In celebration of President’s Day, let’s take a look at the best Tampa Bay Buccaneers player during each US presidency. For Buccaneers fans, the Bucs start here.
It’s President’s Day, one of those holidays where some of you may be working and some of you may not. No matter the case, it doesn’t mean we can’t take a walk down memory lane into Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. Granted, until recently there hadn’t been TOO much to celebrate, but thanks to a certain GOAT (pictured above) things have been sunny in the Buccaneers’ section of the Sunshine State as of late.
SIdenote, now that he’s retired (as of now) would anyone really be that surprised if we see a similar image in the future with Tom Brady as president?
Anyway, in celebration of the national holiday that is President’s Day, let us take a look back at the best player the Buccaneers had during each United States presidency. Given the history of the Bucs, and the fact that they’re a younger franchise by NFL standards and as it pertains to the number of presidents, this may not be the most “exciting” list. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be a fun exercise.
Let us begin.
Best Buccaneers player during the Ford Administration – Lee Roy Selmon (DE)
Gather round kids and let’s tell a story about the birth of the Bucs. You see before Tom Brady came to town and turned the Buccaneers into a force, the franchise was historically known for being more of a farce, and that was not more evident than during the Buccaneers’ first season and a half.
The team began play during the 1976 season coached by the legendarily hilarious John McKay and proceeded to drop their first 26 games in franchise history, finally defeating the New Orleans Saints 33-14 on December 11th, 1977 for an early Christmas present. For those wondering, their first loss, and game in general, was a 20-0 shutout at the hands of the Houston Oilers, who technically don’t even exist anymore.
However, it wasn’t ALL bad during that first season which occurred during America’s bi-centennial. Derrick Brooks is often called the greatest Buccaneers of them all, but until him, Lee Roy Selmon had that honor. In fact, many think he still does.
Not only was he long considered to be the best Buc, but he is Mr. Buccaneers himself. Selmon was the franchise’s first-ever draft pick in 1976, he was the franchise’s first-ever inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1995, and until Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp, was the first and only Buccaneers player to have his number retired by the franchise.
Selmon was there for the putrid (26-game losing streak) and the party (1979 NFC Championship). He was the kind of player a franchise can build their team around, and the Buccaneers did exactly that.
Given how bad the expansion team Bucs were, Selmon is really the only choice when it comes to the one season played during the Ford Administration.
Best Buccaneers player during the Carter Administration – Doug Williams (QB)
Truth be told, Selmon could easily have occupied this spot, and Ricky Bell has a case as well. However, his first and only All-Pro season (and first Pro Bowl nod) came in 1979. While it’s also true that Doug Williams was never a Pro Bowl quarterback with the Buccaneers, his impact goes far beyond statistics and accolades.
When the Buccaneers selected Williams out of Grambling with the 17th overall selection in the 1978 NFL Draft, he became the first African-American quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
After a combined record of 2-26 (and losing their first 26 games as we said), fans were excited to finally have their quarterback. How excited? Well, Williams’s first pass with the Buccaneers came in the preseason that sailed ten yards over the head of Issac Hagins, but the Tampa crowd still gave a standing ovation. Why? Well, because it was the first time the Bucs had a quarterback capable of throwing long passes downfield. We’ve come a long way.
The Buccaneers improved to 5-11 in 1978 with rookie Williams then 10-6 in 1979, winning the then NFC Central. That year, the Buccaneers would advance all the way to the NFC Championship with Williams at the helm.
Given how the fortunes of the franchise turned around, in both directions, before and after Williams, he gets the nod for the best Bucs player during the Carter Administration.
Best Buccaneers player during the Reagan Administration – Lee Roy Selmon (DE)
He’s back like Grover Cleveland. That’s a presidential joke for the fellow history nerds out there. Perhaps the most significant American advancement during the Reagan Administration was sacks becoming an official statistic in 1982. Coincidentally, it’s also around when the passing game in the passing game in the NFL began to take off, and the career of Selmon.
Officially, Selmon finished his career with 23 sacks, which would land him 16th on the Buccaneers’ all-time list. The thing is, Selmon, retired after the 1984 season, after spending his entire nine-year career in Tampa. Since sacks weren’t an official stat until 1982, the NFL only accounts for his final three seasons.
