TAMPA — Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Bauer Sharp, a former Oklahoma standout, is settling into life on Florida’s Gulf Coast and says the beach access reminds him of growing up in Panama City.
“I love how accessible the beach is,” Sharp said. “I grew up at the beach in Panama City, but with this hometown, going to the beach is awesome. It’s so easy. You got the same heat, clear water. It’s not too hot either.”
Sharp, who described himself as “a huge baseball guy,” named Bryce Harper as his favorite athlete of all time. “I’ll go Bryce Harper. I was a huge baseball guy,” Sharp said. His musical tastes run from country to rap — “I’d probably go Chris Stapleton or NBA YoungBoy,” he said, crediting his time in Louisiana for the YoungBoy pick.
The rookie’s tenure at Oklahoma produced one of his best fan interactions. “I got a season ticket refund on Venmo, a request for their whole season at Oklahoma cause we didn’t have the best season,” Sharp said. “I had to laugh. I had to tip my cap because of how good that was, a $1,500 Venmo season ticket request.”
Sharp said his best vacation was a 2024 trip to Hawaii that doubled as a service mission. “I went to Hawaii in 2024. It was more of a service trip, helping kids in Maui deal with the fires,” he said. “It was more of a vacation after our work. It was sick. It was awesome.”
On pop culture, Sharp picked “Inception” as his favorite movie, “Snowfall” as his top TV show and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” over “The Grinch.” Asked about the best Spider-Man, he did not hesitate: “Andrew Garfield. How do we not continue with Andrew Garfield is my biggest question.”
Sharp also weighed in on a few divisive topics. “I love pineapples on pizza. I have to. Pizza is not the same without,” he said. As for the Times Square ball drop: “Oh… overrated, overrated. I’m out on that.” His biggest pet peeve? “Maybe, people taking too long to do something that should’ve not taken that long. Let’s get a move on the thing you know?”
The Buccaneers are scheduled to open training camp at their Tampa facility later this month, where Sharp and the rest of the rookie class will compete for roster spots ahead of the preseason.