SAN DIEGO – Even before football’s two best teams clash tomorrow at Qualcomm Stadium, some of the game’s best talkers have already shot from the lip.
The mind-numbing days of Super Bowl hype week went by a little faster and with a few more laughs thanks to Tampa Bay’s Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson and Oakland’s Frank Middleton and Bill Romanowski.
“We are the show,” Sapp told reporters. “You didn’t travel here just to watch us run around with pads and shorts on and not talk to me, did you? That wouldn’t be fun at all.”
Notebooks, cameras and microphones constantly followed the fab four of gab – and for good reason.
Even in tackling some of this week’s most mundane questions, Johnson, Sapp, Middleton and Romanowski managed to muster responses that were either funny, insightful, boastful, or combinations of all the above.
Romanowski on his destiny to play in Oakland: “It fits what the reputation of what a Raider player is all about. Not only am I one of the most hated players in the league, now I’m on one of the most hated teams.”
Middleton on his friendship and rivalry with Sapp: “It is like two fat boys in the ring, and whoever wins get to eat. The loser has to get shot in the lead. I am not ready to get shot in the head.”
Middleton on the fleeting fame of victory, the unjustified sacking of 49ers coach Steve Mariucci and what the letters “NFL” really mean: “Football’s not fair. Look up the road at the 49ers. Their coach got fired and he did a great job. You never know about football. That’s why it [NFL] stands for Not For Long, you never know when your time might be up.”
Sapp on offseason speculation he was considered for Tampa Bay’s high-priced trade with Oakland to get coach Jon Gruden: “It’s good to be in company with a man who is worth $8 million and draft picks.”
More Sapp modesty: “I’m the best the game has to offer. No doubt about it. If you tell me there’s a better defensive tackle in this game, show him to me.”
Keyshawn on why so many fans don’t like him: “Most people, at the end of the day, are just flat-out jealous . . . if you couldn’t be a certain way with your career and it didn’t work out for you, you always walk around bitter. I see it all the time. If you have a problem with Keyshawn Johnson, you have a problem with yourself.”
Tampa Bay LB Shelton Quarles said playing for his team wouldn’t be nearly as funny without Sapp and Johnson. “You hear some of the things they say and they’re just hilarious,” Quarles said. “So they keep it interesting.”