Barber’s Three Beasts
May 13th, 2013
During one of his many interviews last week, retired Bucs icon Ronde Barber talked about how Panthers WR Steve Smith was his toughest career matchup because Smith would outwork defensive backs on the field, and it was evident to Barber that Smith’s smarts from film study were off the charts.
Barber explained that he was always committed to outsmarting and outworking opponents on and off the field but couldn’t always match Smith’s effort.
Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, homeless-mistaken, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, talked to Barber about matchups for his Monday column and got Barber to reveal his fearsome threesome of wideouts.
“I played a lot of great players. The receiver position today … so hard to match up now. Megatron [Calvin Johnson] was impossible to cover. Randy Moss in his prime: nothing you can do. But to me, Steve Smith was the toughest guy I faced. When I played him, he was just like me. He chose to outwork everyone else out there every day. That was me.”
If one read’s King’s article further, it’s obvious King will be quick to put Barber in the Hall of Fame when he appears on the ballot in five years.
As for Barber’s list of beastly receivers, Darrelle Revis and friends will get all kind of work against great passing attacks this season, starting in Weeks 2 & 3 against the Saints and Patriots, respectively. Joe’s glad the Bucs secondary got a Week 1 game to work out its issues against the woeful Jets passing attack.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
With all the cap space we have you would have thought DOM would have said “hey Ronde, we will pay you a little more this year and we will only want you on the feid about half the time. We really need you as a leader”. They gave him no choice when they offered him a 50% pay cut… Translation… “hey Ronde, we dont want u”
May 13th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Did I miss something? Who said he was offered a 50% pay cut?
May 13th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Mike,
It’s easy to spend other people’s money, isn’t it? You should have chipped in a million or so to make up the difference.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:22 pm
Is that what happened? 50% paycut?
May 13th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
mike, can you provide a source?
May 13th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Where is the source that the Bucs were asking Ronde to come back at a 50% reduced rate?
I hope you’re kidding lightingbuc, Ronde would be worth his full pay as a consultant alone. A real Bucs fan should be pissed if this is true.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:49 pm
“hey Ronde, we will pay you a little more this year and we will only want you on the feid about half the time.
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Have you ever heard/seen/known of an employer to pay an employee a little more to work a little less? That doesnt happen and would be an outright bad business decision….
May 13th, 2013 at 12:51 pm
Well said lightningbuc. Mike is just throwing poo against the wall to see what sticks. Listen to what Ronde has said. It wasn’t fully in his heart to accept a reduced role on the field. That’s what made him great. He wants to be on the field for every down making plays that determine the outcome of games. His personality won’t allow him to sit….or coach for those of you that will suggest they offer him a coaching spot. Truly great players don’t want a position coaches job. There’s too much work and not enough spot light on them. The superstars almost always find a spot in the media where they are front and center and everyone asks their opinion.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Where is the source that the Bucs were asking Ronde to come back at a 50% reduced rate?
I hope you’re kidding lightingbuc, Ronde would be worth his full pay as a consultant alone. A real Bucs fan should be pissed if this is true.
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what? being a real fan has nothing to do with how much somebody gets paid unless your a fan of the said player. LoL, this is laughable. To be perfectly honest Barber wasnt going to be a starter therefore he cant be paid like one. 50% reduced rate sounds about right for a backup. thats about 1 million. Not bad for sitting on the bench 50% of the plays. You all need to lighten up.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:53 pm
“Ronde would be worth his full pay as a consultant alone. ”
I concur
May 13th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
Ronde said he made his choice months before the Revis trade was even close, so to speculate that they were going to reduce his rate is just ridiculous at best.
Throw money at him to take up a roster spot just as a consultant is like signing signing Freeney so he can teach Clayborn him his spin move. Barber is better off retiring and coming on to the staff as a assistant defensive back coach. He is a great leader, but like Ronde said he just couldn’t go through the riggers of getting back into football shape. I would love to see him on the coaching staff, so that he can continue his leadership on the defensive backs.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
And that’s why you guys who want to pay people more than they’re worth aren’t only not NFL GM’s you’re likely not business owners either. That kind of thinking leads to you working for other people your whole life because you don’t understand how to run a successful business.
May 13th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Actually Mike is correct. Ronde was offered a 50% pay cut yo return at reduced role.
http://www.bucsnation.com/2013/5/9/4317096/ronde-barber-retires-buccaneers-offered-part-time-role-1-5-million
May 13th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
The impact he would have on the locker room alone would be with the money IMO.
POINT IS
Nowhere did they say that I have heard he was reduced 50%. Logically if you aren’t going to start there going to be some reduction but each player is handled differently and I would say that Ronde earned the right to one of the exceptions as far as still being payed respectably.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
@PR
Can’t read? It happened. .
http://www.bucsnation.com/2013/5/9/4317096/ronde-barber-retires-buccaneers-offered-part-time-role-1-5-million
May 13th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
Buc It I was in the process of writing my post and entering it before your post went up smart ass. Funny how that’s the only source most of us have seen though. Regardless it doesn’t change my opinion of what he was worth lol, which explains the reason he didn’t feel a desire to come back. Makes perfect sense to me now.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
“Most of us have seen”
Atleast that have commented here, or I should say more appropriately I have seen.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
I’d love to hear Ronde’s take on tackling Brandon Jacobs in that Giant’s game a few years ago.
:o)
May 13th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Are some of you dudes still wearing bell bottoms and sporting sideburns, driving around in a van with a shag rug?
Give it up.
The Bucs and one of it’s greatest players needed to move on. Ronde’s new role will be franchise ambassador, when he is out of the broadcast booth.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Fellas, Joe didn’t touch this $1.5 million stuff at the time since Joe had no way to verify, let alone whether the offer had significant and very makeable incentives.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:47 pm
I’m totally great with him moving on. Never had a problem with that, was just under the impression it wasnt cash related is all.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:50 pm
@Mike:
You sire are an idiot.
May 13th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Where in the article did Peter Kind say Ronde is a HOF player….?
May 13th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Did anyone see where Pat Yakisak said this:
“PY: He’s in the conversation for HOF. But I don’t think it’s the slam dunk that so many seem to think. Terrell Buckley had 50 INTs and nobody even thinks of him as a potential HOF. Aeneas Williams had over 50 INTs and he can’t get into HOF. Ronde has a chance, but it’s not automatic. ”
What a moron. Fine, you can think he’s not a slam dunk. But a Terrell Buckley comparison? Really?!?!?!?