Buccaneers owner pushes for Simeon Rice to make NFL Hall of Fame: 'Time to rectify that oversight'
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in 2002 thanks to a dominant defense. Hall of Famers Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Warren Sapp made up a formidable squad for opposing offenses, but one other player on the roster seemingly doesn't get the respect he deserves.
That would be defensive end Simeon Rice, who registered two sacks and a forced fumble during the Buccaneers' Super Bowl win over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Rice received some well-deserved recognition for his accomplishments Monday, when he was announced as a member of the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor. Rice broke down in tears immediately after reaching the podium to deliver his speech. He spoke about his parents, his teammates and the desire to make the Rice name mean something. It was an incredibly moving moment.
While making the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor was clearly meaningful to Rice, he has yet to receive a call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rice was a semifinalist for the 2025 class, but did not make the cut as a finalist.
Buccaneers owner Bryan Glazer called that an "oversight" prior to Rice's induction into the team's Hall of Fame on Monday. Glazer laid out the case for Rice's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, focusing on the incredible stats Rice amassed over the course of his career.
"From 1996 to 2005, he totaled a league-best 101.5 sacks over those eight years, more than Hall of Famers Michael Strahan and Jason Taylor during that same stretch. His mark of eight seasons with double-digit sack totals is the seventh most in NFL history. And all six men ahead of him on that list are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"Simeon's credentials for induction into our Ring of Honor are unquestioned, but he's equally qualified and deserving of an overdue call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Notably, he's the only retired players with 100 sacks over eight consecutive seasons who doesn't own a gold jacket. It's time to rectify that oversight."
That's quite the argument. Rice retired from the NFL after the 2007 season with 122 sacks. He racked up 119 of those in his first 10 seasons in the league. Despite his excellence, Rice didn't achieve many awards during his career. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 1996, but only made three Pro Bowls in his 12 seasons. He was a first-team All-Pro just once.
That's the argument voters have to face when considering Rice's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a great player who put up some excellent sack totals, but didn't quite get the recognition he deserved during his career.
Rice did have to contend with other elite players at his position - including Strahan and Taylor - over the course of his career, which likely limited Rice's ability to reach the Pro Bowl or receive more All-Pro selections. The voters will have to determine whether that was a massive oversight, or if Rice simply doesn't stack up against the uber-elite pass rushers of his generation.