For months fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been working to produce the Top 50 Players in franchise history, in honor of the organization's upcoming 50th. The process was primarily driven by fan voting earlier in the offseason but also involved input from former and current members of the media covering the team and staff employees.
While the full list has now been revealed – the top five is Derrick Brooks, Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, Mike Evans and Rondé Barber – the debates the Top 50 extravaganza are sure to spark will be more than half the fun. As such, we've assembled some contributors to the process to answer a few questions as to how they ended up with the answers they did. Today's question: "What was your toughest omission from the overall top 50?"
Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times
Rob Gronkowski. Probably a huge oversight. He only played two seasons and that is a big thing. But the guy had 100 receptions and 13 TDs plus two in the Super Bowl. They don't win it without him and I think he kept Tom Brady grounded and stress free. Should've been in there.
Nick Pugliese, Tampa Tribune
Rob Gronkowski. While I easily put Tom Brady in the top 50, I did not put his tight end. Yet, when you look at Gronk's stats that season, he was an important part of the offense. Perhaps I should have slipped him somewhere in the 40s.
Greg Auman, FOX Sports
I'll answer this a little differently. When I got to the bottom of my ballot, I hit a point around 48 where I didn't know what to do with the last two spots, so I had a list of the 10 best I was considering and floating it around to people whose opinions mattered to me -- people on the team, even friends who have been around the team a long time. One of my big questions all along was "Do we need a kicker on this team?" The problem is the most accurate kickers in team history weren't in Tampa long -- the last two, Chase McLaughlin and Ryan Succop, fit that bill, but they've only been here 2-3 years. You could make a case for Connor Barth, who was here for six. But when I sent that list, the name that kept coming back was Martin Gramatica. Statistically, he's not an amazing kicker, but he's so beloved by fans, so adored for his personality and being a part of the championship team, it felt right to give him the last spot on the list.
Scott Reynolds, Pewter Report
My most difficult omission was safety Mark Cotney. I had three safeties on my list with Hall of Famer John Lynch at No. 6, Antoine Winfield Jr. at No. 20 and Cedric Brown at No. 38. The final 10 spots were incredibly tough for me. Cotney, who was an early version of Lynch as a hard-hitter and playmaker, was probably No. 51 for me. Either Cotney or linebacker Cecil Johnson, who didn't make my top 50, either.
Fred Goodall, Associated Press
Not sure I would want to be quoted on this, but it's probably Aqib Talib. He was talented and obviously had a solid career, eventually becoming an All-Pro and winning a Super Bowl after leaving the Bucs. But despite having just over half his career interceptions in four-plus seasons with Tampa Bay, I never felt he really elevated the defense and became the player he could have been with the Bucs. Still, it was tough leaving him off the list. I'm not sure that was the right call.
Ira Kaufman, Pro Football Hall of Fame Voter
My most difficult omission was Dave Moore, now a savvy analyst on the Buccaneer Radio Network. Moore was a very reliable player for 13 seasons in Tampa, excelling on special teams as well as emerging as a consistent target at tight end. He was also utilized as a fullback at times and deftly handled long snapper duties, proving his versatility.
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Joey Johnston, Tampa Tribune
As far as omissions, now that I look at my list with more scrutiny, it is definitely tilted more toward the earlier era. So that means I probably didn't give as much credit to the modern era. I completely left off the likes of Cameron Brate and that shouldn't happen. It probably also speaks to Brate's underrated persona. He flew under the radar, but put up great numbers that mostly went unnoticed. We all have our opinions and biases, I suppose, and mine was seemingly not overlooking top performers on the 1976-79 Bucs, such as Dave Pear, Steve Wilson, Charley Hannah, Richard Wood and David Lewis.
Roy Cummings, Tampa Tribune
Ali Marpet. He was as good an O-lineman as the Bucs have ever had. One of the best draft picks the team ever made. If I'm being honest, I probably missed on this one. I'm still not comfortable with my decision here. But his sudden and unexpected departure put the team in a bind, and that kept gnawing at me.
Katherine Smith, Bay News 9
Not so much an omission, but the rankings became very difficult, especially after the Top 20. The top 20 was easy to fill out because of the numerous Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers and Ring of Honor players.
Rock Riley, WDAE Radio
My most difficult omission was running back Doug Martin. Although the first rounder had a very good Bucs career, Muscle Hamster regressed after signing a 5-year extension. His 4 game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy keeps him just off the list for me. 2X Pro Bowler & First-team All Pro certainly deserves recognition.
Rick Odioso, Long-Time Buccaneers Executive
Charley Hannah, a starting OT on the first three Buccaneers playoff teams (1979, 1981 and 1982), was first alternate on my list. He had been a defensive lineman until he made a successful transition to offense prior to the 1979 season. Charley went on to start for the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium. He still lives in Tampa after a successful career as a homebuilder.
Scott Smith, Buccaneers.com
Oh man, there are so many good choices here. If you go by my originally-submitted list of top 50 and who didn't make it, it would be linebacker David Lewis or running back Michael Pittman. I also agonized over Ricky Reynolds and Jason Pierre-Paul. But in the end I'm going to pull a curve ball and pass all those great candidates for Karl "The Truth" Williams. Here's a couple things to know about The Truth: 1) He's got the most punt returns and punt return yards in team history and while four other fine fellows have returned a punt once (and only once) for a touchdown, Mr. Truth did it five it times. Also, until Mike Evans and Chris Godwin came along he was the only Buc ever to play 100 games at wide receiver. Maybe he's a niche candidate, but I feel like I should have slipped him into the top 50.
