Belichick was really, really excited about Sapp’s potential | ProFootballTalk
Lost (but not lost deep enough) in the oft-contentious Warren Sapp book tour is a story from Sapp about an interaction he had with then-Browns coach Bill Belichick in 1995, as Sapp was preparing to enter the draft.
“He said ‘I wanna draft you so bad that I have an erection right now,’” Sapp said of Belichick, during a Tuesday interview with The Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio.
But, according to Sapp, Belichick told Sapp that former Browns personnel executive Mike Lombardi wouldn’t let Belichick draft him, due to the information obtained by the team’s security department about Sapp. (That elaboration was provided in Sapp’s interview with Howard Stern, summarized by JoeBucsFan.com.)
“We would have never left Cleveland,” Sapp said of what would have transpired if he had been a Brown. “Trust me, the Mistake by the Lake would have been righteous.”
The Browns actually had been in position to take Sapp as of late March that year, trading from No. 26 up to No. 10, with the Falcons. But the Browns eventually traded back down to No. 30 via a deal that allowed the 49ers to take receiver J.J. Stokes.
The Browns acquired, among other things, the 49ers’ first-round pick in 1996. With which they drafted Ray Lewis. Who has been getting Ravens fans aroused for 16 years and counting.