Watch Ronde Barber’s incredible Pro Football Hall of Fame speech (Video)

It’s a moment that has building since 1997, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Ronde Barber in the third round of the NFL Draft. That day started a journey that ended in Canton with Barber being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his legacy cemented. 

Barber is the seventh member of the Buccaneers to reach the hallowed halls of Canton, and is the fourth member of the core that made up the iconic 2002 Super Bowl-winning defense along with Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, and Warren Sapp. He’ll also be joining Lee Roy Selmon, Doug Williams, and Tony Dungy as Bucs in the Hall of Fame. 

That, in addition to all of the other legends in Canton, is fantastic company for Barber to keep. It’s fitting, too. 

Barber spent his entire career in Tampa Bay, helping the team win a Super Bowl but also dragging the franchise out of an era of darkness that remain unmatched. It’s hard to articulate how bad the Bucs were in the 80s and early 90s, especially for fans who weren’t alive to witness the pain. The arrival of Tony Dungy started to turn the tide and Barber came to the Bucs as the final piece of a defense that would change the perception of the Bucs forever. 

He gave fans what is arguably the greatest moment in franchise history — real ones know what I’m talking about before even needing to mention it. The iconic Pick Six off Donovan McNabb in the 2002 NFC Championship Game is Barber’s finest moment and is a core memory for Bucs fans everywhere. It is so great that it ranks at the very least even with the two Super Bowl wins that followed it.

On Saturday he gave everyone a moment that rivaled that pick six. Barber was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and gave a speech for the ages. 

After all he gave the game and the Bucs, Barber is forever going to be remembered as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. He was a Buccaneers lifer, a fan favorite, and will go down as a player that must be mentioned when talking about the story of football.