Buccaneers: Ronde Barber named Hall of Fame finalist

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Ronde Barber has been named as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2022. It’s well deserved for the Buccaneers legend.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s official Twitter account broke news from the clouds that they announced their 15 modern-era finalists for their class of 2022, which includes Bucs great Barber.

As with any potential Hall of Fame class, pretty pretty good company to be in.

Perhaps the greatest moment in franchise history was Ronde Barber’s pick-six of Donovan McNabb to shut down Veteran’s Stadium, slay the dragon that was the Philadelphia Eagles, and send the Bucs to their first Super Bowl, resulting in their first championship. Buccaneers fans have been screaming until they’ve been blue (or pewter) in the face trying to get Barber in the Hall of Fame, and he more than deserves to be the fourth member of that legendary defense of the late 1990s-early 2000s to be enshrined.

Barber is a five-time Pro Bowler and was named All-Pro on three occasions. In terms of stats relative to other Hall of Famers, his 47 career interceptions are only one less than Herb Adderley and Willie Wood, the same as Jimmy Johnson, and one more than Jack Christiansen and Mike Haynes.

Barber also showed longevity and versatility. At corner, he was teammates with Hardy Nickerson, and by the time he moved to safety as an old man, was sharing the field with Lavonte David. When put into that perspective it’s pretty amazing.

Barber’s resume has it all. Longevity, versatility, stats, and the legendary “resume play” he will forever be known for. Ronde Barber is a legend in not only Tampa Bay football, but the game of football itself, and while the competition looks strong, it’s beyond the time the NFL enshrines him into the Hall of Fame.