When followers consider the Buccaneers, most, if not all, recall the Tremendous Bowl-winning groups of 2002 and 2020. Anytime earlier than that’s typically seen as a darkish period of Bucs soccer stuffed with a variety of shedding seasons. Even with that caveat, loads of gamers shined with spectacular years and stints. Gamers which might be largely forgotten within the minds of followers, aside from probably the most ardent and hardcore supporters.
For this sequence, I wished to try gamers who’re underrated or not talked about a lot when discussing the staff’s historical past. The variety of gamers talked about in every entry will fluctuate based mostly on place.
The one guidelines are that they have been Bucs between 1976 to 1996 – becoming the prerequisite of rocking the unique “Bucco Bruce” uniforms – and are price remembering.
Quarterbacks
Operating Backs
Extensive Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
Linebackers
Overview:
Former Bucs CB Aqib Talib – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
The cornerback place is one which has had loads of star energy all through staff historical past. The headliner of the group is current Corridor of Fame inductee Ronde Barber, however there are many different gamers who have been productive throughout their time with the Bucs.
In recent times the staff has boasted two of them on the roster Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean and they’re going to stay on the town for the foreseeable future. Earlier than them, it was Brent Grimes, Darrelle Revis, Aqib Talib, and Brian Kelly who all discovered various extents of success from the early 2000s into the 2010s.
However what concerning the Bucs cornerbacks who patrolled the sector earlier than them? The unheralded stars of yesteryear are price remembering simply as a lot for his or her playmaking methods.
Forgotten Bucs At CB
1. Mike Washington
An unique Buccaneer, Mike Washington was drafted by the Baltimore Colts within the third spherical in 1975 however by no means performed a sport for them. He would come over by commerce in 1976, defecting to hitch the burgeoning ship making its preliminary landfall in Tampa Bay. Washington would name the Bucs his NFL residence for all 9 seasons of his profession, rocking the No. 40 within the days earlier than Mike Alstott.
Whereas he didn’t document an interception in his first season with the staff, he would go on to have seven consecutive multi-interception seasons, beginning with 5 apiece in 1977 and 1978. The 6-2 Washington set his private greatest in 1981 with six, and he nonetheless ranks fourth in staff historical past with 28 complete interceptions.
Washington was additionally a playmaker when the ball was in his arms, as he had three pick-sixes. Sadly, his days of being a turnover creator have been minimize brief within the staff’s season opener towards the Bears in 1984 when he suffered a extreme neck damage that resulted in two ruptured discs.
Whereas he goes largely unmentioned when speaking about nice defensive Bucs, this compilation of Washington’s highlights does him justice. There are few issues extra nostalgic than previous NFL broadcasts.
2. Ricky Reynolds
It didn’t take lengthy for an additional cornerback to emerge after Washington. Derrick “Ricky” Scott Reynolds, to not be confused with Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, was taken within the second spherical of the 1987 NFL Draft. He began off his profession with a bang, totaling 12 interceptions in his first 4 seasons. Throughout seven complete years with the staff, he had 17 complete.
He additionally contributed in different methods in his 103 begins rocking the “Bucco Bruce” uniforms, breaking apart passes, being an apt tackler, and displaying a propensity for forcing fumbles. He had 434 complete tackles as a Buccaneer, a mean of over 60 tackles a season. Per BucPower.com, he additionally had 118 passes defended, almost 17 a season and over one a sport.
Whereas cornerback isn’t a place stuffed with gamers forcing fumbles, he had eight of them. Trying over the methods Reynolds contributed to the result of video games, he’s forgotten for his skill to have an effect on them with regularity. That alone is price acknowledgment.
3. Wayne Haddix
Whereas the primary two cornerbacks have been extra recognized for his or her consistency, Wayne Haddix was the final word one-year surprise. After not being drafted, not beginning a sport after two seasons with the Giants, and never enjoying in any respect in 1989 with an Achilles damage, Haddix went from coming off the road to being a Professional Bowl choice in 1990.
With the Bucs that season, Haddix was a real ballhawk. He had seven interceptions for 231 complete yards, returning three of them for touchdowns. Of word, he had two two-interception video games and likewise picked off a Joe Montana move and returned it 65 yards for a landing.
That might just about be it for him within the NFL, as he solely began 4 extra video games with the Bucs earlier than being launched and being out of the league after 1991.
However his legacy discovered one other medium for soccer followers to find him. When the sport Tecmo Tremendous Bowl was launched in 1991 on the Nintendo Leisure System, Haddix was rated extremely based mostly on his 1990 efficiency. That led players to have loads of success with him, incomes one thing of a cult following. As a substitute of his precise highlights on YouTube, there are lots extra online game clips of him in 8-bit type. What a cool approach on your title to reside on.
4. Donnie Abraham
In a approach, selecting Donnie Abraham right here is dishonest the standards I set for under choosing Bucs that performed between 1976-1996. As a rookie in 1996, Abraham simply made this checklist however is properly price discussing. Moreover Ronde Barber and John Lynch, Donnie Abraham is probably the most profitable defensive again in staff historical past based mostly on his physique of labor.
Former Bucs CB Donnie Abraham – Picture by: Getty Photographs
He ranks second in staff historical past in interceptions and was one of many extra underrated cornerbacks throughout his time within the NFL. He had 5 interceptions in 5 of his six seasons as a Buccaneer, and in 1999 paced all cornerbacks with seven interceptions, two touchdowns, and 25 move deflections. Surprisingly, he was snubbed for the Professional Bowl that season however made it the next yr by choosing off one other seven passes in 2000.
Whereas I’m too younger to have seen it for myself, I can solely think about what it was like to look at the duo of Abraham and Barber in motion. They mixed for a complete of 16 interceptions (Barber 10, Abraham 6), and Barber’s breakout coincided with Abraham’s consistency. In a case of what may have been, Abraham departed following that yr to hitch the Jets, the place he would play for 3 extra seasons.
After ending his enjoying profession in 2004, Abraham continued his life in soccer as a highschool head coach for 3 totally different Florida faculties and as a defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Storm from 2011-2012. At the moment, he serves because the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Battlehawks within the XFL. Perhaps he’ll return to the Bucs once more in the future as a coach.
