Buccaneers: Five best tight ends in team history
By Bailey Adams
No. 3- Dave Moore (1992-2001, 2004-2007)
Cracking the list at No. 3 is someone that Buccaneer fans are still familiar with to this day: Dave Moore. Over the course of his career, he had two stints with the Bucs that saw him pile up some huge numbers. He played a variety of positions, including longsnapper later in his career, but his time as the team’s tight end has him among the best at the position. Moore played with Tampa Bay for 13 years, which translated to 190 of his 220 career games. Those 220 games played are the fourth-most by a tight end in NFL history.
He may have had more time to put up his high-ranking numbers, but that doesn’t make them any less impressive. If anything, his longevity in the league and with the Bucs makes them even better. Over 13 seasons with Tampa Bay, Moore had 184 receptions (fourth among tight ends) for 1,805 yards (also fourth) and 24 touchdowns (second). Those 24 receiving touchdowns are also seventh all-time among all Buccaneer receivers. He had a knack for finding the end zone, especially in 1999, when he caught a career-high five touchdowns.
These days, fans may know Moore for his color commentary on Tampa Bay’s radio broadcasts. He works alongside Gene Deckerhoff in the booth, but in his time with the Bucs he played with quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde, Craig Erickson, Trent Dilfer, Shaun King, Brad Johnson, Brian Griese, Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski and Jeff Garcia. That’s a lot of quarterbacks, which is a big testament to his longevity. He certainly has a spot in team history as one of the franchise’s best tight ends. Oh, and there was that time that he was the longsnapper on Matt Bryant‘s 62-yard game-winning field goal against Philadelphia.