Flowers refuses to back down as verbal battle with Sapp continues
PITTSBURGH – Warren Sapp tried to hold it in. He was asked about Lee Flowers’ comments from a year ago, when the Steelers had defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 17-10, and Sapp tried to hold it in. Then he was asked a second time, whether Flowers’ comments were insulting, and Sapp erupted.
“Just like an (bleep). Everyone has one and it is full of (bleep),” said Sapp as only he, an All-Pro defensive tackle and trash-talker, could put it.
So, Sapp was asked in the follow-up, did Flowers get under your skin last year?
“Listen man,” Sapp told the roomful of Pittsburgh reporters, “Lee Flowers is just a guy from Georgia. Florida boys walk around with chips on their shoulders all the time. We talk more (bleep) than anybody. He doesn’t even have any credentials to talk (bleep) so I am wondering where this is coming from. You would never know the man unless you get in front of the television and they put his name under his face.”
That’s what TV stations did last Oct. 21 after the Steelers handled the Bucs in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score seemed to indicate.
The Steelers manhandled the Bucs in rushing for 220 yards and sacking quarterback Brad Johnson 10 times, and after the game Flowers went into a diatribe against the Bucs.
Flowers never did back down from his statements last year. Nor did he back down Wednesday afternoon. First he was asked to reply to the comments Sapp had made earlier in the day.
“That’s the problem right there. I’m not from Georgia, I’m from South Carolina,” Flowers said. “He needs to do his homework if he’s going to talk about somebody. I went to school in Georgia. Last time I checked, nobody gets a degree from Miami anyway.”
Does Flowers still feel they’re paper champions?
“We respect them. I never disrespected them,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s fair before a game that you put so much emphasis on one team. I’m sure they’re preparing for us right now. I think last year they overlooked us and hopefully they’ll do that again.”
And Flowers refused to back down.
“No, not at all. I said it after the game and I meant every word of it. But this is a new year. They very easily could be saying that about us with all the hype that we had coming into this season. We’ve had some bumps and bruises, but we’re playing the kind of football we need to be playing right now.”
The Steelers are 8-5-1 and can clinch the AFC North division with a win or a tie. The Bucs clinched the NFC South division last week and are one of three 11-3 teams in the hunt for homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
“This is a Monday night game on national television,” Flowers said. “What else can you ask for for Christmas?”
How about a low-key approach? It seemed to be Flowers’ intention Wednesday.
“It’s not so much low-keying it,” Flowers said. “Before that particular game, you had a guy comparing himself to Priest Holmes. I think that’s what got us so riled up after that game. I’ve never been a guy who disrespects teams during the week. I think they’re a good team. I think their record reflects that. I’m not trying to calm this down. Monday night is Monday night. There’s no reason to talk trash during the week because it is what it is, a prime-time game for both teams. There’s a lot on the line for both teams. There’s no reason for me to try to hype this up.”
Sapp, though, apparently felt otherwise.
“That’s Sapp,” Flowers said. “This is the same guy who was talking about (Michael) Strahan’s record. This is the same guy, who for eight years has been saying he’s going to break the sack record. This is the same guy who’s sitting with (7.5) sacks. I damn near got six sacks myself. That’s not saying anything. A lot of people look at Sapp and they’re scared to talk back to him. I’m a grown man; I’ll take him on by myself. But that’s neither here nor there. We’ve got a job to do and they’ve got a job to do. If they feel like my comments determined their whole season, they’ve got more problems in that locker room than they think they do.”