Benjamin Lee Sapp, II (born January 20, 1981) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. He played college football at

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. Sapp also played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Early years

Sapp attended Boyd Anderson High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was a student and a letterman in football,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. In football, as a senior, he was a first-team All-

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

selection and an All-State Honorable Mention selection. Benny Sapp graduated from Boyd Anderson High School in 2000.

College career

He appeared in 24 games (15 starts) with the

Northern Iowa Panthers The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I (Division I FCS in football). History The school's mascot is t ...

and 24 games (20 starts) with the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was removed from the Iowa Hawkeyes squad in 2002 due to charges of violence. He racked up 78

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, six

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s, 29 passes deflected and four forced fumbles with the Panthers and 104 tackles and three interceptions in two seasons with the Hawkeyes.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

Sapp was signed by the

as an

in 2004. He played for them until 2007.

Minnesota Vikings (first stint)

Sapp signed with the Vikings in 2008. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

he stepped in to the Vikings starting nickel rotation after Charles Gordon went down. In 2008, he had 22 tackles along with 2 interceptions. On March 3, 2009, the Vikings re-signed him to a one-year contract. And re-signed him again for a two-year contract on March 9, 2010.

Miami Dolphins

Sapp was traded from the Vikings on August 25, 2010 to the

for

Greg Camarillo Greg Camarillo ( ; born April 18, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Stanford. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Camarillo also played for the Miami Dolp ...

. For the Dolphins Sapp recorded 2 interceptions and had 10 pass deflections in 17 games. On September 12, 2011, during a ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' game against rival New England Patriots, Sapp was stiff-armed by Patriots WR

Wes Welker Wesley Carter Welker (born May 1, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San ...

on a 99-yard touchdown pass. The Dolphins cut Sapp the next day.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

After CB Antoine Winfield sustained a season-ending injury, Sapp was signed by the Vikings after a work out.

Personal life

Sapp's high school teammate

Asante Samuel Asante T. Samuel Sr. (born January 6, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Accra, Ghana and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He played college fo ...

also has played in the NFL, most recently for the Atlanta Falcons.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapp, Benny 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida American football cornerbacks Iowa Hawkeyes football players Northern Iowa Panthers football players Kansas City Chiefs players Minnesota Vikings players Miami Dolphins players Ed Block Courage Award recipients