Gerald McCoy felt slighted by the Buccaneers when they gave his No. 93 to Ndamukong Suh shortly after releasing McCoy. He called himself one of the greatest ever to play in Tampa.
Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp took issue with that, pointing out the Bucs never went to the playoffs in McCoy’s nine seasons in Tampa.
“The way I look at it, the thing that kind of threw me sideways was Gerald talking about now that this organization doesn’t have a right [to give away his 93 jersey], or it’s business that they moved on,” Sapp said on pewterreport.com’s podcast. “You know . . . they moved on. And then he wanted to say that Sapp, [Derrick] Brooks, Lee Roy [Selmon], [John] Lynch, Ronde [Barber], nobody wore their numbers. Last time I checked, those were Hall of Famers and champions. We didn’t go to one playoff game with [McCoy] and not one damn divisional title, so, I think he owes some of those hundred million dollars back in that sense.
“If you’re going to put it up against the bad asses that run this bitch before you, you better put up some chips in this game because that’s the way it is. He didn’t have no chips in his game. No defensive player of the year, and that’s what Brooks and that’s what Lee Roy Selmon did. Lynch got his name in two damn Ring of Honors. What am I missing here, Gerald? You’re talking about something silly. Come on, man. Stop. If you’re mad, you’re mad, but don’t put it on the organization that the organization did it. Every NFL team has to move on.”
Will the Bucs add McCoy’s name to their Ring of Honor one day? Their Ring has 13 names in it, and all nine players on the list played at least one postseason game while in Tampa.
McCoy gets a chance for revenge with two games against the Bucs this season, having signed with division rival Carolina.