NFC's best match Favre vs. Sapp

TAMPA, Fla. -- Warren Sapp remembers everything about the day Brett Favre helped him become a household name.

Three sacks, two forced fumbles, incessant trash-talking and a hand slap that christened a friendship -- and what has evolved into perhaps the biggest personal rivalry in the NFL.

Two of the game's most colorful and competitive players clash for the 16th time today when Sapp's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Favre's Green Bay Packers meet. Both teams are 8-2, the best record in the league.

"There wasn't a real connection (early on). ... But just because he didn't know who I was didn't mean I didn't know who he was," Sapp recalled.

"What I remember is the day Tony (Dungy) said: 'For us to be successful, we've got to chase down the Green Bay Packers.' That was in '97. And to me, he was talking directly to me.

"I was sitting there thinking: 'You've got to get to Favre. He's talking to me. He's got to be talking to me."'

Favorite sack victim

Sapp has sacked Favre 11 times, more than any other quarterback he's taken down in his eight-year career. The first came Sept. 1, 1996, but the rivalry didn't take off until a cold day at Lambeau Field in the 1997 playoffs.

The Packers won by two touchdowns, but Sapp chased Favre all over the field and finished with three sacks. He forced two fumbles and recovered one.

"Warren was really motivated. I think Favre kind of appreciates that. When he gets challenged it makes his level of play increase," said Dungy, the former Bucs coach who's now with the Indianapolis Colts.

"From that point on, I think there was a kind of respect between the two of them, and an idea that any time they played, they were going to be the focal points of the game. And whoever really played well and got the best of that matchup had a great chance to win. It's kind of blossomed from there."

Sapp never will forget their heated exchange after Favre completed a 23-yard pass to Derrick Mayes on third-and-18 as time expired in the third quarter of their only playoff meeting.

Sapp sacked Favre for an 8-yard loss on first down, but was unable to beat a triple-team to get to the quarterback on the biggest play of the game.

"The clock flips over to the fourth quarter. ... I'm going to the sideline and he's like: 'Hey, where the hell are you going?' He should be thinking what's the next play. I had to stop and go back," Sapp said.

"(Mike) Holmgren tries to stop him from coming back to me. He snatched loose from Holmgren, and that's when I knew he was like me. ... He walked up to me and said, 'What you want to do, fat boy?

"I said, 'I ain't going nowhere. One more quarter. Me and you. We're going to find out who the baddest man today is.'

"He said: 'I'm with you.' We slapped hands and he went back to Holmgren, and I went down the sideline."

The Packers led 13-7 and added a touchdown and 2-point conversion four plays later, putting the score out of reach for Tampa Bay's anemic offense. But Sapp and Favre had formed a bond.

"To me, that was my one moment in the league where I made a connection with an opponent for a lifetime," Sapp said. "For that one moment we could have been teammates, because I saw that look in his eyes like I had in my eyes: 'Not today, boy. Not today.' You rarely get that, especially from a quarterback."

A thorn in the Bucs' side

Favre is 14-5 with 33 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions against Tampa Bay. But he's 0-4 at Raymond James Stadium, where a victory would give the Packers a one-game lead over their former Central Division rivals as both teams position themselves for a run at home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Green Bay is coming off a 31-21 loss at Minnesota, another place where Favre has had trouble winning.

"You could take Tampa's defense, and you could have us play on a beach in the Bahamas, and it would still be a tough place to play. That's just the way it is," Favre said. "Their defense is tough to beat (in Green Bay). We've hung on by the skin of our teeth here. When teams play them, regardless of where it is, it's a huge challenge and a tough one."

The three-time league MVP said his rivalry with Sapp developed out of mutual respect.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, but I also have a lot of confidence in myself, and I am as competitive as any player in the league," Favre said. "Look, I know I'll be knocked down. I'll be hit. I know I'll be sacked. I know I'll be picked off. And to think otherwise is naive, and I'm not naive. But I will keep coming back, and that's what happens when we play each other."