Three former Buccaneers, Ronde Barber, John Lynch and Simeon Rice, were named as semifinalists for the 2020 Hall of Fame class.
While 122 candidates were named as possible Hall of Fame candidates in September, the number has been whittled down to just 25, three of which coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ historic, Super Bowl-winning defense.
Former Bucs DE Simeon Rice – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
All three players have reached the semifinal stage before, with Lynch being present the past eight years, Barber the past three and Rice landing in contention back in 2017.
Barber’s inclusion comes fresh off of his induction in the Bucs’ Ring of Honor in September after a 16-year career in Tampa Bay where he played all 16 games in every season with the exception of 1997, his rookie year. In that time Barber racked up 47 interceptions, 28 sacks, 15 forced fumbles and became the only player in NFL history to accrue more than 25 sacks and more than 40 interceptions in a career. His 14 defensive touchdowns gives Barber the fourth-most non-offensive touchdowns in NFL history, trailing only Devin Hester, Deion Sanders and Ron Woodson, with Sanders and Woodson already in possession of the elusive gold jacket.
Barber was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time All Pro.
While Lynch finished his career with the Denver Broncos, the safety spent the first 11 of his 14 years in the NFL with Tampa Bay. Over the span of his career, Lynch hauled in 26 interceptions, forced 16 fumbles and tacked on 13 sacks while eclipsing 1000 total tackles.
Lynch was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and a two-time All Pro.
Bucs SS John Lynch & DT Warren Sapp – Photo by: Getty Images
Despite spending just six years in Tampa, Rice ranks second in Bucs’ history with 69.5 sacks. In a career than spanned 12 seasons and four teams, Rice’s 122 career sacks currently ranks him 20th in NFL history.
Rice was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and earned his lone All Pro selection following 15.5 sacks and an interception in 2002 en route to a Super Bowl victory.
The 25-man list will soon be cut down to 15 in January before the league’s Hall of Fame Voting Committee is tasked with deciding which players, up to five in total, will be honored as the 2020 Hall of Fame class.
