The Tampa Bay sports community experienced a shocking turn of events when the month of July began as long time Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos signed with the Nashville Predators in NHL free agency. Stamkos spent 16 years with the Lightning, winning two Stanley Cups, making four Cup finals, holding franchise records for goals and points, and was also the team captain.

Needless to say, several Lightning fans, many of whom are also Bucs fans, were upset at the news. Their anger is directed mostly at the Lightning organization for what was believed to be low-ball offers given to Stamkos, which left him no other choice but to seek a better deal elsewhere in free agency.

Lightning forward Steven Stamkos – Photo by: USA Today

Stamkos felt like a life-long Bolt in Tampa Bay, but that’s not always how it goes. Stamkos, a legend in Tampa, is another a reminder of how nothing is guaranteed in sports, and it’s very rare that an athlete only stays with one team for an entire career.

Even looking at the all-time greats among the tops sports, such as Michael Jordan in the NBA, Wayne Gretzky in the NHL, Tom Brady in the NFL and Barry Bonds in the MLB, none of these players remained with one team for their whole career. The Bucs happened to be the beneficiary of Brady’s departure from the Patriots, but even across the board in the NFL, the best of the best don’t often retire in the place where they started.

Take Jerry Rice for example. Rice is considered to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history with a league record 22,895 receiving yards, arguably the most untouchable record in football. Rice spent most of his career with the 49ers, but also played a big role with the Raiders and then finished his career with the Seahawks for one final season.

Emmitt Smith, the all-time leader in rushing yards 18,355 finished his career with the Cardinals after all his time with the Cowboys. There was a time were it seemed unthinkable that Brady or Rob Gronkowski would play anywhere besides New England. Yet they both ended up in Tampa Bay. This goes for defensive players as well. NFL legends such as Deion Sanders, Reggie White, Darrelle Revis, and Ed Reed or played for at least more than one team.

Bucs Legends Have Stayed In Tampa

Legendary Bucs CB Ronde Barber – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The point is, it’s very difficult to keep one player in one organization for a long period of time. There are so many reasons why a player may depart, whether by their own choice or a decision made by their franchise. Although Lightning fans are angry about Stamkos leaving, they can take solace in the fact that the Bucs have been able to keep some of their legends in town for their entire careers.

In a business where star players come and go, the Bucs have been very lucky that many of their star players have remained in Tampa Bay for the entirety of their playing days.

It goes as far back to the legendary Lee Roy Selmon, who played from 1976 to 1984. He was the first star for the Bucs, making the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Those times were different, though, and free agency and players moving wasn’t as rampant as it became decades later. Selmon wound up retiring prematurely due to a back injury, so the end of his career was not of his choosing – or the Bucs.

The first Bucs Super Bowl winning team is another great example of some of the franchise’s stars staying home. It’s impossible to keep everyone, which is why we saw Warren Sapp end up on the Raiders and John Lynch eventually go to the Broncos. But, from the Super Bowl XXXVII team, defensive back Ronde Barber, linebacker Derrick Brooks and fullback Mike Alstott were all Buccaneers for their whole careers. All three players are beloved by Bucs fans for various reasons.

Barber chose to retire after 16 illustrious seasons at the age of 37, while Brooks was released after 14 seasons prior to the 2009 season and didn’t sign elsewhere at age 35. Alstott played 11 years in Tampa Bay before a neck injury ended his career in 2006 at the age of 33.

Two More Bucs Could Be Next

There’s also a very likely possibility that the Bucs have at least two long time star players from their Super Bowl LV-winning team that will stay in Tampa Bay for their whole career. Those players, of course, would be inside linebacker Lavonte David and wide receiver Mike Evans.

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Each of these players have a special place in the hearts of fans, partially because they endured a lot of hard times before the success came in that 2020 season. David is second on the all-time Bucs career tackles list with 1,480 combined tackles, trailing Derrick Brooks at 1,713. David is also a one-time first team All-Pro and two-time second team All-Pro with one Pro Bowl berth.

David has been constantly overlooked even though he’s been arguably the best inside linebacker since he joined the league. Over the last two seasons, David has signed one-year deals to remain with the Bucs season by season. He is going into his 13th year and is still playing at a very high and consistent level. A long-time captain of the team, it would be shocking if David played anywhere else in 2025.

Evans has received a little more national attention than David, though is still undervalued. His records are more known to the public as he holds the NFL record of 10 straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards to begin a career. His 94 receiving touchdowns are the most by anyone in the NFL since 2014 when Evans was drafted. Evans is the Bucs’ all-time leader in receiving yards (11,680) and touchdowns, while also holding single-season touchdown record (14) amongst other achievements.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

This offseason, Evans, who turns 31 in training camp, signed a two-year $52 million dollar deal before the start of free agency to ensure he would remain with Tampa Bay. He constantly reiterated during his press conference to announce the new contract that he wanted to be a “Buc for life.” As we’ve learned from other examples that this can’t be guaranteed, but Evans is a different kind of person and would likely rather not play football anymore than play for another team than the Bucs.

It doesn’t take anything away from other Tampa Bay players that didn’t just play for one team when their number eventually gets retired and goes into the team Hall of Fame. It doesn’t change the admiration for Sapp and Lynch when they went in the Bucs Ring of Honor, and it won’t when Stamkos gets his number retired by the Lightning, either.

When it’s a homegrown legend, though, it just hits a little different. The Bucs have a special exclusivity when it comes to their legends with Selmon, Barber, Brooks and Alstott. The franchise can add to it with David and Evans in the near future.