Thanks to Pro Football Reference, we now know that Selmon finished his career with 78.5 sacks, 1.5 more than the franchise’s official all-time sack leader, Warren Sapp. Thus, Selmon is the Buccaneers’ new all-time sack leader (unofficially).
Selmon would d be voted to four of his six Pro Bowls during the Reagan Administration, most of all Bucs. Here’s the kicker though. Selmon retired in 1984, the year Ronald Reagan was re-elected for his second term. This was also around the time the Buccaneers franchise took a nose-dive as a result of the Doug Williams fiasco. The only other Pro Bowl season would be James Wilder in 1984, Jimmie Giles in 1985 (who both may have a bit of a case for this spot on the list). Hugh Green was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1982 and 1983 for whatever that’s worth.
This is quite reflective of the state of the Bucs, and it would be a while until it got any better.
Best Buccaneers player during the Bush Administration – Paul Gruber (OT)
This was rough.
The first Bush Administration was right in the thick of the Bucs era of being known as the “Yucks” or the “Suckaneers”. There were a few, shall we say “interesting” options to go with, and we almost went with Vinny Testaverde, the quarterback during the entire presidency for simply being a good solider that didn’t deserve the punishment, but at the end of the day, it had to be Paul Gruber, the man who almost single-handily kept Testaverde alive, as pictured above.
The Buccaneers would have a record of 19-45 during this era, and would not have a single first-team All-Pro, and only two Pro Bowlers in the four seasons. They were wide receiver Mark Carrier in 1989 and cornerback Wayne Haddix in 1990 of all people. That’s right, Paul Gruber never made a Pro Bowl. How crazy is that?
The thing is though, it was during this time that Gruber did make his two second-team All-Pro teams in 1991 and 1992. We mentioned how Testaverde was s good soldier, but Gruber was the general. For pretty much his entire career, Gruber was one of the few marquee players on an absolutely putrid football team.
This Buccaneers Ring of Honor member was the best player during the Bush Administration, and it honestly isn’t even that close.
Best Buccaneers player during the Clinton Administration – Hardy Nickerson (LB)
The last one was rough, and this one was tough. The Clinton Administration came during a time when things were finally starting to turn around for the Buccaneers, due in large part to the arrival of Tony Dungy, and a historically great defense.
In what might be a controversial call to some, Hardy Nickerson gets the nod over Warren Sapp as the best Bucs player during this presidency.
The Buccaneers brought in Nickerson during the first year of true free agency as we know it today in 1993 after he spent six years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
All Nickerson did in Tampa was record nine sacks, 13 forced fumbles with nine recoveries, seven interceptions, and over 900 unofficial tackles in six years. Nickerson was also a five-time Pro Bowler while being voted first-team All-Pro in 1993 and 1997, and second-team in 1996 and 1999. The Pro Football Hall of Fame even voted him as a second-team member of the All-1990s Team, which makes one wonder if his time will come to one day be enshrined in Canton. Nickerson was also one of the first leaders of Dungy’s Buccaneers defenses that would become legendary.
If you listen closely, you can still hear the chants of his name echoing through the stands of Raymond James Stadium with flashbacks of this criminally underrated linebacker flexing along to the tune of those chants to this day.
Sapp easily could have been the choice here, given that he and Nickerson have the same amount of first-team All-Pro selections during the presidency and Sapp was the 1999 Defensive Player of the Year. However, Nickerson had one more Pro Bowl nod during this time. Also, Nickerson maintained his greatness through just about the entire administration. He was basically the 1990s defensive version of Doug Williams for what he meant to the growth of the franchise.
“HARDY! HARDY! HARDY!”
Best Buccaneers player during the W. Bush Administration – Derrick Brooks (LB)
Quite possibly the greatest Buccaneers player of them all. Surely if you’re the greatest of all time then you’re the greatest during the presidential administration you were in your prime right?
Derrick Brooks was the spiritual leader of the exceptional Bucs defense of the late 1990s-early 2000s. That of course includes the 2002 crew, that delivered Tampa Bay its first-ever Super Bowl title.
