It’s a Buccaneers Christmas: 12 Naughty Moments in Bucs History
By Josh Hill
4. Chris Simms/Cadillac Williams Injuries
Cadillac Williams burst on to the scene as the Rookie of the Year in the NFL, and the best part was he was wearing a Bucs uniform during his epic rookie campaign. But then he blew out his knees and the gravity was sucked out of Tampa. When Williams tore up his knees, the Bucs lost out on what they hoped would be their franchise running back, something they didn’t get until 2012 in Doug Martin.
The worst part is, Jon Gruden wanted to take a skinny young kid from California named Aaron Rodgers with the fifth pick but decided to go with Williams instead.
As for the quarterback they went with, Leo was actually at Raymond James Stadium the day that Chris Simms suffered a spleen trauma against the Panthers; It was the moment that changed Simms’ career, he was never the same player after that day. The promising young QB took one too many hits, and still stayed on the field, trying to will the Buccaneers back into the game.
Simms at one time looked like he could become a form of his father for the Buccaneers, but we quickly learned that would never pan out. Whether it was because he wasn’t cut out for it or he couldn’t get protection, we’ll never know. After Simms it took until Josh Freeman for the Bucs to draft a quarterback to try and make a franchise guy.