Buccaneers: Five players that made their mark away from Tampa Bay
By Bailey Adams
No. 4- Aqib Talib
The 20th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft really wasn’t terrible- on the field- during his time with Tampa Bay. In 58 games with the Bucs, Aqib Talib came up with 18 interceptions. That’s eighth all-time on the franchise’s leaderboard. However, his time with the team was overshadowed by off-field troubles. He got in a fight with a teammate in his rookie year. A year later, he was charged with resisting arrest and simple battery. And it didn’t end there, as he was later accused of shooting at his sister’s boyfriend. He was indicted in 2011 before the charges were dropped in 2012.
His time with the Buccaneers was all about character issues, which is why it’s no surprise that his tenure in Tampa came to an end with a suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. He was handed a four-game suspension, the team traded him to New England and that was that. In the last four seasons, he has 14 interceptions. Talib won a Super Bowl with Denver, made the Pro Bowl every year from 2013 to 2016 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2016. To cap all of that off, he picked off the Bucs twice when he returned to Tampa in October of 2016.
Was Talib really a disappointing player on the field for the Bucs? Nope. He was actually really good. But what happened off the field tarnished his Tampa Bay legacy. Now, he’s known for being a top cornerback in the league. Once he got out of the Bay Area, he changed that legacy. What a shame for the Buccaneers, as they missed out on the brightest part of his NFL career.