Lavonte David Names His Four Greatest Bucs Of All-Time
March 26th, 2026
So what four Buccaneers are on Lavonte David’s “Mount Rushmore” of all-time Tampa Bay greats.
David did not hesitate when asked that question during an in-studio CBS Sports interview this week.
David named Derrick Brooks, Mike Evans, Rondé Barber and, yes, Lavonte David. Joe loved how the usually humble David is feeling great pride in his 14-year body of work.
Can someone please video and share Warren Sapp’s reaction when he sees this?
It sure felt weird to hear David speak of himself and Evans in the context of being former Buccaneers. Joe wonders how history will view each player as time passes and their accomplishments aren’t as fresh. That’s not Joe being negative or positive, just curious.
Of course, regardless of the franchise, perspective on players and eras can change in a hurry if the current team wins a Super Bowl.
March 26th, 2026 at 11:56 am
Great list!
March 26th, 2026 at 11:58 am
I agree Lavonte!
March 26th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
Joe spelled Mike Alstott wrong
March 26th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
That would probably be my list as well. I would have Selmon, Lynch and Sapp just under them.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:04 pm
He’s a little linebacker biased but yeah it’s a great list. Certainly Lavonte is in the top 5 or 7.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
Lee Roy Selmon
Derrick Brooks
Warren Sapp
Tied for 4th Mike Evans, Ronde Barber, John Lynch,
March 26th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Too hard to limit it to four.
Lee Roy Selmon and Sapp must be in there.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Selmon Brooks Barber Evans – in that order
March 26th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
I have LVD at 5. That’s not a diss. We have one heck of a list.
TOP 10 BUCS (in order)
Brooks
Evans
Sapp
Barber
LVD
Selmon
Alstott
Wirfs
TB12
Rice
March 26th, 2026 at 12:26 pm
Correct list would be, Brooks, Sapp, Lynch, Alstott, Nickerson, Rice, Wilder, Brady, Evans, David, Barber
March 26th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
Sapp and Selmon are above him, sorry.
Both won DPotY and were absolute game wreckers that could win a game on their own through force of will. LVD is great, but not quite that level imho.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
Bucs need to retire his number asap
March 26th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Oof can’t wait until the season starts get this clown car rolling boys.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Wow. Saw this on PFT:
In a video posted Wednesday on Twitter, Florida attorney general James Uthmeier demanded that the NFL suspend the Rooney Rule.
“Next week, the NFL’s annual league meeting begins in Phoenix, Arizona,” Uthmeier said. “And the NFL draft is only a month away. Ahead of the annual meeting, my office is sending a letter to the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell regarding the league’s hiring practices. Specifically, the use of the so-called Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to interview candidates based on race.
“The NFL’s use of the Rooney Rule violates Florida law by requiring race-based considerations in hiring. Florida law is clear. Hiring decisions cannot be based on race, and the Rooney Rule mandates race-based interviews and incentivizes race-based decisions. That’s discrimination. We’re demanding the NFL suspend the Rooney Rule, and failure to do so may result in enforcement actions against the league for race-based discrimination. NFL teams and their fans don’t care about the race of the coaching staff. They want a merit-based system that gives their team the best chance to win.”
.
Is the Rooney Rule outdated?
Before the current political climate, I would have said yes. But now?
March 26th, 2026 at 12:52 pm
Any list of greatest Bucs that does not include Sapp is wrong on the face of it. AS much as I liked Barber and Lynch Saap is higher.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
Lee Roy Selmon… will always be the Greatest Buccaneer, it’s not even close…
March 26th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
Sapp cannot be off any list like that. There are others as well.
March 26th, 2026 at 1:02 pm
no problem with LVDs list
but i agree, 4 is too short…
GO BUCS!!!!
March 26th, 2026 at 1:02 pm
Lee Roy Selmon! Period!
March 26th, 2026 at 1:03 pm
Selmon
Sapp
Brooks
Evans
March 26th, 2026 at 1:06 pm
Selmon, Brooks, Sapp and Evans. Very tough to leave some people off but Mount Rushmore can only be four!
