The 50 Most Notable Players In Bucs History (Nos. 41 – 45)
May 29th, 2025
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
In honor of a half-century of Buccaneer football, I’m counting down the Top 50 players in franchise history, based solely on their accomplishments with the franchise. This week, we continue at No. 45.
No. 50 – Mark Cotney
No. 49 – Mike Washington
No. 48 – Richard “Batman” Wood
No. 47 – Aqib Talib
No. 46 – Ricky Reynolds
45. Keyshawn Johnson
The No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 Draft by the Jets, Johnson was one of the top offensive threats during Tampa Bay’s 2002 championship season. He ranks seventh on the Buc career list in receptions and No. 8 in receiving yards. Johnson was traded to the Bucs in 2000 for a pair of first-round draft choices. He caught 106 passes in 2001, which is still a franchise single-season record. In the 2002 postseason, Johnson caught 14 passes for 194 yards, including a 9-yard TD reception late in the opening half at Philadelphia in the NFC championship game.
The late Ricky Bell.
44. Ricky Bell
Bucs head coach John McKay was very familiar with Bell as his top running back at Southern Cal, so Bell was selected with the top overall pick in the 1977 draft. He didn’t make much noise his first two pro seasons but emerged as a standout in 1979 as the Bucs reached the conference title game in only the fourth year of the franchise. Bell carried 283 times for 1,263 yards and seven scores during the ’79 regular season as Tampa Bay went 10-6 and won the NFC Central. In the inaugural playoff game in franchise history, Bell led the Bucs past the favored Eagles 24-17, carrying 38 times for 142 yards and two TDs. He died of heart failure in 1984 at the age of 29.
43. Vincent Jackson
Signed as a free agent in 2012, Jackson still ranks fifth on the Bucs in career receiving yards. He topped 1,000 yards and caught at least 70 passes in each of his first three seasons with Tampa Bay. In a 2012 game against New Orleans, Jackson hauled in a 95-yard reception from Josh Freeman that still stands as the longest catch in Buc annals. His 216 receiving yards that afternoon also remain a single-game franchise record. When Jackson died in 2021, his family donated his brain to Boston University’s CTE Center.
42. Mark Carrier
The Bucs chose Carrier out of Nicholls State in the third round of the 1987 draft, 56 picks after selecting Vinny Testaverde with the first overall choice. He played six years with Tampa Bay and ranks No. 4 in career receptions, third in career receiving yards and seventh in career receiving TDs. Carrier earned Pro Bowl honors in 1989, catching 86 passes for 1,422 yards and nine scores. He is currently the player engagement director for the Buffalo Bills.
41. Donnie Abraham
Abraham played six seasons for the Bucs, who drafted him in the third round out of East Tennessee State in 1996, Tony Dungy’s first year as head coach. His 31 career interceptions rank No. 2 on the franchise list behind only Rondé Barber. From 1999-01, his last three seasons as a Buccaneer, Abraham picked off 20 passes. He made the Pro Bowl in 2000 after registering seven interceptions and 23 passes defended. After the 1997 Bucs beat the Lions in an opening-round playoff game, Abraham picked off two Brett Favre passes at Lambeau Field during a 21-7 loss to the Packers.
May 29th, 2025 at 11:13 am
Awesome.
May 29th, 2025 at 11:59 am
Ricky Bell had one heck of a season in 1979 and he was just about the main reason why the Bucs defeated the Eagles in that playoff game in The Sombrero which many in the national media thought was going to be an easy Eagles win including Brent Musberger who emphatically said that the Bucs would get boatraced by Philly on the NFL Today pre-game show Brent liked to wager a fair amount of coin on games, so I wonder how many benjamins he lost on that day.
Tough how Ricky Bell passed away at such a young age, he was traded out of Tampa Bay by 1982 and retired a year later. CBS did a TV movie about his time in Tampa starring Mario Van Peebles in the early ’90s.
