When you can make 66,713 Eagles fans go silent in one instant, you've done something remarkable. When you can turn seasons' worth of heartache at the hands of an archrival into the most cathartic victory in a franchise's history, you've accomplished something that will never be forgotten. And when you send a franchise that had wandered in the playoff-free desert for the better part of two decades to its first Super Bowl, you've created a moment that will never be topped.
Over the last month, fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been voting in an NCAA-style tournament bracket featuring the "50 Seasons Best Moments Presented by Ticketmaster." That bracket is down to the Final Four, and all four moments are among the most lasting, most remarkable events ever to unfold in a half-century of Buccaneers football. Over the next week, fans will determine which of those four stands alone as the best moment in team history.
The one that should come out on top: Rondé Barber's 92-yard pick six to clinch the 2002 NFC Championship Game and send the Buccaneers to Super Bowl XXXVII.
Barber's interception off the Philadelphia Eagles' Donovan McNabb is such an indelible moment for Buccaneers fans that many can run the highlight in their heads from beginning to end. McNabb's Eagles are threatening to cut the Bucs' 20-10 lead down to just three points with a little over three minutes to play. Barber lines up in the flat to McNabb's left but comes up to the line of scrimmage to fake the same sort of blitz that helped him get a sack earlier in the contest. McNabb takes the snap and drops back as Barber also drops back into his original position, anticipating a hot read from the quarterback and a quick pass to Antonio Freeman. McNabb obliges without checking on Barber's whereabouts first, and the future Hall of Fame cornerback jumps the route, catches the ball with outstretched arms in front of Freeman and breaks into the clear. As Barber races down the sideline past the Eagles' bench, players and coaches turn their heads away. Barber runs the length of the field untouched, gesturing over his shoulder to his own jersey nameplate as he crosses the goal line. The last game ever to be played in Veterans Stadium ends in an eerie silence.
So far, Barber's utterly unforgettable pick-six has out-voted big plays by Ronald Jones and Mike Alstott, plus a playoff-clinching win over the Bears in 1982 and the franchise's first playoff win in 1979. Whatever competition comes next doesn't really matter. This is the top moment in franchise history, bar none.
