“His Whole Career, It Has Always Felt Like He Was Underappreciated”
April 9th, 2026
Cool Lavonte David story.
Former NFL players who have large platforms — significantly larger than the veteran journalists who serve as selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame — have had Lavonte David’s back. And since David retired last month, they have been very vocal that if David is ignored for the Hall of Fame, there is a significant problem with the institution, and a snub of David may inspire change.
To Joe, it’s almost like these guys, the former players, are taking a diss of David as an attack on the game they love and gave a chunk of their lives to. An insult.
Good guy Kevin Clark of ESPN, a Floridian by birth who graduated from Miami, had a cool story about David that he shared with Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht at the owners meetings in Arizona recently.
Clark asked Licht who the most underrated player is that he has ever been associated with in his 36 years in the NFL. Licht didn’t even hesitate a second.
“Lavonte David,” Licht said.
Licht then began to explain why and quoted new Bucs linebacker Alex Anzalone who said this spring about David, that’s he’s not underrated, but underappreciated.
Then Clark offered up his David story for Licht.
David went to Miami Northwestern, where he played on one of the greatest high school teams in Florida history, maybe all of high school football.
Clark told Licht that from that Miami Northwestern team, Miami recruited seven players. David was not among them. Of that group, only Sean Spence did anything in the NFL.
The guy Miami passed on, David, may end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“His whole career, it has always felt like he was underappreciated,” Clark said of David.
Joe can only respond properly with one word.
Amen.
