FAB 2. Kaufman Makes The Hall of Fame Case For Barber

After Ronde Barber was announced as the latest Bucs Ring of Honor inductee this week, I dialed up my friend and colleague, Ira Kaufman, Tampa Bay’s Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, to discuss Barber’s candidacy.

Kaufman, who spent decades as The Tampa Tribune’s lead NFL reporter and is now a columnist and podcaster at JoeBucsFan.com, feels good about Barber’s chances of making the Hall of Fame if he would get enough votes to become a Top 15 finalist, which would allow Kaufman the chance to make a presentation on his behalf to the Hall of Fame voters.

Here is my conversation with Kaufman about Barber’s legacy in Tampa Bay and Hall of Fame credentials.

What do you think the biggest challenge Ronde Barber faces from other Hall of Fame voters? Obviously, you are in his corner, but what is it with him that other voters don’t see?
“In talking to some of the selectors over the years – and I haven’t talked to all of them, but I’ve talked to a bunch – and the word that comes up, and Bucs fans aren’t going to like it, is ‘system – system corner.’ It’s sort of belittling in my opinion, and then you throw out the argument that Joe Montana was in the [Bill] Walsh system, and would he be as good with a different coach? The problem with these voters is that they didn’t watch Ronde on a weekly basis like we did. We know the versatility, the durability and the impact he had week after week. These guys didn’t. They see the Tampa 2 – it’s not press coverage. There is an underlying theory that he wasn’t very good in man-to-man coverage. I don’t believe you and I ever said that he was Deion Sanders. We never said that. But what he was was unique – and they love unique. Scott, the irony is that it is a very different presentation – if I can ever get to make a presentation on his behalf – and it’s very different from No. 47. So the same guys that want to ding Lynch for not having Hall of Fame numbers don’t want to respect a walking statistic like Barber. It’s very frustrating.”

Former Bucs CB Ronde Barber and ex-Bucs SS John Lynch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Does it hurt the fact that the Bucs only went to one Super Bowl and won just one, and there is this perception or theory from Hall of Fame voters – and you would know better than I – that they can’t put too many players from one team in the Hall of Fame? The Bucs already have Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp in there from that 2002 Super Bowl team. Does that work against Ronde and also against John Lynch?
“Yes, I think it’s a factor – but it’s bogus. I’m an old Chiefs fan going back to the old AFL days, and I’ll be the first to say it – the 1969 Chiefs defense was magnificent and on par with the 2002 Bucs, and that’s high praise. But did they do it for seven or eight years? That defense has six guys in Canton. Johnny Robinson just became the sixth. [Kansas City has] two defensive backs, two linebackers and two defensive linemen. The Bucs are stuck at two. I’m frustrated beyond belief. I have to give a shout-out to the Bucs because they really pushed for Ronde Barber last fall to try to make them fill out the ballots to choose those final 15. You and I are absolutely shocked that for two years in a row the guy cannot even get into the room. That, to me, is irresponsible. Of course, you and I are in Tampa and we can’t say that we’re totally unbiased, but we’re the guys that watched Ronde play and we don’t understand it.”

This might be totally wrong and I may be grasping at straws a bit, but his signature play was the interception return for a touchdown against a big market team in Philadelphia. Is there any bias that little ol’ Tampa Bay went into the Vet and knocked out the Philadelphia Eagles, who had never won a Super Bowl before? Is there any small market bias against him for that signature play? And let’s face it, not every guy in the Hall of Fame has a signature play.
“You’re right and that play is another accolade for Ronde’s case. I don’t know if I would go there, Scott, but since you mentioned that famous bait-and-switch play by Ronde, Donovan McNabb – I’m not saying he was a Hall of Famer, but he was very good – and he didn’t throw a lot of picks. He did not throw a lot of picks, historically speaking. You could look it up.”

McNabb was no Brett Favre in that sense.
“Yes, and Ronde had his number. He absolutely had his number, and it wasn’t like McNabb was a daredevil. He was very careful with the ball – and you’re right – Ronde had a signature play, which probably Lynch doesn’t have. I don’t think it should knock somebody. I think it should elevate somebody, but not knock somebody. You and I have to hope that come January that there is going to be an announcement. And this is not a particularly strong class – it’s not – especially with the first-ballot guys. Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson come along in 2021 when the game is in Tampa. I don’t want to wait that long for Ronde and neither do you.”

I’m of the opinion, and correct me if I’m wrong, but if Ronde can get into the room with the top 15 that your case is actually stronger for him than it is with John, am I right? I’m not knocking John, I’m just elevating Ronde like you said. If you can just get the opportunity do you think you would have a greater chance for success given the fact that he’s a walking statistic like you said?
“There’s something to be said for that. To go straight to your point, one of the selectors, who in the past told me Ronde was a very good system corner – the same person a year later, actually studied his career intently and came back to me a year later and said, ‘I think the guy is a Hall of Famer, he’s an All-Decade player,” which he was. That’s not frivolous. The more you look at him, the more you like. All you and I are saying is, ‘Look at him.’”

