attention to the opinion of a sheep.”
“I’m all hype,” said Strahan, 42, tongue planted in cheek. “I lasted 15 years on all hype, 141 1/2 career sacks, all hype. I was always a starter, coaches put me out there, because I was just hype. I played left end, and that made me get sacks.”
This is just the latest shot Sapp has taken at Strahan. It began in 2002, when Strahan set the league’s single-season sack record with 22 1/2, notching the record-breaking sack on what appeared to be a dive by Brett Favre, Strahan’s good friend. Sapp called it his “mythical sack record” and a “travesty,” and Strahan responded by calling Sapp a “jackass.”
The 41-year-old Sapp, now an NFL Network analyst, said this summer his former teammate Simeon Rice was more deserving of getting into the Hall of Fame than Strahan.
“I don’t understand what the problem is, to be honest with you,” Strahan said. “I’m not a coward to talk to somebody else when I have somebody’s number. I’m going to come to you and tell you I have a problem.”
Strahan said he isn’t worried about Saturday’s vote. He plans to go about his normal routine, as he did last year when he failed to make the final cut, and let the chips fall where they may.
“I get reminded of it by everybody else, I don’t think about it,” Strahan claimed. “That would be awesome, to do it in New York would be double incredible, but it’s not up to me. So I can’t worry about something I have absolutely no control over.
“The thing that matters the most to me is I’m respected. I didn’t play for titles, I didn’t play for money — all that stuff was great — but I played for respect, and I can honestly say I gained it and that’s what I’m most proud of.”