First-round pick Reuben Bain Jr. ignited rookie minicamp by sporting Warren Sapp’s iconic No. 99 jersey, bridging two generations of Hurricanes stars turned defensive anchors for Tampa Bay.
The best Tampa Bay Buccaneers player to ever come from the University of Miami is Warren Sapp, and chances are, it will stay that way for a long time.
More than being just a franchise legend, Sapp is one of the greatest defensive tackles of the 21st century, if not of all time, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a result.
Sapp's pro football journey began during the 1995 draft, when the Bucs took him in the first round out of Miami.
For the next 30 drafts, the Bucs didn't take anybody from Miami in the first round.
Then, late last month, they did it again, taking edge rusher Reuben Bain Jr.
Bain and Sapp have known each other since Bain was at Miami Central High School, and soon after Bain got drafted, Sapp reached out.
"He was just telling me, 'This his city, giving me his well wishes," Bain told reporters.
On Thursday, Bain arrived for Tampa's rookie minicamp and took the opportunity to pay tribute to Sapp by wearing his No. 99 jersey.
Bain even wore the jersey backwards to emphasize Sapp's name.
"Welcome to the Krewe," Bain told the cameraman, referencing the Buccaneers' nickname.
The jersey also wasn't Tampa's typical home or away uniform. This one was a black Reebok jersey that, per ESPN's Jenna Laine, Tampa never wore in a game and was only sold in stores in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Sapp was a key part of Tampa's first Super Bowl championship team in the 2002 season, before Bain was born. Almost two decades later, a 16-year-old Bain was in Raymond James Stadium to watch his cousin, former Bucs' defensive back Carlton Davis III, help Tampa win its second and most recent title.
It remains to be seen what type of player Bain becomes in the NFL, but he's already joined Sapp among the Miami greats.
Like Sapp, who was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 1994, right before the Bucs drafted him, Bain was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.
Another similarity the two share is that both fell further in the first round than expected. The New York Jets infamously passed on Sapp for tight end Kyle Brady three picks before the Bucs got him at No. 12, and the Bucs got Bain at No. 15 despite most mocks projecting him in the top 10, if not the top five.
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