Hardy Nickerson Makes His Case For The Ring Of Honor
June 10th, 2026
First, Hardy Nickerson didn’t want to go there.
Talking to Peter Blake on The Sports Web, the former Bucs All-Pro middle linebacker (two times!) was going to leave his case for the Buccaneers Ring of Honor to others. Nickerson was going the humble route.
And then Blake got him to chime in a little.
It seems Nickerson believes his five-time Pro Bowl, seven-year Bucs career, is worthy. There’s no question that Nickerson was a major catalyst in taking the Bucs defense in the 1990s from weak to legitimately legendary.
“Well, I mean, you know, I think everything speaks for itself. I came in here and became a five-time Pro Bowler, All-Pro player,” Nickerson said. “I put in the work. I was team MVP a number of times. You know, I put in the work.”
Joe heartily would endorse Nickerson landing in the Ring of Honor. If you didn’t see him play, well, he was tough as nails and damn, that guy could tackle. And just about every legend from that era of Bucs football credits Nickerson with setting the defensive tone and leading the way.
June 10th, 2026 at 6:41 pm
Top 3 all time Bucs LB! D brooks, LD, and then Hardy is where I would rank them.
June 10th, 2026 at 6:43 pm
He laid the foundation
June 10th, 2026 at 6:44 pm
He was the foundation.
June 10th, 2026 at 6:53 pm
Glazers have got to make this happen sooner rather than later. Bring all the OGs back to sing his praises as well while we’re at it.
June 10th, 2026 at 6:54 pm
100% ROH..crazy he’s not already in. His importance to changing a losing culture has been severely overlooked. The guy was a tone setter, the ultimate leader and was thr guy who came here and said “no more Yucs”.
June 10th, 2026 at 6:58 pm
Was my favorite player until a real life interaction spoiled it.
Met Sapp too once, which was even worse.
Oh well. That’s real life sometimes
June 10th, 2026 at 6:59 pm
The rock of this team for so many years. He continued a defensive tradition that is the identity of this franchise. Crazy it’s even a conversation
June 10th, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Why are we still 5alking about this?!! Nickerson and Wilder are long overdue! Come on Glazers, get your head out of your…..
June 10th, 2026 at 7:05 pm
@Clearinghouse, I’m sorry you had those experiences, but this ring ain’t a boyscout camping circle. Their football achievements render them eligible for the honor, regardless of personality
June 10th, 2026 at 7:52 pm
I’m shocked he’s not already in.
They need to do it this year.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:13 pm
He skipped out and then the Bucs won a superbowl 2 years later his loss. He should have stayed
June 10th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Hardy was a one man wrecking crew. Crazy how he’s not mentioned more often – he set the tone for that seismic shift in the mid 90’s.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:48 pm
Getting to the Hall of Fame requires not only the talent but a degree of luck. Bias from the Hall of Fame electorate is a big hurdle to overcome. There are many qualified players who didn’t get the node from Hall of Fame electorate. Only the elite of the best qualify
June 10th, 2026 at 9:01 pm
James Wilder, Tony Mayberry, then Hardware.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:26 pm
Hardy and Quarles are in that second tier
June 10th, 2026 at 9:35 pm
Kalind Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 9:26 pm
Hardy and Quarles are in that second tier
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You’re an idiot.
Hardy is the entire reason the Bucs had that late 90s / early 00s run – he should have been in very early in the process. Hardy was the entire reason the Bucs turned this around – he was the first piece of the puzzle, the building block for everything that came after.
And also Quarles, with as good as he was, is not in Hardy’s class. To even group them together … wow, clueless.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:36 pm
Cleanhouse Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 6:58 pm
Was my favorite player until a real life interaction spoiled it.
Met Sapp too once, which was even worse.
Oh well. That’s real life sometimes
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So you meet multiple guys and they were all mean to you…
You ever think maybe you’re the problem?
Of course not – it’s always someone else, right?
June 10th, 2026 at 9:49 pm
Couldn’t believe the Steelers let him go…but happy that he landed here. Awesome player, awesome leader.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:58 pm
Hardware was THE FOUNDATION STONE upon which every other layer of that defense was able to be built upon. GET IT DONE GLAZERS!!!!!
June 10th, 2026 at 10:00 pm
Better than LVD and he’s the original culture changer.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Glass houses
June 10th, 2026 at 10:16 pm
A crazy 214 tackles in 1993! Wow!
June 10th, 2026 at 11:06 pm
“And also Quarles, with as good as he was, is not in Hardy’s class. To even group them together … wow, clueless.”
I concur Rod.
June 10th, 2026 at 11:15 pm
James Wilder, Hardy Nickerson, Warrick Dunn, Mayberry and Donnie Abraham are all worthy of induction IMHO.