Brooks’ five interceptions, three of which were touchdowns, were the biggest reason he was the 2002 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He was the best player on the best defense. His pick-six in Super Bowl XXXVII (pictured above) put an exclamation mark on both his and the Buccaneers’ legendary seasons. It’s a play that is cemented in both Buccaneers and NFL lore. Brooks is arguably the greatest Buccaneers defender, and possibly even player, of all time.
Brooks was a three-time first-team All-Pro selection during the second Bush Administration, far and away the most of any Buccaneers player. His seven Pro Bowls during this presidency is even a wider gap. Unlike other administrations so far that had a few options to choose from, not that this one didn’t, the second Bush administration was pretty much a no-brainer when it came to Brooks.
Best Buccaneers player during the Obama Administration – Gerald McCoy (DT)
“It’s always the darkest before the dawn” is an adage that is generally used for dating, or just life itself, but it also pertains to the Bucs. They were awful, like truly AWFUL before getting really good, but before Brady came to town before the 2020 season, and kicked off the successful period we find ourselves living in hoping to continue, they were just sort of… meh.
However, that doesn’t mean they were devoid of talent, and the most talented of all was Gerald McCoy. Drafted third overall by the Bucs in the 2010 NFL Draft, behind Ndamukong Suh of all people, the comparisons to his idol Warren Sapp started off immediately.
McCoy did all he could to live up to them, being named first-team All-Pro in 2013, and being voted a Pro Bowler six times, five of which came during the Obama Administration. He was a shining light on a wildly dim football team, and probably doesn’t get the respect he deserves around a lot of NFL circles considering his resume. That said, he does get his rightful respect from Buccaneers fans, and we will do our due diligence in naming him the best Bucs player during this presidency.
Best Buccaneers player during the Trump Administration – Mike Evans (WR)
Perhaps another controversial entry. The thing is, giving the edge to one season of Tom Brady during the Trump Administration, even if it did result in a Super Bowl, would almost feel disrespectful to Mike Evans. Besides, Brady is the GOAT of GOATs, so surely he’ll let this slide. (Would be a real shame if he used this as motivation and came back out of retirement for the Bucs out of spite. REAL shame).
Speaking of controversy, we also needed a reason to put a picture of these controversial uniforms. We’re all about transparency here. It’s a part of the team’s history and we’re all just going to have to live with it.
Since entering the NFL in 2014, Evans has gifted fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 1,000-yard receiving season each of his first eight seasons in the league. In doing so, he became the first player in the history of the NFL to go on such a run. Naturally, that includes the four seasons Evans played during the presidency.
Here’s the thing though. While Evans may lack the accolades such as All-Pro nods and Pro Bowl selections with zero of each, this presidency saw only two Buccaneers players be voted to the Pro Bowl, and that was McCoy in 2017, and Jason Pierre-Paul in 2020. Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?
Evans is starting to get more respect around the league, who are starting to learn what Bucs fans have already known, and while Brady easily could have been here for his only season during the presidency, and first in Tampa Bay, resulting in a Super Bowl, Evans deserves this. He deserves the world after being the strongest of soldiers.
Best Buccaneers player during the Biden Administration – Tom Brady (QB)
Here’s your Tom Brady content. You hyenas.
Look, Brady was the best player in the entire NFL this past season, and was robbed of the MVP in what appears to be his final NFL season. Naturally, he was the best player on the Bucs during the 2021 season, the only season played so far during the Biden Administration.
It’s hard not to think of the magic that was the 2020 season when Brady first came to Tampa Bay, but we have to stick with 2021, and that is ok.
Brady threw for a career-high 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns which is the second most in his GOAT career, albeit with one extra game but that’s beside the point. Brady was incandescent in his final season at the age of 44, putting to shame every average 44 year old, and 24 year old honestly. The man simply is not human is the main point here.
More on Brady’s incandescence, for a franchise that was stuck in a dark abyss for seemingly forever at the quarterback position, he brought the sun to the Sunshine State, and while his 2021 season didn’t end with a Super Bowl like 2020, it was still the best pure-passing season that Buccaneers fans have ever seen. Once again, this one was a no-brainer.
Surely this is going to update with the passage of time, as the NFL world is just as unpredictable of the political world. For now though, that’s our list and we’re sticking to it.
Happy President’s Day. The Bucs stop here.