Barber’s Buy-In A Great Sign
June 30th, 2009Nobody confused last year’s edition of Ronde Barber with Pro Bowl Ronde Barber of years past. Barber got burned and looked physically and mentally worn on too many occasions.
It wasn’t just bad luck.
Barber did survive Raheem The Dream’s veteran purge, so Joe’s hoping The Dream knows there’s a bounce-back season in those 34-year-old legs.
It’s been largely the silent treatment to the media this offseason from Barber. Maybe he’s just trying to stay channeled in to his preparation. And that seemed to be Mark Dominik’s take last week when talking about the Bucs revitalized conditioning program.
Dominik: “…Part of the two things that we felt we really needed to improve on the football team were core strength and body fat. Those were two areas that we really felt like hurt us down the stretch. Maybe hurt our condidtioning down the stretch. …[The new plan] has been a lot of fun for players. We’ve got players coming back. Ronde Barber made a lot of the offseason program. He hadn’t been part of the offseason program in a long time because he had done his own thing and kept himself in shape. I think he bought in to what Kurtis is doing, and that’s been important for us.”
Barber also has a sniff at the Hall of Fame on the line in 2009. Joe’s hoping this ugly video is motivating him to new heights.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Barber will be cut in ’10. I’ll cry, whine and bitch about it, but he’s only around because they can’t replace him this year. If we had depth or extra draft picks he’s be gone.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:44 am
First of all, Barber is not, and will never be, a HOF player. The Hall is reserved for the best of all time not the very good. I’m a huge fan, but he did not revolutionize the position. He would have to close out his career with at least 3 more shut-down, Pro-Bowl, seasons before we can honestly consider him a HOFer, and I don’t see that happening. By the way, the video is tasteless.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I’d have to disagree about Ronde being HOF worthy. He was the first DB to reach the 20/20 club. He has a superbowl ring and many winning seasons under his belt, that he was very instrumental in making happen. Barber did somewhat revolutionize the Nickel Back position and he was the best at it. We can agree to disagree, but he’s a HOF’r in my book, and other that a few bad plays in 08′ he was still very proficient and made his picks as usual.
Having said that, I think Ronde and the Bucs struggle on Astro Turf. They don’t practice on it which I see as a fault of Management. They slip, trip and fall more on artificial than on grass. Turf is also very hard on Knees. Ask Reggie Bush. It should be banned in all stadiums or re-engineered to more forgiving and soft like real turf. Arizona made the right call when they built there stadium with a sliding field.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
20 interceptions & 20 sacks does not warrant Hall of Fame status in my mind. The big number in the voters book is Pro Bowls, and I don’t know if he has enough. He is amounting impressive defensive touchdown stats, though. We can argue that he is a system guy with question marks on whether or not he could achieve those numbers in any other scheme. Again, I’m a huge fan, I remember vividly jumping up and down on my friend’s brand new leather sofa when he was running back that interception against the Eagles to seal the NFC Championship Game, but who would you compare him to? Deion Sanders, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Darryl Green? You see what I’m saying? His name just doesn’t seem to fit amongst those legends of the game; and that’s what the HOF is reserved for, legends, not good players with specialty stats.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I hear what you’re saying but….Pro Bowls are little mor than a glorified Popularity Contest. I think you also have to look at a player’s longevity and health while playing. Ronde is a pretty durable guy. Darryl Greene carried the fasted man distinction. I met Dick Lane when I was a kid. My mom and Dick were friends. She was a Stewardess and they met on a flight from Houston to New Orleans. Small world. That’s pretty awesome that you mention him. What a Stud.