Forget trying to whip up rivalries between the Broncos and Seahawks or Richard Sherman and Peyton Manning.  The real rivalry taking center stage during Super Bowl week is between two former defensive linemen turned NFL analysts – Warren Sapp of NFL Network and Michael Strahan of Fox.

Sapp and Strahan have a nasty history that includes trading several verbal haymakers in public, including at last year's Super Bowl when Sapp was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame.  At this year's New York Super Bowl, the feud has flared up again with the two inching closer to a celebrity boxing match that could hopefully put this war of words to bed once and for all.

With Strahan a finalist for his own induction to the Hall of Fame, Sapp put his diplomacy on and blasted Strahan for his sack record, playing career, and talk show with Kelly Ripa in an interview with Newsday's Neil Best.

"When you stack it up and he only has four straight Pro Bowls and a mythical sack record that y'all still walk around like it's something to be praised — I mean y'all have got to get off your high horse in New York and speak about the real.

"And when you really measure him up, he comes up short."

Sapp wasn't through, adding, "Y'all don't take that same critical eye as when you're looking at somebody else. Oh, it's Michael, aww, he's our guy, he's on TV with Kelly [Ripa] and oh, he's such a good guy! "I thought you got into the Hall because your resume stacked up with the echoes of the game, not just the good, the great. And four straight Pro Bowls [is good], but it ain't great."  

Here's the resumes of Sapp and Strahan..

Sapp: 96.5 career sacks, 7 time Pro Bowler, 4 time First Team All Pro, 1 time Defensive Player of the Year
Strahan: 141.5 career sacks, 7 time Pro Bowler, 4 time First Team All Pro, 1 time Defensive Player of the Year

If Michael Strahan doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame, then neither does Warren Sapp when you look at the resumes… at least according to Warren Sapp.

Strahan responded by calling Sapp a coward to the New York Daily News…

“I don’t understand what the problem is, to be honest with you,” Strahan said. “If you have a problem with me, I’m the type of guy you come and talk to me. 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 if I have a problem. So I don’t understand what this whole thing is about.” 

Because he's incapable of not having the last word, Sapp again put Strahan in his crosshairs in an interview with Jim Rome and made things personal, even indirectly challenging Strahan to a fight…

“He took it to a level that it didn’t need to be,” said Sapp. “I was just talking about his resume. I didn’t say anything about his gap tooth or his S words or his F words that I don’t understand. What the hell he is saying? So if he wants to go personal we can go personal, but I was just stacking his resume against the class.”  

“Pick the spot and I’ll come see you and you can have a dose of it,” said Sapp. “If you think that’s what it is, pick the spot and I’ll come see you.”

I am usually giddy over juicy media feuds, but this one is tiresome and played out largely due to the insufferable nature of Warren Sapp.  Dredging up a year-long feud and trying to tear down Strahan's Hall of Fame candidacy is just petty.  It's clear he has some kind of personal vendetta against Strahan and is jealous over his sack record, crossover celebrity status, and hosting gig with Kelly Ripa.  It's all so very petty.  And then there's the absurdity of Sapp openly campaigning against Strahan's Hall of Fame "resume" when Strahan actually has a better resume than Sapp himself!

Outside of his campy tenure as Judge Sapp, it's extremely difficult to find anything likable about the NFL Network analyst.  At this point it would be best to just ignore Warren Sapp and hope he goes away, but as long as a national network gives him a platform and there's a microphone in the same zipcode, he's going to find a way to get in the headlines.

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