June 10th, 2026 at 11:42 pm
I don’t know who the decision to bring Nickerson here can be attributed to (Sam Wyche?), but it was one of the foundational moves in changing this team’s culture in the mid-90s.
Hardy should be in the Ring of Honor.
June 10th, 2026 at 11:49 pm
FortMyersDave Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 11:15 pm
James Wilder, Hardy Nickerson, Warrick Dunn, Mayberry and Donnie Abraham are all worthy of induction IMHO.
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Don’t forget the original Nigerian Nightmare, Donald Igwebuike. He should be on the list as well.
June 10th, 2026 at 11:53 pm
JimBobBuc Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 10:16 pm
A crazy 214 tackles in 1993! Wow!
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Well… even as a huge Hardy mark, I still must point out that was the era of teams doing their own ‘official’ stats – and often juicing the numbers a bit. He was absolutely insane that year, but I’d still probably knock off about 15-20% from that number (and same for every other team in that era).
For example, here’s the Bucs stat line for Broderick Thomas in 1991…
174 tackles, 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.
And the guy doesn’t even make the pro-bowl? Are you kidding me!
June 11th, 2026 at 12:56 am
Hardy Nickerson was awesome in the 90s. Bucs would have not turned the franchise direction around to eventually winning a SB if Hardy Nickerson doesn’t come to Tampa in 93 and have All Pro Seasons and put up Hall of Fame worthy numbers and change the tone of the defense. Hardy’s number 56 should have been retired and he should have been in the ring of honor many years ago. The delay doesn’t make sense.
June 11th, 2026 at 1:36 am
He signed with Jacksonville after leaving the Bucs in 2000 at age 34.
He had 230 tackles in 2001 for Jacksonville!
He then moved onto to Green Bay and started for a 12-4 Packers team that won the NFC North.
At age 37!
À legend!
June 11th, 2026 at 2:06 am
This should have already happened. Twocoach would probably be threatened by his presence though, so we’ll have to wait.
June 11th, 2026 at 6:17 am
I can’t speak for the late 70’s and/or all the 80’s, but commercially in the early 90’s Nickerson managed to transcend an awful Buccaneers franchise with making it on a Nike commercial, and yeah, that was a big deal. It made a kid like me who was consuming all Nike stars like Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan at the time wonder, who the heck is Nickerson and he plays in Tampa? Little did we know at the time that Nickerson would help usher in a new era in Tampa. Btw, Nickerson might have had his beginnings in PIT, but his stat line showed he became a star in Tampa. Yes, I think he is viable Ring of Honor Candidate.
June 11th, 2026 at 7:27 am
i remember being proud to see him wearing the hibiscus jersey in hawaii all those years, he was the only buc in the pro bowl for years, he was the beginning of the great bucs team that won the sb
June 11th, 2026 at 7:32 am
He belongs there. It’s that simple. I remember a quote from one of the players at the time saying “if you miss a tackle, you didn’t want to go back to the huddle, because you’d have to face Hardy”. That says it all.
June 11th, 2026 at 7:51 am
Nickerson was the best LB in the league in the mid-late 90s. Yes, put him in.
June 11th, 2026 at 7:55 am
Unlike a certain wide receiver who is all-but dead to me, Hardy chose to be here.
I’m all for his induction.
June 11th, 2026 at 8:32 am
Hardy over Wilder by a mile..Wilder had 2 good years …Hardy turned the ship around.
June 11th, 2026 at 10:00 am
Hardy in the ROH – 1000%.
June 11th, 2026 at 10:07 am
On reversing the culture alone, how is he not in the Ring of Honor? Also, he was a beast for us, a tone-setter for sure. I’d say our first big-time free agent. He deserves it over some that are in there.
June 11th, 2026 at 11:58 am
If you watched Buc football in the mid 1990’s, you know how great Hardy was for this team. He definitely should have already been in the Ring of Honor.
June 11th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
That guy brought sure fire tackling and an attitude to our D. He should absolutely be in the ROH.
June 11th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Rod Munch Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 11:53 pm
———–
For example, here’s the Bucs stat line for Broderick Thomas in 1991…
174 tackles, 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.
And the guy doesn’t even make the pro-bowl? Are you kidding me
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I still have me “Sandman” poster from back in the day.
June 11th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
I think the last paragraph says it all Joe. I was looking at a shockingly poor quality highlight video of that team recently and I am not sure how we could tell the jersey numbers back then. I saw Hardy play and he was all that and more. I am sure alot of folks who did not see him play are gonna chime in anyway though.
Go Bucs!
June 11th, 2026 at 5:05 pm
bill – He was a really underrated player – at least for a short period of time, the guy was everywhere, looked like he was going to have an amazing career, then just sort of disappeared. But that 1991 season was special, even with the inflated tackle stats, and I remember as a teen being so mad when he didn’t even get a pro-bowl invite.
June 13th, 2026 at 8:31 am
He was th tude we needed!
Go Bucs!