Buffs Beat

Warren Sapp admires B.J. Green's "phone booth" playing style

The Hall-of-Famer gave the Buffaloes transfer a few pointers outside of the field
Josh Tolle|
Nov 19, 2022; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman B.J. Green (35) against the Oregon State Beavers at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 19, 2022; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive lineman B.J. Green (35) against the Oregon State Beavers at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Colorado Buffaloes

When Warren Sapp came to Colorado as a graduate assistant, it was one of the most underrated moves for Coach Prime. The Hall-of-Famer wanted to start his coaching career, but in reality he brings a wealth of knowledge to Boulder. One of the players on his radar has been B.J. Green, who joined the Buffs as part of the offseason wave in the transfer portal.

Sapp got a minute to catch up with Green on Monday and gave him some constructive criticism. The moment captured by Well Off Media was one of rare times seeing the former Super Bowl champ give instructions outside of the football field. Sapp even complimented Green for close contact with a "phone booth" style fight similar to how he played the game.

Green has a special tie to Coach Prime from his youth. He was his first head coach in Atlanta and turned him away from being a running back to play defense. The former Arizona State standout originally decided on Washington as the next stop in his career, but dropped out after Kalen DeBoer exited to Alabama. At 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds, the defensive lineman was noted as a three-star recruit and became a Burlsworth Trophy finalist after walking-on at ASU.

The Buffs got a "diamond in the rough" with Green. He was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection last year and hasn't missed a game during his career, which started as a true freshman in 2021. He has racked up 60 tackles (21 for loss), 13.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 36 games.

Colorado opens the season with a difficult non-conference stretch starting with North Dakota State on Aug 29 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. They'll move on to face Nebraska and Colorado State on the road in what's expected to be heated rivalry games.

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Josh Tolle
JOSH TOLLE

Josh Tolle is a writer covering college sports for On SI. Outside of storytelling, the multi-talented broadcaster has play-by-play experience at the professional and collegiate levels. In 2018, he began calling games for the National Women’s Soccer League. He has also called games for the United Soccer League, Concacaf, and the U.S. Open Cup. He has called hockey for the Premier Hockey Federation for the past three seasons and was the play-by-play voice for the Superior RoughRiders of the Western Hockey League. He has provided play-by-play for various other sports including football, basketball, baseball and volleyball events. Since 2015, Tolle has been the voice of Colorado School of Mines Athletics having called football, men's and women's basketball and soccer. He previously wrote for SB Nation.

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