May 29th, 2025 at 12:36 pm
Sage, I’m interested to see the 40 players you ranked higher than Donnie Abraham. I would have had him higher.
May 29th, 2025 at 12:41 pm
Thanks for doing this. So many great memories. I’m glad it’s you and not me having to choose
May 29th, 2025 at 12:56 pm
Glad to see Mark Cotney on the list. He was kind of John Lynch before John Lynch.
May 29th, 2025 at 1:04 pm
What, Jeff Gooch not on the list yet?
May 29th, 2025 at 1:25 pm
Ira , you were always a must read on Monday mornings after book games for so many years with the Trib ! Being able to hear you on Joe Bucs fan and read your articles is still a delight carry on my man !!
May 29th, 2025 at 2:07 pm
Let’s skip ahead to #1 Tom Brady
He rescued a moribund franchise that was stuck at absolute zero.
Being subjected to JW was worth the pain to get to TB12.
Tom made the impossible possible.
And in the process made a bunch of mediocre people look legit.
May 29th, 2025 at 2:25 pm
I love this, it brings back some great memories.
Many thanks, Sage.
May 29th, 2025 at 2:31 pm
Excellent notables!
Vincent Jackson, one of my favorites. Good man and gone too soon.
May 29th, 2025 at 2:50 pm
Thanks for the continence Ft Myers Dave. Good stuff and fascinatingly, interesting.
I don’t know all of the back stories of the oldest Buccaneer Heros. I became a fan at a weird time and on a bet…. My Fandom began in the early 90’s. Been through A LOT of “almosts” and just plain embarrassment. But when we Did Win…… Pure Elation!
OMG So Many YEARS of the Homer Simpson face slaps….. But my love never waiverd. There was more than “just” a lost decade in there of some hopeless fights, frustrating Sunday afternoons and nights, against what seemed like juggernauts. And some certainly were.
So I appreciate the stories of our legends before I came along. I only wish I could have seen them in their glory. I’m a FIERCE Defender of my team and if I see Poor Form in coaching or play…… Boy I’ll call it out! I LIKE IT ON TOP AND I NEVER WANT TO GET SO LAZY THAT MY TEAM SLIPS BACK INTO ANOTHER LOST DECADE! NO WAY!
Btw, I’m a “One Team” man my whole life. Once I did look back at some ball (played a lot when I was younger. Baseball to) I chose my Home Town Team out of PURE PRIDE initially, and now my Bucs are the love of my sports life for many years now.
So keep them coming Ft Myers. And Ira….. Very Well Done
May 29th, 2025 at 3:12 pm
I’d have probably listed Donald Igwebuike by now, but I’m OK with him being higher. Can’t wait for him to finally get the respect he deserves – and it gives a chance to retell the story of Ray Perkins not being able to pronounce his name and just calling him Donald Kicker.
BTW, Igwebuike is a really fun name to say – not sure why, but it is. Say it to yourself right now, at least 50 times in a row, and wait for the smile on your face to appear!
May 29th, 2025 at 3:17 pm
Munch, you got me grinning and I don’t even have to say it once!
May 29th, 2025 at 3:19 pm
Such a shame that Gruden couldn’t keep his ego in check and get along with Keyshawn, since they needed him in that 2003 season after Brian Kelly got hurt and the defense couldn’t single handedly win games by itself anymore. The team needed Gruden to do his job on offense, and instead he throws a hissy fit – gets Rich McKay fired, then sends home Keyshawn, and people won why Gruden has never won another playoff game since that SB, 22 years ago.
Keyshawn, while a discontent, did his job, and did a lot of the little stuff people never gave him a lot of credit for, including being a great run blocker. In fact if we were drafting ALL-TIME NFL WR’s, I’m certain Bowles would take Keyshawn #1 overall because of his runblocking alone. In those very inept Buccaneers offenses of the day, you knew sooner or later there would be a blow-up, but Keyshawn still put together some very good seasons for the Bucs.
