Despite hometown connection, Warren Sapp draws distinction between himself and Jalen Carter

As Jalen Carter made the rounds as one of the biggest X-factors for the upcoming NFL draft – is he destined to be a top-five pick or face an awkward wait? – it was fitting that Warren Sapp’s phone rang as one team prepared to host the controversial Georgia defensive tackle.

On the other end of the line was Rob Ryan, one of Sapp’s former coordinators who is now senior defensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders.

“We’ve got the kid coming in from Apopka,” Ryan told Sapp.

Apopka. Sapp’s hometown in central Florida. Carter’s hometown.

This coincidence fuels another question – only this time, from a Hall of Famer who had his own draft-day drama in 1995 – in the pre-draft shakedown of Carter. Although Carter wasn’t driving the SUV that crashed, killing a former teammate and a football staffer  in an alcohol-influenced incident in Athens, Georgia, in mid-January, he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges that resulted in a one-year probation, fine and community service.

Sapp is astonished that Carter, who was driving another SUV and was never pulled over by authorities, faced the charges that were unveiled while he was at the scouting combine in Indianapolis.

“They would only do that to a Black man in Georgia,” Sapp said.

Yet his question about Carter has nothing to do with the tragedy. He wonders whether Carter, 22, is too nice. Say what?

“I want to know why he wasn’t walking around with a chip on his neck like the rest of us (brothers) from Apopka? Seriously,” Sapp told USA TODAY Sports. “I come from a small-ass town. The only thing Apopka is known for is being the indoor foliage capital of the world.”

Huh?

“Look it up,” Sapp continued. “It’s documented. That means we’ve got a lot of (expletive) nurseries. Trust me. I started working in them (places) when I was 13 years old, getting paid $3.35 an hour. It ain’t the job you want.”

Somehow, Sapp, who tallied 96 ½ sacks in 13 NFL seasons, makes his point by noting a signature Carter moment – he celebrated a sack in the SEC Championship Game by lifting LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels in the air with one hand while using the other hand to flash the “No. 1” sign.

Sapp thinks Carter should have slammed Daniels to the turf.

“When he picked up the kid, the LSU quarterback, and lifted him up with one arm, I said, ‘Damn, it looks like he’s got a little Sapp in him,’ “ Sapp said. “But he didn’t drop him. This is a good kid.”

Some mock drafts project Carter will be chosen by the Seattle Seahawks with the fifth pick overall. If not, maybe the Detroit Lions with the sixth pick. If he slides, the Chicago Bears at nine and Philadelphia Eagles at 10 could be destinations. As the Raiders, picking seventh in the first round, prepared for Carter’s visit, Sapp’s interest was piqued.

Sapp to Ryan: “Ask him who the other four first-round picks were from Apopka.”

Ryan: “Damn, it’s four of y’all?”

Sammie Smith. Aaron Jones. Brandon Meriweather. And of course, the most famous of all, Sapp.

It’s striking that for all the speculation about how Carter’s draft stock will be affected by the off-field questions, there’s little question about his dominance on a defense that powered Georgia to back-to-back national titles.

“The football character stuff is concerning, because the practice habits aren’t there – there’s story after story and all sorts of things that have come out with background checks,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay told reporters during a conference call. “But his game tape is exceptional. He’s the best pure football player, the most dominant defensive player in this draft.”

NFL MOCK DRAFT: Jalen Carter falls in first round as Bijan Robinson rises

Similar statements about Sapp’s ability were made as he came out of the University of Miami. But the issue with Sapp was complicated when he failed a drug test at the combine, testing positive for marijuana. When it became public on the eve of the 1995 draft, Sapp’s stock tumbled until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted him 12th in the first round.

Does he sense any similarity to his case and Carter’s?

“(Heck) no,” Sapp said. “What I did was self-inflicted. I went to the combine and tested positive. It was 23 nanograms with a 20 cutoff. I’m like, ‘Wait. I played at Miami, (expletive). It ain’t like I was at Idaho.’

"But when you turned my tape on, it said, ‘No. 1 pick. Best player in the draft.’ “

It’s tough to argue that bottom-line assessment. Sapp was a first-ballot inductee in Canton.

Naturally, that stature makes him a tough grader on Carter. He allows, barely, that Carter might be the most dominant defender in the draft.

“Could be,” Sapp said. “But where was that game that he took over? When you’re talking about a top-five defensive player, I always say, ‘If your tape doesn’t look like Russell Maryland (No. 1 overall, 1991), please don’t talk to me. He had 20 tackles versus Notre Dame.”

Interestingly, Carter is represented by Drew Rosenhaus, the super-agent who also had Sapp as a client for many years. Rosenhaus has led the damage-control strategy for Carter, including the return to Indianapolis to continue interviewing with teams at the combine after leaving for a day to post bond for the charges in Georgia.

“Valuable asset,” Sapp said of Rosenhaus. “Whenever you have someone who has been through some (stuff) with a client in a similar situation, it helps.”

The Carter camp, though, raised some eyebrows when it informed teams that it wasn’t interested in visiting unless that team had a top-10 pick. Rosenhaus seemed to draw a line in the sand.

In an email exchange, Rosenhaus explained there was some flexibility in that approach, that Carter was willing to visit teams outside of the top 10 picks, if they seem “likely to trade up.”

“That is because I do expect him to go in the top 10 picks,” Rosenhaus wrote to USA TODAY Sports. “He is also open to meeting with teams outside the top 10 if they want to come to his home in Apopka to meet him.”

Ah, Apopka. For all the apparent connections between Carter and Sapp – same hometown, same position, same agent – they’ve never met.

Sapp said he’s asked Rosenhaus to set up a meeting, but as of Thursday – a week before Carter will be among the top prospects attending the draft Kansas City – it hadn’t happened.

“Even when he was at Apopka (High) and they were telling me, ‘This kid is like you, playing tight end, doing this and that,’ “ Sapp said. “I’m like, ‘OK, where is he?’ “

Sapp called Meriweather, who apparently knows Carter’s mother, Toni Brown.

“I asked if I can sit down with him, because I had a little (stuff) at the combine,” Sapp said.

Sapp said he also wants to hit the field with Carter for some D-line drills.

“We could just go work on this pass-rush, dog,” Sapp suggested.

Perhaps that day will come. Sapp followed up with Ryan after Carter visited the Raiders.

“Did he know who the hell we were?” Sapp asked, referring to the former first-rounders.

Ryan, as relayed by Sapp: “Yeah, he knew everything.”

What no one really knows for sure, though, is exactly where Carter will land in the draft.

Sapp serves up a compliment as he ponders the possibilities.

“I know there are a lot of teams,” Sapp said, “that just want to know if he will fall to me.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warren Sapp draws distinction between himself and Jalen Carter