Sapp making most of final year at USC

Marvin Sapp tends to get lost in the shuffle of a South Carolina linebacker corps that features flashier players and bigger bodies.

Sapp might not measure up to inside linebackers Jasper Brinkley and Eric Norwood in terms of size or publicity, but the senior from Jacksonville, Fla., has pulled his weight on the field.

The 5-foot-11, 229-pound Sapp ranks third on the team with 43 tackles despite starting only one game. Sapp has six more tackles than Brinkley and two fewer than Norwood.

Sapp has made 13 career starts and has appeared in 39 consecutive games the past four seasons. But he has worked mostly in the shadows cast by Brinkley (6-2, 269 pounds) and Norwood (6-1, 253), both of whom have been All-SEC selections.

And that’s fine with Sapp.

“I don’t depend on people to praise me and make me have self-worth. I think that when you do that, you kind of lose focus and you lose your self-motivation and you start becoming motivated by other people and what they say about you,” Sapp said.

“You humble yourself. You don’t say, ‘Well, I’m not this or I’m not that,’ and just do what’s right.”

In the locker room, Sapp is known for his strong character traits.

“You’ll never catch Marvin doing nothing wrong,” cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. “He’s always straightforward, a great guy.”

Norwood called Sapp a “good Christian man.”

“That’s Marvin Sapp for you — he leads by example,” Norwood said. “He won’t get mad at you and curse you out, nothing like that. He’ll sit and talk with you if there looks like something’s wrong with you. Sapp’s just a good guy.”

Sapp has been active in the athletic department’s community outreach program and spent the recent open date attending a Christian retreat in North Carolina with students from several other schools in the Carolinas.

Though Sapp’s teammates joke with him about his do-gooder image, he tries not to come across as holier than thou.

“I’m by no ways perfect,” he said. “But I really try to get God out there and try to live the best life that I can.”

“We give him a hard time at times, but he’s cool with it,” Norwood said. “We respect him because since I’ve been here, he’s been the same guy. He hasn’t tried to change for everybody. You’ve got to respect that.”

Sapp, the first cousin of former Clemson player Patrick Sapp, originally committed to Georgia Tech before changing his mind and signing with the Gamecocks as part of Steve Spurrier’s first recruiting class.

Sapp appeared in eight games as a freshman, started three as a sophomore and replaced Brinkley in the starting lineup for the final eight games last season after Brinkley injured his knee against LSU.

But Sapp appears to have kicked it up a notch his senior season, subbing for Brinkley in passing situations and making the most of his opportunities. Sapp tied for the team lead with six tackles and recorded his first career sack last week against Tennessee.

“Marvin has played much better this year,” Spurrier said. “I think (first-year defensive coordinator) Ellis Johnson has brought the best out in Marvin, and maybe Marvin just sort of got it all together. But he’s having an outstanding year.

“Looking back, we wish we had redshirted him maybe his freshman year, but we didn’t. But he’s certainly a player who’s playing his best his fourth year.”

Sapp, who has added about 25 pounds since arriving at USC, will play his final home game Saturday against Arkansas. He is pleased to be leaving on a high note.

“I think everybody wants to do a little better than what they did. I wish I did a lot more,” Sapp said. “I think everything worked out in its own way according to plan to get where I am now, to be the best of me right now.”

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USC seniors

These 20 players will be playing their final game at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday.

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.