The Bucs had plenty of stars in the early aughts. Big names, big personalities and big play on the field was a calling card of the 2002 team that lifted the Lombardi trophy for the first time in franchise history after destroying the Raiders to win Super Bowl XXXVII.

Among those names, those personalities, those players, few could compare with defensive end Simeon Rice. And now Rice will be honored for his contributions to the organization as he will be the Bucs’ latest inductee into the team’s Ring of Honor, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

BREAKING: Simeon Rice to become newest member of Bucs Ring of Honor https://t.co/Ps8jRzQrE1

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) May 15, 2025

Pewter Report’s own Bailey Adams has long been on this bandwagon.

The electric pass rusher collected 69.5 of his 122 career sacks in Tampa Bay was an integral part of that Super Bowl team. After posting 11 sacks in his first season with the Bucs in 2001, he grew that number to 15.5 during their championship season, adding 50 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 11 passes defensed and an interception. He was named to the Pro Bowl and was selected as a first team All-Pro that season. His 14-sack season in 2005 was the team’s last double-digit-sack season for 12 seasons, with the next one coming from Jason Pierre-Paul in 2018.

In the playoffs he turned up the pressure, recording 9 tackles, 4.0 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. His Super Bowl performance that year was worthy of consideration for MVP as he produced 5 tackles, 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble. If not for Dexter Jackson’s two interceptions, Rice very well could have won the prestigious honor.

Rice would play another four seasons in Tampa Bay, recording double-digit sacks in all but one of those seasons. He would finish his time with the Bucs with the third-most sacks in team history. A rank he has not given up to this day. He is also third in team history in forced fumbles with 19, 5th in tackles for loss with 67 and 11th in pass deflections with 37.

Bucs DE Simeon Rice Photo By: USA Today

Rice to Join Other Bucs Greats

Rice will be the 16th person inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor. The list includes former owner Malcolm Glazer, former head coaches Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy, Bruce Arians and John McKay. In 2020, the team inducted former defensive coordinator and innovator of the “Tampa Two” defense Monte Kiffin. Rice will be the 10th player inducted and the sixth from that Super Bowl XXXVII team.

Specifically, Rice joins Hall of Famers John Lynch, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber from that legendary defense. Under Kiffin’s guidance, that defense led the league in scoring, yards allowed, yards per play allowed, first downs allowed and passing yards allowed while intercepting a league-leading 31 passes. They punctuated that season by picking off Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon five times in the Super Bowl.

Former Bucs DE Simeon Rice – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That 2002 defense could stand up to any of the other prolific defenses throughout NFL history.

Given his dominance, this honor should not be the only one that Rice is overdue for. When you pair Rice’s 69.5 sacks, 67 tackles for loss, 19 forced fumbles, two Pro Bowls and one All-Pro selection in his time as a Buc with the 51.5 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, nine forced fumbles and Pro Bowl selection he had during his time with the Cardinals, he has a solid Pro Football Hall of Fame case. That battle will roll on, but for now, “The Sackmasta” will settle for being the next member of that 2002 championship team to have his name immortalized inside Raymond James Stadium.

In a way, Rice’s induction will make the Bucs Ring of Honor feel more complete. The 2002 Super Bowl-winning squad is well represented inside the stadium, but No. 97 is the key member of that team who is missing. That’ll no longer be the case after this year.