Bucs Gameday

Devin White Responds to Warren Sapp's Criticism Before Tom Brady Chimes In

The Bucs' talented linebacker finally offers his response to the critics, while his quarterback comes to his defense.

Collin Haalboom

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Criticism of Devin White's performance this season continues to gain steam with the Buccaneers in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

NFL legend, current hall-of-famer, and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Warren Sapp, recently decided to get in on the action. 

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Sapp, who has a reputation for being extremely critical and outspoken, wasn't holding back any punches when highlighting the lack of effort displayed by White on this specific play vs. the Baltimore Ravens. 

There have been times in the past — many, in fact — when Warren Sapp has gone out of his way to railroad a current Buccaneer for not playing well; including instances when the extent of the criticism didn't feel warranted. 

This is not one of those times.

Devin White's lack of effort on this play is a microcosm of many mental lapses we've seen from him this year. He's demonstrated a consistent inability to get off blocks, a lack of discipline in containment, and many instances of getting lost in coverage. 

Following a fantastic start to the season, which saw White take home Defensive Player of the Month honors for September, White's play has regressed in a major way. His performance should be acknowledged as a big reason why the Bucs' defense has struggled so much recently. 

After declining to speak to the media earlier in the week, White finally addressed Sapp's criticism publicly on Thursday.

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After defending the play by describing his positioning on the field, then subtly insinuating that fatigue may have been a factor, White took the high road when addressing Warren Sapp's comments, specifically. 

"It really aint no response on that, man. Salute to him. He did a great job. He won a Super Bowl here. It's freedom of speech, he can say what he wants to say. I respect him." 

Although I disagree with White's assessment of his responsibilities on that play, I do respect the fact that he didn't engage in any sort of verbal retaliation aimed at Sapp. 

Not long after, White felt compelled to respond to a tweet by Bucs beat reporter, Greg Auman, of The Athletic, where White openly admitted he was tired on the play. 

Similar to his response to Warren Sapp, I do appreciate that White was somewhat diplomatic with his words here. The hope for fans in Tampa Bay is that this sort of public heat will light a fire under White, and catapult him back to the elite level of play we saw from him during the team's 2020/21 Super Bowl run.  

Speaking of the Bucs' Super Bowl, the team's undisputed leader, and Super Bowl MVP, Tom Brady, decided to chime in on the developing narrative between Devin White and his critics. 

Even if the growing criticism of Devin White is justified, it's good to see that Tom Brady felt obliged to offer some words of support and encouragement to one of his defensive captains. 

Hopefully, some combination of the call-out from Warren Sapp, the ongoing criticism from the media and fans, in addition to the public display of support from his quarterback, will result in a motivated Devin White taking the field this Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. It's an important game, where the Buccaneers will face off against the same team that ended their season last year, the Los Angeles Rams. 

After all, if the Buccaneers are going to turn this ship around, they're going to need Devin White to do the same. 

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Collin Haalboom
COLLIN HAALBOOM

Prior to joining BucsGameday and Sports Illustrated, Collin's written content was provided through Bucs Banter, and NFL Draft Lounge. He is also the creator and host of the Bucs Banter Podcast. He is a graduate of the Communication Studies program at McMaster University, where he was also a varsity basketball player, and later an advanced scout. He lives with his wife and two children in Hamilton, ON. You can follow Collin on YouTube and Twitter.