Buccaneers: Simeon Rice getting to the quarterback was “routine”
The Buccaneers have had Simeon Rice into camp, teaching the younger players what he called “routine”.
Simeon Rice had nothing short of a wonderful career with the Buccaneers. He recorded 69.5 sacks while in Tampa and was in the top ten n the category four times while wearing pewter. Rice went to the Pro Bowl twice during his six years in Tampa and was first team All-Pro once. As a Buccaneer he has done everything except be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That part is for a different day, though.
These days, the familiar face of Rice has been seen around the team again in the form of a coach. He’s not an official member of the staff but he has been around helping out the young pass rushers like Noah Spence. I think 69.5 sacks with the Bucs and 122 overall earns him the street “creds” worthy of teaching these young players, don’t you?
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During a press conference with the Bucs media, Rice was asked what it felt like to get to the quarterback as a pass rusher. Here is what he said:
"“Routine, come on man [laughs]. It’s routine. When you could do it in your sleep, it becomes routine. It’s effervescent. It’s something that you work for. But you have to keep in mind, I knew I was special. I’m just being honest with you. I worked hard and it was a payoff. At a certain point, it was my job to be special, it was my job to be a playmaker, it was my job to be different, it was my job to cause sack fumbles. From the moment I got in this league my position coach was ‘Mean Joe Greene’ of the Steel Curtain – the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers He told me after my rookie year, ‘Simeon, once you show you’re special, you can never be normal again.’ That’s what he told me as a 22-year-old rookie in the NFL. He was like, ‘Simeon, you’re special. You could never be an average player again’ – and I never was.”"
That would seem arrogant, if it weren’t the absolute truth. Take a look:
He DID get to the quarterback quite routinely. You get to make that type of comment when it is the truth. When Simeon Rice was coming off of the edge the quarterback was never safe. He better know where his “hot” receiver would be otherwise it would not end well for him.
Next: Martin's runs against the Jacksonville Jaguars
Rice believes that Noah Spence can be special if he believes in himself. If someone as talented as Rice sees it in someone else, imagine how good that someone else, namely Spence, could potentially be? It’s exciting.