Even though the Philadelphia Eagles were in the Super Bowl this year, fans let the entire world know they’re still sore about Ronde Barber and the 2002 NFC Championship Game.
It’s been two decades since Barber shut down The Vet in Philadelphia on a pick six to send the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl XXXVII. For Bucs fans, Barber’s interception ranks among some of the greatest moments in franchise history and is neck-and-neck with the Super Bowl win that followed a few weeks later.
That image is a moment of pure bliss and joy that has bee seared into the memories of Bucs fans all over. It apparently is something that Eagles fans haven’t forgotten about despite the team’s success over the last twenty years.
Comparatively, the Eagles have far and away surpassed the Buccaneers since the Barber pick six. Philly continued to have success in the playoffs, went to a Super Bowl with Donovan McNabb, won a title over a decade later with Nick Foles, and are back in the big game this year.
Meanwhile the Buccaneers didn’t win another playoff game against an NFC opponent until 2020, and while they also won a Super Bowl in the interim the franchises could not be on more polar opposite ends of the success spectrum.
Nevertheless, Eagles fans simply cannot get over what Barber did to them back in January 2002.
When Barber was brought onto the field during Super Bowl 57 as part of a celebration for the Hall of Fame Class of 2023, Eagles fans relentlessly booed him.
Eagles fans booing Ronde Barber when he was announced as part of the Hall of Fame class at the Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/6nOzEnompz
— Josh Hill (@jdavhill) February 13, 2023
Absolutely glorious.
There hasn’t been much for Bucs fans to cheer about over the last two decades, but moments like the Barber pick six have been the sort of things we’ve leaned on to try and feel better.
The fact that Eagles fans remain sore about the moment so many years later somehow makes one of the greatest moments in Buccaneers history even better.