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

When we hear the term “nickel corner” now it’s a player that plays 60-70 percent of the plays in sub packages. Nickel corners are starters because the NFL is in nickel defense most of the time, but the thing with Ronde that makes him unique is that he would line up outside on first and second downs and then move in to the slot in nickel defense on third down, as you and I both saw. But the guy didn’t come of the field. It wasn’t like he was a sub corner. He was a three-down starter – he just went from outside cornerback to inside corner whenever Monte wanted to blitz him.
“Great point, Scott. Great point. He never left the field. The one thing that you and I haven’t mentioned is that the guy was a willing and extremely competent run support player. He was very strong in run support. With all due respect to Deion Sanders, who was the best cover guy that I had seen in my lifetime – I didn’t see Night Train Lane. I’m not that old, Reynolds! But Ronde is not going to match up with Michael Irvin like Deion Sanders. I’ll grant you that. Who can? But in terms of the all-around game and the blitzing skills … I used to call Ronde the smartest football player in the league. I used to call him that all the time, and Peyton Manning was still playing in the league at that time. I didn’t care. In terms of film breakdown – you were with him and you saw it – nobody picked up tendencies like him. By NFL standards, I don’t think he was a superior athlete. His size was ordinary. But to play on the level that he did, he was a super intelligent football player. And his durability – I don’t think people realize that in his last 13 years he did not miss a single game. Nobody does that. I don’t think anybody has done that.”

Remember, Ronde broke his thumb in 2002, but played with a cast on and didn’t miss a game. He also injured his knee in December against Detroit and still had two postseason interceptions, including the pick-six in Philly, and gutted it out in the Super Bowl playing with a torn ligament.
“Scott, the first thing people would think is, ‘Well, he’s lucky he didn’t get injured.’ Yes, he did. But he had the mental toughness. I’ve been on the golf course with him and you can see that concentration and intensity. He was a tremendous football player, Scott – tremendous football player. You and I want to be the first to congratulate him on the doorstep of Canton, but we have to get him in that darn room. I don’t know what it’s going to take, but whatever it takes, let’s do it.”

You’re a Hall of Fame voter, Ira. Does it help Ronde getting in the Bucs Ring of Honor this year? I know he has a storied career with plenty of accolades, but does that acknowledgement carry any weight?
“I would say slight, Scott. Just slight because it didn’t push Lynch over the top, and that was a big factor by the Glazers in the year that he went into the Bucs Ring of Honor. His thing was hanging in the balance and he was very, very close. I don’t blame them. They were doing everything they can to help. That meant he was in two rings of honor for Mr. Lynch, which was a heck of an achievement. It’s slight, and I think another factor that is becoming slightly diminished in the room is the Pro Bowls, which of course is a lynchpin so to speak for Lynch. He’s got nine of them. Some people in the room think it’s a little too much on popularity and the big market and being on a good team. Hey, you can ask Lavonte David about that. There’s some truth in that.”

Ronde had five Pro Bowls, right?
“Yeah, he only had five, but the guy would be a delight for a guy like me who doesn’t mind gabbing in that room. Lynch might be first to get in. That’s fine. Let’s get them both in – both.”

Legendary Bucs CB Ronde Barber – Photo by: Getty Images

It wouldn’t be far-fetched if Ronde gets in the room, and you have a chance to make your case, you think that could happen sooner rather than later because of the class, right?
“Going back to what you and I were talking about before, I don’t think enough people have studied Barber’s case in depth like you and I have. Like that one voter I told you about who changed his mind by looking at him and focusing on him, if you get him in that room and hammer away – not just with the numbers, but the impact, the versatility and the durability – he’s got so much going for him, Scott. He could very well grab that bust the first year he’s in that room, but who knows when that’s going to be.”

You saw it with Brian Dawkins and John Lynch – are there any cornerbacks that Ronde is going up against that might knock him out of being in the room because they are more of a shoo-in?
“We got rid of Champ Bailey and Ty Law last year and that was big. They both got in. Law had been waiting awhile and Bailey was a first-timer. Charles Woodson is the guy that is laying there, and as much as you and I love Ronde Barber, we couldn’t put up a convincing case that Barber was the better football player. But I think he’s in the conversation. Woodson was fantastic. He was a corner and a safety, but I look at him more as a corner. Of course he had a signature play in the snow (against New England – the Tuck Rule) that was taken away from him. It was almost as significant a play as the Barber pick. That is the one that jumps out at me, but hey, there are five spaces on that ballot, Scott. Just because people love Woodson is not a reason to keep No. 20 out.”

This is Ronde’s third year of Hall of Fame eligibility.
“Maybe the third time is the charm, my friend!”

Since his retirement from the Buccaneers, Barber has stayed in football and works with Kenny Albert for Fox broadcasting NFL games during the regular season, and alongside Chris Myers on the Bucs preseason TV games for WFLA News Channel 8.