NEW YORK, April 22 -- Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp, considered one of the top players available in the NFL draft, saw his stock take a dip in Saturday's NFL draft after reports that he had failed seven drug tests. Sapp, the Lombardi Trophy winner, sat quietly backstage at the Paramount Theater as 11 names were called out before his. He originally was thought to go as high as fifth in the process, but instead went 12th to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 'I'm just happy to get to this point,' Sapp said. 'I'm happy now and we can move on from there. Guys will always try to knock you off a pedestal, but there's nothing you can do about it.' Drug allegations, which have dogged Sapp since the NFL combine two months ago in Indianapolis, surfaced again late Friday when ESPN reported that NFL clubs were notified by league security Thursday that Sapp tested positive for marijuana six times and once for cocaine. The NFL had no comment on the report. Sapp's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, vehemently denied the latest story. 'There's no truth to that whatsoever,' Rosenhaus said. 'I can't even tell you where this stuff is coming from. Somebody must be making it up. You're looking at a guy that has had very few problems in the past.' Sapp said: 'I never had a problem at the University of Miami. All of a sudden we're getting calls about this or that and everything's flying. It's just real tough right now.'
According to ESPN, former Miami coach Dennis Erickson -- now coach of the Seattle Seahawks -- said Sapp tested positive for drugs only twice in his college career, both times for marijuana. But in an interview with ESPN on Saturday, Erickson would not confirm that Sapp had tested positive while at Miami, citing the university's privacy rules. Erickson did vehemently label as false the reports that Sapp had tested positive seven times recently. 'I was involved with Warren for four years and those reports are just bald-faced lies,' Erickson said. 'The reports about cocaine are absolute lies. No one from NFL security ever contacted me about the rumors. Some teams contacted me and I told them that Warren Sapp is a great football player and a great person.' As the report swirled through NFL draft headquarters Saturday, Sapp's stock took a significant hit. Though Sapp was the dominant defensive lineman in college football last year, two others were selected ahead of him -- Florida's Kevin Carter by St. Louis at No. 6 and Boston College's Mike Mamula to Philadelphia at No. 7. 'It's a tough situation,' Sapp said as he watched the proceedings. 'I'm just sitting here waiting around.' Rosenhaus said: 'I think teams that were interested in drafting Warren before the reports surfaced are still interested. If anybody's been scared by the media stuff, that's fine. Warren probably doesn't want to play for them anyway.' But Seattle, picking eighth, made no attempt to reunite Sapp with Erickson, instead selecting Ohio State wide receiver Joey Galloway. Minnesota, needing to replace departed lineman Henry Thomas, instead took Florida State defensive end Derrick Alexander at No. 11. 'We had five blue-chippers still on the board and we made the decision to go with Alexander,' Minnesota coach Dennis Green said. Tampa Bay, which was thought to be considering Sapp with the seventh pick before trading down with Philadelphia, found him still on the board at No. 12 and wasted little time snapping him up. 'There's an element of luck in the draft,' Buccaneers coach Sam Wyche said. 'The fact that the story came out about Warren, no question it had an impact (on Sapp's status).' Wyche added that he spoke to Sapp by telephone and emphasized that, because of the controversy, he will be under increased scrutiny as he enters the NFL wars. 'I told him, 'I, the Buccaneers and our new owners are putting a lot of faith in you, you can't afford to let us down.' He said he wasn't to, ' the coach said. 'It's important for a player and coach to have a heart-to-heart talk. There were a lot of coaches that said he's a great player, but they had other needs. Nobody ever said this is not a guy that can come in and play for a long time in the NFL.' Sapp finally broke out a wide smile after hearing his name announced as Tampa Bay's selection. 'If he was going to fall as far as he did, this is the team to go to,' Rosenhaus said. 'It's only an hour and a half from his hometown, they play the same defensive scheme and they have more Miami players on their roster than anybody except the Dallas Cowboys. He's a Florida guy going to a Florida team.' Sapp, 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, became the first Miami player to win the Lombardi Award as the nation's top player at a non-skill position. He filed for underclass draft eligibility after recording 84 tackles and 10 sacks in 11 regular-season games as a junior. This does not mark the first time Sapp has been linked with a report that he tested positive for drugs. ESPN reported that Sapp tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine and the New York Times also reported that he had tested positive for cocaine.
