After the Bucs inducted former head coach Bruce Arians into the Ring of Honor following his retirement in 2022, the team waited a couple of years to immortalize anyone. This offseason has seen two notable additions joining Arians and the other inductees after the team reinstated former head coach Jon Gruden and announced “The Sackmasta” Simeon Rice will be inducted later this season.

Hall of Fame cornerback and Ring of Honor member Rondé Barber played under Gruden and alongside Rice for several years. The 2002 Super Bowl-winning team will always be remembered for its defense as it boasts four Hall of Famers with the chance of a fifth were Rice ever to get a bust in Canton, Ohio.

Barber was recently asked about who should be next on The Rondé Barber Show. To him, the choice is easy – as it is someone who helped pave the way for Tampa Bay’s dominance in the early 2000s.

Rondé Barber Thinks Hardy Nickerson Should Be Next Bucs Ring Of Honor Member

Even after the Bucs announced that Simeon Rice would be entering the Ring of Honor, there has been much debate.

About who will be next.

A case can be made for several former players, as Rondé Barber acknowledged.

“There’s only one at number one on my list here,” Barber started off by saing. “I got a list, obviously; I can tell you five names like Donnie Abraham and Gerald McCoy. I played with both guys. James Wilder, [someone] who always comes up in this conversation. Certainly, people are going to talk about Tom Brady…”

In Barber’s mind, no one deserves the recognition more than former inside linebacker Hardy Nickerson.

Former Bucs ILB Hardy Nickerson – Photo by: USA Today

“The number one on my list — without a doubt — the next person to go in the Bucs Ring of Honor needs to be Hardy Nickerson,” Barber said. “This dude played seven years here, he’s not a dude, he’s a man. When I got here in 1997, there was a presence, it was like a Darth Vader presence walking around the locker room and on the football field that just commanded respect in the way of doing our job. It was one person, and it was No. 56.

“He made four Pro Bowls while he was in Tampa, he was an AP All-Pro twice. The man had a 214-tackle season. Do that math! 214 tackles, that is ridiculous. Most importantly, which is an intangible, he came here in ’93, and the culture changed when Tony [Dungy] got here. But Tony needed a guy who could be the mouthpiece. Derrick gets a lot of credit for it, as he should because he was here for a long time. But it all started with Hardy. “Hardware” was the guy that changed the culture here in Tampa. The way we went about doing our jobs, the manner in which we played the game, the physicality.”

Despite Leaving In 2000, Hardy Nickerson Has Shaped The Bucs Defense Ever Since

Hardy Nickerson is often forgotten in discussions of top defensive players in Bucs’ history as the conversation immediately goes to the players who emerged after him.

Derrick Brooks. Rondé Barber. Warren Sapp. John Lynch.

No. 56 is not mentioned as much as he did not win a Super Bowl with the franchise. Playing seven seasons in Tampa Bay between 1993-1999, Nickerson was part of the organizational shift from laughingstocks to making the NFC Championship game during his last year with the team. It is a shame the veteran inside linebacker was unable to go out on top, as he ended his career with the Packers during the 2002 season. As each of the Bucs’ young defensive stars came into their own, it was “Hardware” who captained the defense and made a lasting impact.

That is something current Bucs inside linebacker Lavonte David knows a thing or two about.

After Nickerson’s playing days, he returned to coach David and the rest of the team’s linebackers during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He passed along lessons and statements that have bled into David’s career. Ones Barber still looks back on fondly himself.

Bucs ILB Lavonte David and former ILB/ILBs coach Hardy Nickerson – Photo by: USA Today

“I remember thinking, ‘intimidation is a physical act'”, Barber said. “That was a Hardware statement. He ran through people, including his own teammates from time to time [laughs]. I was the recipient of a ton of friendly fire from him.”

There was no questioning Hardy Nickerson’s toughness.

The 6-foot-2, 233-pound Compton, California native was not one to mess with on the gridiron. Thanks to Nickerson’s leadership, he helped change the Bucs culture into a winning one and his lessons have been passed down for almost three decades. He is the definition of what it means to be a Ring of Honor member.

“The next guy without a doubt in my mind is Hardy Nickerson,” Barber said. “Has to be.”