Joel Glazer On The Ring Of Honor
April 2nd, 2021
Bucs franchise-leading rusher James Wilder.
Not sure who else has seen a pattern, but players who starred for the Bucs in the awful era between the Doug Williams-led Bucs and the Warren Sapp glory years largely have been omitted from a top franchise honor.
And yes, that includes the franchise’s leading rusher, James Wilder.
The second-round pick from Missouri was a bit-player on two Bucs playoff teams in 1981 and 1982. And when the team began to slip into one of the most dreadful days of football in NFL history, Wilder shined.
In 1984, the Bucs finished 6-10 and Wilder was a Pro Bowl running back, running for 1,544 yards on 407 carries and had 2,229 total yards from scrimmage.
To compare, Wilder finished his nine-year Bucs career with 5,957 yards. Mike Alstott (who never ran for over 1,000 yards in a season) finished with 5,088 yards in 11 seasons. Warrick Dunn had 4,986 yards in six seasons with the Bucs.
Of the three, only Alstott is in the Ring of Honor. Alstott, of course, was a key member of the 2002 Super Bowl-winning team and is one of the most popular players to ever wear a Bucs jersey, creamsicle or red. Alstott has the most rushing touchdowns in franchise history with 58.
For the bulk of the dark seasons between the Doug Williams-Lee Roy Selmon era, when the Bucs made the playoffs three times and once advanced to the NFC championship game, and the Sapp-led glory years, only Paul Gruber who starred in between the two eras has been inducted into the Ring of Honor. The catch here is Gruber was also the starting left tackle on two Bucs’ playoff teams that actually won playoff games. Wilder’s impact on his two playoff appearances were largely limited as both seasons the Bucs were one-and-done.
Joe gets asked from time to time about Wilder, who toiled for some of the worst Bucs teams in history.
Earlier this week when Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer did a Zoom conference call, Glazer was point-blank asked about Wilder’s chances of ever getting inducted into the Ring of Honor.
Without naming names, Glazer didn’t mention Wilder. Nor did Glazer rule out Wilder someday finding his way into the Ring of Honor.
“All of our great former players are considered,” Glazer said of the process. “As you have seen we have one or two [inducted] every year. There are a lot of worthy candidates. So, we are not going to rule anybody out in the near or not-too-distant future.”
Former Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is next in line. He was scheduled to be inducted into the Ring of Honor last season but The Sickness put the kibosh on any induction ceremony.
During most of the 1980s and into the early years of the 1990s, the only reason to go to Bucs games was to watch Wilder. Maybe someday his name will be up there with Bucs greats of the past.
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:10 am
GET WILDER IN THE DAMN ROH!!
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:25 am
Wilder should have already been in the ring . I wonder what he has done to piss off the Glazers ?
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:29 am
Wilder is 100% deserving of the Ring of Honor. Would love to have Wilder in his prime on the team now. Dude was a total work horse.
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:32 am
Wilder and Nickerson should both be in the ROH
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:34 am
I grew up watching Wilder. Eddie George comes to mind when I think of someone to compare him to. I think we gave the ball to him 43 times in a game against the Packers. ( Joe maybe you can do the research) As a child watching the Bucs he was all we had. He really gave all he had. On a personal note, the tribune had a contest to pick the Bucs first and second round draft pick in 1985. I picked it right and so did 12 others. ( Bo Jackson / Rod Jones). To break the tie James Wilder drew my mom’s name out of a helmet so we could see the Broncos and Giants Super Bowl in Pasadena. ( I used my mom’s name because I was too young to enter) The Bucs were 2-14 that season but I still wore my Bucs shirt to the Super Bowl. Good times and thanks again to James Wilder!
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:51 am
I was at McKay’s final game against the Jets at the old stadium in ’84. We were beating the crap out of them and trying to get Wilder a record for yards from scrimmage. We even let the Jets score a late TD to get the ball back.
Fun game to watch, but the Jets didn’t think it was fun and absolutely destroyed us the next year 62-28. So freaking embarrassing.
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:16 am
That 407 was an NFL record for stretch.
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:20 am
Buc50 Says:
April 2nd, 2021 at 9:32 am
Wilder and Nickerson should both be in the ROH
_______
Totally agree with that statement.
