Buccaneers’ Jersey Countdown: Number 85
Continuing the countdown of the best Buccaneers ever to wear the uniform, who was the best to wear number 85?
As training camp continues to approach, we are going to continue our walk down Buccaneers’ memory lane. The trip is not always fun, as there were a lot of very lean years to remember. Any Bucs’ fan knows that wins were hard to come by at many points in team lore. But, the talent has always been there. Even the winless inaugural team boasted Lee Roy Selmon.
But who has been the best?
Over the last several weeks, we have been going through history, looking at the best players ever to put on the Bucs’ jersey. Backwards by jersey number, we have been naming the very best, from the obvious to the obscure. As we move on to number 85, we don’t have to reach far back into history, but he was a relatively small fish in the pewter pond.
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His name is Reidel Anthony.
Anthony was the 16th overall selection of the 1997 draft by the Bucs. He started 13 games that year and posted 35 receptions, 448 yards and four touchdowns. His best day as a rookie was during a game against the Vikings where he was targeted nine times, caught five passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. He also posted 114 yards on four catches in the playoffs that year.
His best year as a Buc came in 1998, both as a wide receiver and a kick returner. That year saw Anthony post 51 receptions for 708 yards and seven touchdowns. He went over the century mark one time in a game against the Jaguars. That day, he caught two passes, both for touchdowns, and 126 yards.
At that point, Reidel was also the team’s primary kickoff returner. In 1998, he returned 46 kicks for 1,118 yards, averaging over 24 yards per return.
Anthony had one more glimpse of first round ability in a 1999 game against the Vikings when he caught seven passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t that year, or for any remaining year in Tampa, put up more than 296 yards, and peaked in scores with four touchdowns in the year 2000.
Next: Preview of Week Five against the Panthers
For his career, Anthony caught 144 passes for 1,846 yards and 16 touchdowns. Underwhelming for a first round pick, but the best to ever wear number 85 for the Bucs.