March 26th, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Yes agree with gbobucsfan, The list starts with Lee Roy Selmon, then Warren Sapp and then it’s up for debate after. Lavonte David is a great player, but I would not put him in the top 10 Bucs of all-time. Top 20, but not 10. Sapp was an absolute game wrecker for offenses, He was the true QB Killer. His game wrecking made everybody on defense around him dramatically better. Plus David is an off the ball player. David should absolutely go to canton and get his number retired, and name in put in Ray J. By the way #56 Hardy Nickerson has still not been put in the Ring of Honor. That’s crazy in my opinion. I personally believe Hardy Nickerson is Hall of Fame worthy as well. Hardy Nickerson was a better MLB than David in my opinion.
March 26th, 2026 at 1:32 pm
Sapp, Selmon, and Brooks were all regarded as the very best at their positions in the NFL at some point in their careers. They are all arguably on the shortlist of best ever, as is Ronde, for nickle backs. I do not believe Lavonte or Evans were ever considered the very best in the league during their careers and I do not believe many folks would list either in a “best ever.” Great players, but not all-time greats, like the others.
March 26th, 2026 at 1:46 pm
He was on with Kay Adams earlier
March 26th, 2026 at 2:00 pm
Sorry Evans you miss the list
March 26th, 2026 at 2:01 pm
Lee Roy Selmon and his brothers grew up about 45 minutes from where I grew up. Barry Switzer coached multiple national champion teams and a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl champion. He said Lee Roy Selmon was the best football player he’s ever seen. Or coached. I’m with Barry Switzer on this one. Man, oh man!
March 26th, 2026 at 3:16 pm
LVD!!
March 26th, 2026 at 4:13 pm
I know Buccaneer Bonzai isn’t looking to derail this vacuous conversation devolving into if Mr. David is in the top 3, 5 or 10 Buccaneers of all-time, but this challenge to the Rooney Rule is way more interesting. Looking at the 2026 hires between head coaches (10), coordinators (35) and GMs (2), only Robert Saleh got a head coaching position and two offensive coordinator spots in KC and the Rams were filled by minority candidates. The Rooney Rule also extends to requiring one external minority candidate to interview for open QB Coach (2022) positions and also Senior Level Positions. Since 2020 open head coaching positions required at least two external minority candidates (the original rule in 2003 only required 1), and since 2021 the rule was amended to require at least one of the external (minority candidates) interviews for head coach or general manager must be in-person. In 2021 the rule was extended to GMs and Coordinators.
Tony Dungy was a position coach/coordinator for 15 years before the Bucs hired him to be head coach in 1996. He became only the fifth African-American NFL head coach in the modern era, since the Raiders first hired Art Shell back in1989 (Fritz Pollard coached the Hammond Pros in 1925). It has been documented he was at least passed over 3 times before landing in Tampa. Dungy’s long-awaited hire HC promotion noted as a premier example of coaching excellence whose lack of opportunities in the 1990s helped expose hiring inequities. Coaches with ties to Dungy account for nearly 43% of all minority head coaching hires in the 20 years following the rule’s implementation.
The application and continued implementation of the Rooney Rule to affect the hiring practices of NFL aren’t necessarily effective in bridging the gap of minority opportunity and actual hiring results. Granted the rule only sets a minimal required number of candidates to interview that gets diluted when the pool of interviewees gets expanded. So I would surmise it would be difficult for the State of Florida to prove non-minority candidates have been significantly harmed or disadvantaged in being interviewed and hired for these high-level roles, as the puts no limit in the number of external non-minority candidates that can be interviewed during the hiring cycle. Surely you may interview two external minority candidates (with one going forward with an in-person interview) to meet the requirement, but it won’t stop management from interview 98 or 998 non-minority candidates for the same position (and giving a limitless amount of in-person interviews).
Since the NFL is private business of 15 or more people, it would be under the jurisdiction of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and subject to federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin. However, using race-based classification in setting a minimal amount of interviewees of a particular class, is a far cry from setting quotas for preferential hiring. However, the intent of the Rooney Rule does not inherently prevent non-minority candidates from being hired, but it focuses the process to include more diverse candidate pool to be considered and makes the hiring process more deliberative, which in most cases wouldn’t be a bad thing, aka hiring the best people. If I remember correctly, Tony Dungy wasn’t the top target for the Bucs front office to bring in for head coach in 1996. He hit it out of the park when he was allowed to interview and make an impression he wouldn’t have been able to make in opportunities before.