Bob Sapp Given Yahoo! Front Page Treatment
Yahoo.com’s front page had a feature story on Bob Sapp today:
The article provides a pretty good introduction to Sapp’s transformation from failed NFL player to Japanese cultural icon:
Sapp was a good enough college football player to win the 1996 Morris Trophy as the Pac-10 lineman of the year. He had size and speed, and was a third-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears. But he never made it in the NFL, playing only one regular season game, bouncing from team to team. Most of his fame came from failing a steroid test. By 2000, he was done in football.
He tried American pro wrestling, but failed there, too. Then K-1 promoter Kazuyoshi Ishii called in 2002. K-1 was a growing spectacle of fighting and production values that was a huge prime time television hit in Japan. It was basically kickboxing, but to the Japanese public it was promoted as style vs. style similar to the early days of UFC, pitting fighters billed as being from various martial arts and fighting disciplines. Sapp’s “discipline” was the NFL, and his character, Bob “The Beast” Sapp, was born. Clips of his big plays at Washington would run on television for his ring entrances of his early fights.
Sapp was a comedy cartoon version of The Incredible Hulk come to life. He’d come out wearing the fancy robe to music stolen directly from wrestler Ric Flair, then he’d throw off the robe and sprint down the aisle into the ring. With little in the way of skill, he’d throw wild arm punches and hope they connected before his size worked against him and he’d gas out. A few times he was disqualified, which only served to make him a bigger star because “The Beast” was supposed to be uncontrollable.
