The Buccaneers have only been around since 1976, but they sure do have a pretty painful history. We’ve counted down some of the bright spots in our all-time lists, but this is a look at some of the negative. Here, we look at five players that played for the Bucs, but made their mark away from Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers have seen quite a few special players throughout their history. Some have come to Tampa through the draft and blossomed into superstars. Guys like Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber and Mike Alstott were brought into the league by Tampa Bay and repaid the franchise in a big way. Others arrived in free agency and had successful Buccaneer careers. Players like Michael Pittman, Hardy Nickerson, Simeon Rice and more recently, Vincent Jackson fall into that category. Good group of guys there, huh?
As fun as it would be to focus on the positives, that’s not the point right now. Here, we’re looking at players that made their mark elsewhere. Below are some of the situations the Bucs seemingly have far too often:
- Superstar player comes to Tampa, disappoints, then moves on and continues being a star elsewhere
- Superstar player comes to Tampa, disappoints, then retires
- Top prospect gets drafted by Tampa Bay, disappoints, then moves on to be a star elsewhere
- Average player comes to Tampa, disappoints or continues being average, then moves on and develops into a star
The saddest part, however, is that the majority of guys on this list weren’t really that bad with the Bucs, but their tenures were just forgettable for one reason or another. Without further ado, let’s dive into our list of five players that made their mark elsewhere and left a little (or a lot) to be desired with the Buccaneers.