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:25 am
Nickerson had a Tom Brady affect on those late 90s teams. The locker room stories about how he taught the players to have some pride in their game are legendary.
Him. Gruber. Wilder. McKay. Williams. They DESERVED rings.
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:38 am
My main man Monte! What a coach. I first saw the title and thought it said Joel Glazer in ring of honor was like omfg.
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:51 am
James Wilder set an NFL record in 1984 for most touches in a season – 492 – 407 rushes plus 85 receptions – and that record still holds today. That’s 30.75 touches a game folks.
No one has come close to that. I doubt that anyone will break it even with the 17 game season. It’s an outrage Wilder isn’t in the ROH yet.
April 2nd, 2021 at 11:13 am
Richard Batman Wood and Mark Cotney should be considered
April 2nd, 2021 at 11:15 am
Wilder and Hardy would almost complete the catching up of the old guard after Monte.
Someone who doesn’t get discussed as much would be Rich McKay. If you hired 1 of the coaches, drafted 4 members in the ring, and helped negotiate construction of the stadium said ROH exists in, wouldn’t that too deserve a nod?
April 2nd, 2021 at 11:21 am
Nickerson is much deserved to be after Wilder. I also believe some original Bucs should be there too. Founders that were part of the turnaround from 0-26. Cotney, Wood, Wilson and Washington were there in 76 and still around in 84, McKays final year.
April 2nd, 2021 at 11:55 am
I think it should be a rule that you have to be drafted and star for the Bucs in order to be in the ROH. Which according to my book Hardy doesn’t make the list.
For that matter neither does Brady. He belongs on the walls of Gillette.
April 2nd, 2021 at 12:14 pm
James Wilder is one of my favorite Bucs players of all time! Inducting him into the ROH is as easy decision for the Glazers as giving Spandau Ballet-lovin’ ex-GM Mark Dominik a contract extension only then to fire him.
April 2nd, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Shameful that Wilder is not in there, blue collar, hard nose player, who gutted out in the days of bad and he still shined, loved Gruber, but why Gruber before Wilder, I’m gonna guess because he played under the new ownership
April 2nd, 2021 at 12:27 pm
1987- I agree with you. I get that Hardy was an important cog in that defense but is he a “Buccaneer man” through and through.
Wilder is a no-brainer!
April 2nd, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Hardy helped create Buccaneer men through and through. He is and was as important as Brady even without the SB ring
April 2nd, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Wilder was basically ran into the ground. I liked him as a kid, it was a big deal for any Bucs player to get national attention, but I don’t know if he’s worth putting in. Personally I think Mark Carrier would be just as worthy — and I mean that as in they’d both be borderline.
But Mark Carrier was a very good WR who the Bucs let walk for some stupid reason. In 1989 he had a line of 86-1422-9 and made the pro-bowl, had 5018 yards at WR with the Bucs and nearly 9000 yards in his career. He’d go on to have a 1000 yard season with the Panthers in their 1st year.
April 2nd, 2021 at 1:11 pm
I know who should get in, the guy who changed the game — that game being Tecmo Super Bowl…
WAYNE HADDIX
7 INTS, 231 Yards, 3 TDS
The Japanese game devs, who knew almost nothing about the NFL outside the basic rules, made their player attributes based off the prior seasons stats and Haddix ended up being the best defender in the game. He is a video game HOF’er for sure.
Also if you haven’t played Tecmo Super Bowl in years, it still holds up — and no, don’t confuse it with the much simpler (yet still fun) Tecmo Bowl. Tons of ways to play it on PC and it still gets roster updates if you look around.
April 2nd, 2021 at 1:23 pm
I get that people liked him a lot, but he only had two good seasons with us and made one pro bowl. Yes, he was the lone bright spot on a very crappy team, but come on. Have higher standards. But I guess this is what fans expect when you are the worst franchise in the history of North American sports (until this past year, thank you Tom).
