Warren Sapp is retiring.

Sapp, who blazed a bombastic trail from Apopka (Fla.) High School to the University of Miami to seven consecutive Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, informed his teammates and coaching staff with the Oakland Raiders that he was calling it quits after 13 seasons at age 35.

Though his career floundered during much of his final four seasons with the Raiders, Sapp will be remembered best for his days in Tampa when he served as a cornerstone of a franchise he helped build from laughingstock to annual title contender.

Outspoken and often controversial, Sapp leaves the game with 96 1/2 sacks, the second-most in league history for an interior lineman behind Minnesota's John Randle (137 1/2). Of those sacks, 77 came with the Bucs, which ranks second in the team record book behind Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon.

The 12th overall pick in the 1995 draft, Sapp became a starter midway through his rookie season and, under the tutelage of Coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, erupted into one of the most feared and intimidating defensive players in the game.

Alongside Derrick Brooks — a `95 rookie classmate — the Bucs reached the playoffs for the first time in 15 years in 1997 to start a run of five playoff berths over six seasons that culminated with the Bucs — armed with the league's top-ranked defense — defeating the Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003.

The six-year, $36 million contract extension Sapp signed with the Bucs in `98 expired following the `03 season. He opted for a seven-year, $36.6 million deal with the Raiders that included $7 million guaranteed.