Bucs great Simeon Rice is overcome with emotion as he begins his remarks at Monday’s press conference announcing he will be the next inductee into the Bucs’ Ring of Honor.
Two things stuck out to Joe yesterday when the Bucs officially announced former Bucs great edge rusher Simeon Rice would be the next man inducted into the Bucs’ Ring of Honor.
In Joe’s mind, it should have happened years ago.
For some reason, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks and John Lynch, and to a lesser degree, Ronde Barber, got all the love for that 2002 Super Bowl-winning season. Rice was almost an afterthought.
Please do not misunderstand Joe. Sapp, Brooks, Lynch and Barber were all-time greats and deserved all the accolades those four Hall of Famers received. But it was the addition of Rice that put that defense on a rare level.
In fact, Rice believed there was only one defense better. That was the 1985 Bears, Rice’s hometown team he grew up watching.
(Fun Rice fact: As a senior at Mount Carmel High School, the sophomore quarterback was Donovan McNabb.)
Rice was anything but an afterthought for Joe. The Bucs defense was damned good, no question. But when the Bucs signed Rice in March 2001 as a free agent, he made that Bucs defense complete.
The only thing that Bucs defense was missing was a lethal edge rush. Rice helped turn that unit into one of the most ferocious defenses in NFL history.
With Rice balling out from the edge, it helped keep traffic off of Sapp, and he ate. And, as Rice said yesterday, with him and Sapp getting after the quarterback, the rest of the defense turned into hungry beasts.
“It became a feeding frenzy,” Rice said. “The rest [of the defense] were like piranhas.”
How special was yesterday for Rice? And how much does Rice love football? When Rice stepped up to the podium to offer his remarks, he broke down, overcome with emotion. Took some 45 seconds to regain his composure. Rice’s younger sister had to step up and hand him tissues.
When he was able to steady himself, Rice promised when he is inducted into the Ring of Honor on Nov. 30, when the Bucs host the Cardinals, the team that drafted Rice third overall in 1996, Rice vowed he would not “bawl.”
Rice got one word out when he began his remarks, “Honestly… ” and then he clutched his heart and began sobbing. That’s how much the Ring of Honor meant to him. That’s how much football means to Rice. That’s how much he loves the Bucs.
Rice was broken up, in part, because he said his father didn’t get to live long enough to see this day.
Rice had a lot of cool stories of his time with the Bucs. About how Chucky had to once chase him off the Bucs’ practice fields and go home… past 10:30 p.m. … About how Rice said upon signing with the Bucs he had to be demure and respect the locker room that was run by Sapp, Brooks, Lynch and Barber. After a while, he realized he could be himself so long as he produced.
And boy, did he ever produce.
Rice talked about how he and Sapp did not get along at all in the early going. Gradually, they became tight because they respected each other’s game so much. Real recognized real. Now, Sapp is one of Rice’s most vocal supporters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Rice said there were so many stars on the 2002 Bucs that Tampa became “Tinsel Town.”
Rice remembered with a smirk how the Bucs back then used the Florida heat to make opposing offenses wilt. Rice recalled once an offensive line of an opponent was looking to find any crack in the Bucs, anything to offer a glimmer of hope. Hoping someone on the Bucs’ defense was getting run down, too.
Instead, they saw Rice playing air guitar from across the line waiting for the snap, while those big uglies were sucking air. Those linemen immediately melted, Rice joked.
Bucs great Simeon Rice embraces Bucs co-owners Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and Bryan Glazer yesterday at One Buc Palace.
The Bucs defense in 2002, Rice said, “Became a masterpiece.”
It certainly was.
Joe also liked yesterday how Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer scolded the Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors for all but ignoring Rice. Well done! They needed to be called out.
Joe isn’t sure if that will backfire for Rice but it needed to be said.
Damn, right Rice deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
As for the Hall of Fame, Rice said if anyone has doubts, to watch how he produced facing tackles who are now in the Hall of Fame. Case closed, he said.
Joe really like how Rice pointed out Bucs teammates when he was asked if he should have been the MVP of the 2002 Super Bowl game. Rice gave Dexter Jackson, the man who did win the MVP props, but added any number of his teammates could have won the MVP that day, and specifically cited Derrick Brooks and Greg Spires as worthy candidates.
Classy response there.
Rice summed up the afternoon, trying to explain what going into the Ring of Honor means to him.
“Nothing like being honored by a team you helped bring to another level.”
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