Coach Prime & Warren Sapp Get Real About the “Hard” Lesson Learnt After Championship Success in the NFL

On January 26, 2003, Super Bowl XXXVII, famously known as the day of ‘Gruden Ball’, the Buccs’ 28-year-old head coach, Jon Gruden, had one dream: to become the youngest HC to win a championship. Running alongside fellow pro bowlers Brooks, Lynch, and defensive end Simeon Rice, Warren Sapp was bolstering up the defensive line of the Tampa Bay Buccs on a precarious night.

All eyes in America were set on their team since their opponents, the Oakland Raiders, were favored to win. When the Raiders took the lead in the first quarter, that belief among fans strengthened. Little did they fathom the fine fight that the Buccs would put up. In the fourth quarter, the Buccs were way ahead of the ‘favored-to-win’ Raiders. Warren Sapp and his team sealed the 48-21 victory. The moral of the story? Sapp iterated it today, after almost 21 years.

During his podcast on The Pregame show with Uncle Neely, the now-Colorado graduate assistant coach Warren Sapp explained what that one championship win of his life has taught him. “You didn’t necessarily know early on how hard it is to get back there. Never thought that I’d have one opportunity,” co-host Uncle Neely recalled Deion Sanders explaining his championship wins during one of his team meets. “That’s just how precious championships are. Like they’re not easy to get,” Sapp further added.

The message was also meant for the detractors criticizing the players just based on the championship wins they’ve had. Sapp had a direct-slapping answer for them. “You hear people throwing around lightly like it’s easy to get,” the NFL pro bowler mentioned. Now that he has explained the ‘real’ importance of championships, Warren Sapp talked about how his team, the Colorado Buffaloes, are gearing up straight for the National Championship.

The Buffs headed to the National Championship

We know it sounds like too big of a leap, from a 4-8 disastrous season straight to the National Championship. But the drive that Deion Sanders and Co. are bringing in this season looks powerful enough to give them that push to the playoffs. Last season’s faults, like the play-calling or the offensive lines, have been fixed this season. Or rather, bolstered up with beasts like Jordan Seaton, Yaikiri Walker, Justin Mayers, Khalil Benson, and Tyler Brown.

Well, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, the star players of the team, are also ready to give their all, with their motivation driving them too. For Shedeur, it is securing a nice score for getting drafted as a first-rounder in the 2025 NFL draft, whereas for Hunter, it is aiming straight for that Heisman trophy this season. Above all, all these players have Coach Prime’s motto, “We comin‘” embedded in their minds to make the best comeback in the NCAA.