Tiki: Simeon Rice Was One-Dimensional
June 30th, 2013
The fire of words that Bucs great and soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp lit recently by claiming Simeon Rice has more street cred to get into Canton than former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan was rekindled when intern-loving Tiki Barber appeared with Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski on WHFS-FM 98.7 last week.
Barber was quoted calling Sapp “an idiot” for his remarks. And while Barber did not deny he said that about Sapp, he claims his words were “blown out of proportion” by the same fourth estate in which he is trying to make a living.
“Look, I have nothing disparaging to say about Warren Sapp,” Barber said. “But here’s what I have to say: He has had a vendetta against Michael Strahan and I don’t even know why he has had a vendetta against Michael Strahan. Maybe because he can because he is a first ballot Hall of Famer and Michael wasn’t. I understand what he was trying to do and get Simeon Rice some credit for what Simeon was as a player and he was a fantastic player rushing the quarterback from the defensive end, but don’t do it at the expense of ‘Stra,’ who is my boy. He’s always had my back.
“They are different players so the comparison never made sense. To put it simply, Strahan was a complete player. He played on the weak side, he played on the strong side, he had to stop the run. Simeon was more of a single-dimensional guy where he would come off the edge and he was better than anyone at it with his speed and his length and his ability to get low and underneath tackles to go after the quarterback but he was not a guy counted on to stop the run. That’s not knocking him as a player, that was a fact and the numbers will show you that in career tackles. So when you try to compare them, you can’t. There was no malice in foresight in calling Sapp ‘an idiot.’ It was blown out of proportion.”
Well, once you say certain words to a reporter on the record, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Barber said what he said. If he needs to apologize, and Sapp demands one (doubtful), that’s between those two.
While Barber has a good point that Strahan was a more complete player, exactly who the hell looks at tackles on running backs when choosing a defensive end for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Did anyone mention how many tackles Reggie White had or Deacon Jones or Bruce Smith? Hell, no! Defensive ends bound for Canton are largely if not solely judged on how many times they put quarterbacks on the ground.
And in that regard, Joe believes Rice was Strahan’s equal if not superior.
June 30th, 2013 at 8:40 am
How dare Tiki call Warren an idiot. WE, the fans, reserve that right. He’s our idiot and will be our idiot for eternity. No-one outside of Tampa Bay reserves that right but us. And Joe, how do you know the judges don’t take into account a players whole body of work? You said they probably don’t look at how many tackles a DE had in his career.
But when you have two players such as this, that are both vying for the one spot, and their accomplishments are evenly matched, you may have to use other deciding factors, such as tackles to break the tie. Unless there is some voting criteria that informs judges to only take into account how many sacks a DE has, I believe all judges take into account a players whole body of work in making their decision.
June 30th, 2013 at 8:53 am
Both were great players….it serves little purpose to try to compare them and in particular it makes no sense to say or infer anything negative.
Sapp is merely earning his paycheck and Tiki is desperately trying to become relevant.
June 30th, 2013 at 9:17 am
This is not hard to settle. Someone who cares enough to look up the situational stats can find the answer. I don’t. I think both players were great and one-upping a player doesn’t really matter at this point.
This is just Sapp trying to get someone’s goat and succeeding at it. He loves getting in peoples heads…always has. I use to be the same way. I’ve matured.
Sapp rocks though. 🙂
June 30th, 2013 at 9:20 am
tampabaybucfan is right though. This is ghe most press Tiki has gotten in years. His opinion would not even matter to anyone but ny fans if Ronde didn’t just retire.
June 30th, 2013 at 9:49 am
“This is just Sapp trying to get someone’s goat and succeeding at it.”
Don’t think Sapp has got Strahan’s goat cuz Strahan has said hardly anything about it. He’s too busy making millions sitting next to pretty women to worry about the bankrupt Sapp.
June 30th, 2013 at 10:42 am
Jajajajajaja
This is getting a little milked I’d say but just to entertain the topic since there’s not much else Bucs to report at this point in the season I think that is a BOGUS claim.
We as Bucs fans know more than anyone that Simeon had a tremendous impact on ANY down he was on the field, be it his speed getting to the ballcarrier or the QB.
Ronde get a handle on your brother
July 1st, 2013 at 1:21 am
[…] I have nothing disparaging to say about Warren Sapp,” Tiki Barber said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “But here’s what I have to say: He […]
July 1st, 2013 at 8:02 pm
[…] I have nothing disparaging to say about Warren Sapp,” Barber said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “But here’s what I have to say: He has had a vendetta against Michael Strahan and I don’t […]