Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ronde Barber to enter Ring of Honor

Today the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that Ronde Barber will be added to the Bucs’ Ring of Honor, a fitting award due to his impressive career in Tampa.

Ronde Barber has been announced to be added to the prestigious Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor. This is an achievement that is reserved for the best of the best in the Buccaneers’ organization throughout the team’s history. The players that earn the right to have their names and numbers lifted up in Raymond James are ones that had a mixture of success and loyalty in their careers, and Ronde Barber clearly possessed both.

Ronde Barber will be the 13th member of the Ring of Honor and he will be the ninth player to be added. He will join the likes of Hall of Famers Derrick Brooks, Lee Roy Selmon, and Warren Sapp. He is also joining other Buccaneers from the 2002 Super Bowl team such as John Lynch, Mike Alstott, and head coach Jon Gruden. Despite his impressive competition to join this inner circle, Ronde was able to make a successful argument for himself both on and off the field.

Barber had a career that was filled with impressive statistics and awards. Barber currently holds the record for most interceptions all time for the Buccaneers with an impressive 47. On the way to achieving this title Barber had perhaps a more impressive 10 interceptions in the 2001 season, leading the league. Barber was all over the field despite being a cornerback and accounted for 28 sacks over his career, another Buccaneer record at that position.

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As far as NFL records go, Barber holds the record for most consecutive starts as a defensive back and as a cornerback. This record is impressive for a number of reasons, but mostly due to the fact that it stretched over the course of 14 seasons, a feat that would be difficult to accomplish in any era of the NFL.

As a tie in to his records, Barber was rewarded off the field for his stellar play. Ronde was First team All-Pro three times and was selected to five Pro Bowls. In addition to these individual awards, Barber was a part of the 2002 Super Bowl team under Jon Gruden.

A common trope in the Ring of Honor is selecting players that were career members of the Bucs such as Alstott or Brooks, or players that were on the Buccaneers for a smaller percentage of their career, but were Hall of Fame caliber players such as Warren Sapp. Ronde Barber falls under a category involving both of these groups. Barber had an unbelievable career as a Buccaneer and is currently waiting on his Hall of Fame induction.

In addition to his playing stats, Barber played all 16 seasons of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This will be the longest current streak in the Ring of Honor, and carries a comparable amount of weight to any stats or awards.

With hard work and dedication to the Buccaneers, Ronde Barber was able to make it into one of the most prestigious groups that a Buc can join. His many successful years in Tampa Bay as a player played a large role in the successes the Buccaneers saw in the 2000’s. While the Hall of Fame is not far off for Ronde, the induction to the Buccaneer’s Ring of Honor was one of the last big steps needed to join the other greats of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.