I will give Gruden some big-time credit though, after the season was over and he missed the playoffs, he was able to off-load Keyshawn to the Cowboys for Joey Galloway, in that regard, if you don’t care about things like making the playoffs with a defending SB championship team, then you can say Gruden ‘won’ the issue. He didn’t, but he did pull a rabbit out of the hat by getting anything since everyone just assumed they’d cut Johnson.
May 29th, 2025 at 3:20 pm
Thinking of LeRoy Selmon makes me grin. Wonder where the Sage will rank him. Super Bowl and multiple national championship winning coach Barry Switzer said LeRoy was the best player he ever coached. If that helps you in your ranking Sage.
May 29th, 2025 at 3:56 pm
2 Picks and we still lost 21-7.
Those were the days.
May 29th, 2025 at 4:09 pm
Lee Roy should easily be top 5. Maybe higher than that.
May 29th, 2025 at 4:10 pm
Keshawn and VJax didn’t make it into the 30s … Wow!
I guess Joey Galloway isn’t making the list.
Top 10 Prediction:
Evans, Brooks, Sapp, Barber, LVD, Selmon, Wirfs, Nickerson, Rice, Alstott
When it’s all said and done Wirfs is #2.
May 29th, 2025 at 4:14 pm
Gruden wrecked the whole culture forcing McKay out, bringing in Allen, booting Sapp and Lynch etc. etc.
But hey we got Galloway, when he deigned to grace us with his presence. You know white tiger.. yada yada.
May 29th, 2025 at 4:36 pm
@Sly…don’t sleep on Paul Gruber / OT ’88-’99
May 29th, 2025 at 4:48 pm
Please start linking the previous posts in the bottom Of the article. Would make it much easier to go back and read the full 50
Ty Ira, appreciate you
May 29th, 2025 at 4:48 pm
Vjaz was such a good GUY. Loved him, RIP.
May 29th, 2025 at 5:26 pm
How high up on the list is Trask gonna be?
May 29th, 2025 at 5:34 pm
Slypirate, good choices.
May 29th, 2025 at 6:09 pm
VJAX rightly gets a lot of credit for developing Mike Evans. Same body type and play style.
May 29th, 2025 at 6:46 pm
What a great series of articles! Really enjoying this, thanks Ira
May 29th, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Sly…
Paul Gruber is top 10 all time Buc. So is Lynch. I’d have to put Hardy and Rice 11 and 12. That being said, then, where would you put Brady? Selmon is the greatest Buc of all time, and I think if you asked all of the all-timers, they’d agree.
May 29th, 2025 at 8:26 pm
Great work as usual Ira, keep it coming.
May 29th, 2025 at 8:43 pm
We need a Donnie Abraham type on the 2025 roster. More interceptions would help our offense out immensely.
May 29th, 2025 at 8:46 pm
“Notable” seems like a strange classification.
Most impactful, most important, greatest, maybe?
But what do I know..
May 29th, 2025 at 8:54 pm
Rod–the COACH doesn’t “get along with the player” the PLAYER gets along with the coach
May 29th, 2025 at 9:40 pm
Could always count on Donnie Abraham
May 29th, 2025 at 10:26 pm
some good ones today, Ira. Also thought Abraham would have been a bit higher but excited to see the full list.
Rest In Power, V-Jax
May 30th, 2025 at 12:02 am
Beeej Says:
May 29th, 2025 at 8:54 pm
Rod–the COACH doesn’t “get along with the player” the PLAYER gets along with the coach
———
A coach’s job is to get along with all his players, to figure out a way to connect with them and twist them to serve the great good, which is winning. Gruden was too worried about his own ego, showing everyone his ’50 Most Beautiful People’ award, and doing ads for Hooters, he didn’t have time for things like sitting down with a player who is discontent and winning them over.
With all that said, I like Gruden’s act now, he’s great entertainment and he’s a good showman – but he destroyed that team to rebuild it in his own image – while trying to blame the salary cap for every bad decision he made.