The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are celebrating the franchise's 50th anniversary this season, which has a lot of folks looking fondly at the past.
While there's been plenty of dark times and ugliness for the Bucs, the insane highs have made it all seem worth it. Two Super Bowl titles is pretty hard to be upset with, and despite how tough times have been over the last half-century, the Bucs have managed to send five players and a coach to the Hall of Fame who made their bones in Tampa Bay (guys like Steve Young and Darrelle Revis count too, but only technically).
Those who haven't been honored with busts in Canton have still been celebrated as members of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor, but there are still some names missing.
Rondé Barber wants Hardy Nickerson added to Buccaneers Ring of Honor
Hall of Famer Rondé Barber went into the team's Ring of Honor back in 2019 but recently pounded the table for another Bucs legend who is notably absent. While he wasn't part of the 2002 Super Bowl team, it's hard to see Tampa Bay building its defense the way it did without Hardy Nickerson helping lay the groundwork.
"I've got a list. I could tell you, like, five names... The No. 1 on my list, without a doubt, the next person that goes into the Bucs Ring of Honor needs to be Hardy Nickerson," Barber said. “The way of doing your job was one person — 56. It's an intangible... he came here in '93, and the culture changed when Tony [Dungy] got here, but Tony needed a guy to be the mouthpiece... it all started with Hardy. [Nickerson] was the guy who changed the culture here in Tampa.”
Nickerson was critical to the Buccaneers pulling themselves out of the late 80s, early 90s pit of despair they had fallen into. He spent seven important seasons with Tampa Bay from 1993-1999, reuniting with former Steelers defensive coordinator Tony Dungy in the middle of that run.
He's often forgotten about when mentioning the vaunted defense the Buccaneers would produce under Monte Kiffin, but Barber laying out how important he was to making sure the ball got rolling can't be overlooked.
Nickerson, though, still is. It's something the franchise is working to remedy as another underrated member of the team's defense, Simeon Rice, is finally getting his spot in the Ring of Honor this year.
Tampa Bay has inducted 15 members to the Ring of Honor, with the first being Lee Roy Selmon and the most recent being Bruce Arians prior to Rice's inclusion. Adding Nickerson to that group of key franchise legends feels fitting, and it seems like only a matter of time before Barber sees his teammate join him in Buccaneers immortality.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors