‘I Fill Up My Phone With Notes’: NFL Legend and Hall of Famer Shares Dark Truth of Living With CTE 14 Years After Retirement

The life of the players in the NFL is tough. Apart from the intense scrutiny of every move they make, they are also at risk of potentially life-altering injuries. Former NFL legend and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is living through such an ordeal.

A new film throwing light on the life of Sapp just hit the screen at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival.

Warren Sapp on living with CTE

Warren Sapp realized he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE when he forgot his friend’s office in Miami while driving up there. It was a trip he had made numerous times before. But this time- Sapp could not remember where he was supposed to go. And he says it was the scariest time of his life.

“Scared me so much, I turned around and went home. I turned that car around, got home on my couch, turned the TV on, and just sat there. I didn’t know what that was, but I didn’t feel good, I sat there the rest of the day almost in tears,” Sapp said.

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CTE is a brain disease that happens due to repetitive head trauma, a professional hazard for a football player like Sapp. Currently, it can only be diagnosed after the death of a person. On the question of what he does to navigate through life- Sapp has everything written down for him.

“Now I fill up my phone with notes and say it out loud, you know what I’m saying? You’ve got to. You’ve got to prepare yourself for the possibility you’re going to forget,” he added.

The documentary, directed by Mike Mentor, depicting each day of his life, was screened on Saturday.

Performance of Sapp in the NFL

Warren Sapp entered the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team picked him up in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft. He played for the team for nine seasons, primarily as a right defensive tackle. During his time at Tampa, Sapp won a Super Bowl title when the Bucs defeated his future team, the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders in the Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. 

He also made seven Pro Bowl appearances and was on the All-Pro team four times in his career. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers inducted him into the Ring of Honor while also retiring his No. 99 jersey. 

In 2004, Sapp joined the Raiders and played for them for four seasons. He retired from the NFL in 2008.

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