April 2nd, 2021 at 2:19 pm
Hands down the best RB in the 44 year history of the team. James Wilder was called the ultimate weapon by John Mckay coming into the 1984 seaon, the year Wilder had 492 plays of offense, That does not include incompletions thrown his way. So really he was the focus of more than 500 plays in 1984. They called him the “Sikeston train” at Missouri, Wilder being from Sikeston Mo. Why the Bucs thought James Owens was better, I do not know, they ended up wasteing the first 2 years of Wilder by force feeding J Owens the ball. Tom Landry said before one of the back to back playoff games against Dallas, that Wilder was the best player on the Bucs team. It was the Minnesota game in 83 when Wilder went for 200+ yards that they finally realized that “J Dub” was their best back. YES Rod he does belong in the ROH,. James Wilder was a great running back on some terrible teams. John Madden commented during a game that ” you had better look out when you got to tackle Wilder” because he would blast with his left arm, much like Wallter Payton, who would deliver a blow to oncoming tacklers. Great player and very deserving of the ROH. GO BUCS!!!!
April 2nd, 2021 at 2:32 pm
Hands down the best RB in the 44 year history of the team. James Wilder was called the ultimate weapon by John Mckay coming into the 1984 seaon, the year Wilder had 492 plays of offense, That does not include incompletions thrown his way. So really he was the focus of more than 500 plays in 1984. They called him the “Sikeston train” at Missouri, Wilder being from Sikeston Mo. Why the Bucs thought James Owens was better, I do not know, they ended up wasteing the first 2 years of Wilder by force feeding J Owens the ball. Tom Landry said before one of the back to back playoff games against Dallas, that Wilder was the best player on the Bucs team. It was the Minnesota game in 83 when Wilder went for 200+ yards that they finally realized that “J Dub” was their best back. YES Rod he does belong in the ROH,. James Wilder was a great running back on some terrible teams. John Madden commented during a game that ” you had better look out when you got to tackle Wilder” because he would blast with his left arm, much like Wallter Payton, who would deliver a blow to oncoming tacklers. Great player and very deserving of the ROH. GO BUCS!!!!
April 2nd, 2021 at 3:36 pm
All numbers aside, Wilder was the best RB in the history of the franchise. He was big, imposing, fast, and could catch the ball. Nobody else in team history had his combination of skills at the position. He was a star on crappy teams… Had he gone to a winning franchise, he may have been a HOF type player — he was that good.
April 2nd, 2021 at 6:10 pm
It’s a crime Wilder spent his career on the 80’s Bucs, he coulda make HOF with Dallas or SF
April 2nd, 2021 at 7:04 pm
@Perimeter Blocker
You are correct, it was 9/30/84. Bucs won 30-27. Wilder had 43 carries for 172 yards and a TD. He also had 44 yards receiving too.
April 2nd, 2021 at 7:05 pm
Wilder was a nice player and should get in considering our fairly pedestrian history at running back, but Nickerson should be next after Kiffin.
April 2nd, 2021 at 7:39 pm
I don’t really care. It seems we lose nearly every RoH game…so I would just the same rather do without for a couple years.
April 3rd, 2021 at 12:47 am
Wilder and Nickerson are both borderline but probably worthy.
They need to make sure they don’t water it down just to put names in every year. After those two there is no one else for awhile.
Someone mentioned Mark carrier… um… No.
Right now the next batch is going to come from the current team.
Mike Evans, Lavonte David, etc…
Brady if they win another Super Bowl with him.
And whoever said it only counts if you get drafted by the organization… That’s ridiculous. Free agency is a real thing in the NFL.
April 3rd, 2021 at 8:43 pm
It’s kinda shocking to me that Wilder is not in the ROH. What’s a guy have to do?
April 3rd, 2021 at 9:52 pm
I guess John Lynch shouldn’t be in Denver’s ring of honor?
April 3rd, 2021 at 11:52 pm
Criminal that 32 isn’t already in there.
April 4th, 2021 at 7:45 am
Gencoimports Says:
April 2nd, 2021 at 10:51 am
James Wilder set an NFL record in 1984 for most touches in a season – 492 – 407 rushes plus 85 receptions – and that record still holds today. That’s 30.75 touches a game folks.
No one has come close to that. I doubt that anyone will break it even with the 17 game season. It’s an outrage Wilder isn’t in the ROH yet.
_____
Beat me to it. 492 touches is a record that won’t be … touched. Nobody is that tough. He was a stud and one of the prime reasons, if not the number one reason, I became a fan of the team in 83. He and Barber are my top 2 favorite players all time