In recognition of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 50th season, Ira Kaufman compiled a list highlighting the 50 most notable players in franchise history, with an emphasis on defensive talent dominating the top positions. The top five include Mike Evans, Rondé Barber, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and Lee Roy Selmon.
Mike Evans, the only offensive player in the top seven and the first draft pick made by General Manager Jason Licht in 2014, ranks fifth. Evans leads the franchise in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches. He has earned six Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro honors. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said of Evans: “I think Mike loves contested catches more than open catches because it sets a tone and sends a message — no matter if you’re on my hip, I’m gonna catch this anyway and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Evans is poised to set an NFL record with his twelfth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season.
Rondé Barber occupies fourth place after spending his entire sixteen-year career with Tampa Bay. He leads the team in interceptions, games played, starts and defensive touchdowns. Barber was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. Recalling Barber’s durability and streak of consecutive starts at defensive back, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stated: “Rondé’s consecutive start streak will never be broken by another defensive back (…) It’s like Cal Ripken.”
Warren Sapp sits at third on Kaufman’s list. Known for bringing intensity from his college days at Miami, Sapp was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. Bill Belichick commented on his partnership with Derrick Brooks: “The combination of Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks was the closest duo I’ve seen to Joe Greene and Jack Ham (…) But Sapp played closer to the ball and if you didn’t take care of him, none of the rest mattered.” Sapp was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 during his first year of eligibility.
Derrick Brooks is ranked second for playing every game across his fourteen-year career with Tampa Bay and being a significant presence on defense during their Super Bowl run. Ray Lewis remarked: “Sideline to sideline was what I was in awe with him about (…) Some of Derrick’s interceptions were on the opposite side of the hash — places you’re not supposed to come from if you’re a weak-side ‘backer.” Brooks received Hall honors in 2014.
Lee Roy Selmon tops Kaufman’s list as both Tampa Bay’s first-ever draft pick and its all-time sack leader (seventy-eight and a half sacks). Selmon helped elevate a struggling franchise to playoff contention within four seasons. Ron Wolf reflected on Selmon’s significance: “Lee Roy was never single-blocked … never (…) He was as rare a football player as there has ever been in this league.” Wolf added: “Once you get around a player of the caliber of Lee Roy Selmon (…) you can appreciate what greatness really is.” Selmon became Tampa Bay’s first player enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Kaufman plans to publish a summary page dedicated to each player featured on his top-fifty list.
