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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 8, 2010

Ex-NFL star Sapp out of Miami Beach jail


Associated Press

Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail in Miami Beach, Fla., yesterday on $1,500 bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room.

Sapp was released at about 11 a.m. yesterday — a time the NFL Network analyst would have been helping with Super Bowl coverage.

The network has pulled Sapp off the air until it investigates the matter.

Police arrested Sapp on Saturday on one charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. An arrest affidavit says the incident happened around 5 a.m. Saturday in the former defensive tackle's hotel room at the Shore Club on Miami Beach.

The woman said she had been dating Sapp about two years. She told officers the two were partying with a large group of friends when she got tired and went to lay down.

Sapp entered hours later, pulled her out of bed and tried to get her out of the room, according to the complaint. The complaint says he yelled at the woman about men she had been hanging out with and men listed in her cell phone.

The woman told police Sapp choked her, threw her down on a couch, then picked her up by her shirt and neck and threw her down again — injuring her leg.

Sapp told investigators he let the woman stay in his room but asked her to leave a few hours later because he was expecting company. He told police the woman fell on her leg when he tried to help her get off a couch.

Sapp played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders during a 13-year NFL career.

COMMISH CORNER

REVENUE, HEAD INJURIES DISCUSSED

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell predicts players' salaries will still grow under a new labor agreement, even if their share of revenue is reduced as owners have proposed.

Appearing yesterday on CBS's "Face the Nation" hours before the Super Bowl, Goodell said the owners need more money to cover rising costs for international ventures and infrastructure projects such as new stadiums.

"You have to invest in these stadiums that we're in today," Goodell said. "You need to find new ways of creating revenue, whether it's international or otherwise. And that takes investment. And we need to make sure that the owners have the capital to be able to do that. And then the pie grows, and everyone benefits."

The union has said management wants players to reduce their share to 41 percent of applied revenues from about 59 percent. Goodell counters that of the $3.6 billion in incremental revenues since 2006, players received $2.6 billion.

The league's current labor contract expires in March 2011.

Addressing the issue of concussions has been another priority for the commissioner, and he said the league will continue to look for ways to make the game safer. He didn't rule out the idea of getting linemen out of their three-point stances to reduce the ferocity of collisions at the line of scrimmage.

SUPER SIGHTINGS

PITT, CRUISE AT BIG GAME IN MIAMI

The cry of "Who Dat" wasn't all about the New Orleans Saints at the Super Bowl — it was also heard by onlookers as cameras flashed at the sight of A-list celebrities at the big game, including Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise with kids in tow.

Sometime New Orleans resident Pitt was escorted into the game with son Maddox on a golf cart moments before it began.

Cruise just went into the stadium like other ticket holders, up an escalator with daughter Suri in his arms.

Demi More and Ashton Kutcher were on the sidelines before kickoff.

John Travolta, LL Cool J, and Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio, part owners of the Miami Dolphins, also attended.