Ronde Barber, Richard Nixon And George Washington-Carver
August 6th, 2023
If one isn’t careful, Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ wonderful sarcasm can scoot right by you.
Yesterday, Bucs legend Rondé Barber was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He joined his teammates Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch, and the original Bucs player, the late great Lee Roy Selmon.
(Hey Ira, is wanting Simeon Rice in Canton too much to ask?)
As he did earlier in the week, Bowles was asked if he educates his players on who Barber is, and his style of play and toughness.
Bowles said, yes, he would love for his players to emulate Barber (Joe thinks Antoine Winfield does a pretty good job of that). However, telling his players about Barber, well, Bowles said for players in the 2020s, telling them about a guy who played a decade or more ago, they just cannot relate. Like Barber is some ghost.
“All aspects of his game translate today: his intelligence, his toughness, his sure tackling, definitely his ball skills and turnover skills,” Bowles said. “I think he’s had more defensive touchdowns than anybody in the league.
“All of that translates to today’s game. Telling the guys about Rondé Barber is like telling them about President Nixon or George Washington-Carver. It’s hard for some – they don’t go back as far as 2020.
“They would have to Google that and then they’ll say, ‘Oh, okay.’”
Joe has gone through thousands of Bucs press conferences and heard a lot of things. But never has Joe heard anyone drop the names “Richard Nixon” or “George Washington-Carver,”, much less both at the same time!
Hopefully, some guys on the Bucs see Barber’s photos on the walls of One Buc Palace and learn about him out of curiosity.
August 6th, 2023 at 8:28 am
I have somehow thought that Barber is no stranger to One Buc Palace. Maybe I’m wrong. But I think it might behoove the young men on this roster to seek him out. Just saying.
I wanted to be a race car driver when I was a youngster and it just so happened that my grandfather was a race car mechanic at Indianapolis. I followed him around whenever I could just to learn a little bit maybe.
Go Bucs!
August 6th, 2023 at 8:44 am
A GWC nugget – that goes right along with being uncommon (one of the greatest inventors of our time and Ronde basically defining the slot corner in the NFL). Now “tricky dick” ???
August 6th, 2023 at 8:46 am
One of my favorite Ronde plays was him blitzing off the edge for another sack. They always knew when to run it and it seemingly worked every time.
August 6th, 2023 at 9:21 am
I do not believe Carver had a hyphenated last name. He instead was proud of his patriotic middle name. He famously believed in the American Way—hard work and self-reliance—just like Ronde, just like Bowles.
August 6th, 2023 at 9:35 am
The ones who want to become great will familiarize themselves with the greats.
August 6th, 2023 at 9:49 am
Hey coach Bowles, if the stories are not told the legends cannot happen. It’s the way it works. Let me tell you about a story of Paul revere…..
August 6th, 2023 at 9:57 am
Barber’s name, along with the other Ring of Honor players banners line Raymond James Stadium. The players ought to take some initiative on their own to pull film of Barber and the others.
August 6th, 2023 at 11:02 am
Sadly, in more cases than not, Bowles is correct about the average 20-somethings knowledge of the anything less than recent past. Not all of the them obviously, but likely a large majority. Which is a shame, as history is likely to be repeated if forgotten.
August 6th, 2023 at 11:36 am
Simeon rice to Canton? May as well let aquib talib in while we are at it…Gerald McCoy anyone? Or what about a Sammy stroughter or arrelious benn lmao
August 6th, 2023 at 11:46 am
Don’t be dumb.
August 6th, 2023 at 12:01 pm
Kind of like some on here that don’t know what a dominant pass rusher Rice was well before he came here
Dude was nearly unblockable for several years
The king of the strip sack
He should be in the hall
August 6th, 2023 at 4:26 pm
I was at a game in Carolina several years back. Simeon Rice had a sack near the end zone area as the Panthers were driving. Someone on the Panthers payroll handed a random fan in the endzone a microphone. Said fan called out Mr. Rice so that the whole stadium could hear. Mr. Rice promptly had another sack…two in a row. He was a bad dude!
August 6th, 2023 at 5:55 pm
One of the courses the team should have for all new players, is like a one hour history of the franchise, the periods of success, some of the great games in team history, and finally, some of the great players. I mean if you’re 21-years old, have you ever even heard of Lee Roy Selmon, do you know it’s more than the name of a toll road? I’m not even bashing the kids, just saying you only know what you know, and the team should be celebrating its history and at least giving the kids a basis to work from, so if they hear the press or fans bring up something, they know what is being talked about.
August 6th, 2023 at 6:16 pm
Simeon Rice is a borderline HOF candidate, but he should at least be on the list of possible entries.
Looking at his numbers, he might have benefited from not sticking around at the end of his career, since people will look at the sack production vs the number of years players, and just divide the numbers. Meanwhile, in reality, Rice’s productive years were very productive.
The other thing that would hurt him is the idea that he didn’t play the run. Again, a stupid and untrue label he got flagged with – while he wasn’t Suh out there vs the run, he was good enough that he wasn’t hurting the defense and shouldn’t really be part of the discussion in a negative fashion.
Looking at the comparable players to him on PFR, other guys with similar production are also not in the HOF – the only comparable player in the HOF was Howie Long.
August 6th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Hey we have 6 in Canton
Revis
Would never have added learning to play zone to his arsenal had it not been for the genius Bucs
August 7th, 2023 at 9:45 am
The longer the past becomes a distant memory the less relevant it becomes. We politely applaud when an “old timer” gets paraded out on the field at half time, but truth be told we prefer the 2nd half begin as quickly as possible. Time stands still for no man is a universal truth .