S / CB

Rondé Barber

Class of 2023

Interceptions

47

Pro Bowls

5

Sacks

28

Seasons

16

Touchdowns

14

Enshrinement Speech

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Career Highlights

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A list of adjectives used to describe Rondé Barber accurately would grow long. And that would be fitting for a player whose many career highlights starts with his longevity: 241 regular-season games played, an NFL-record streak of 215 consecutive starts at cornerback (224 counting playoffs) and the distinction of being the only defensive back since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to start every game for 13 consecutive seasons. 

Barber didn’t merely fill a spot in the lineup. He made plays that shaped the outcomes of games at a time when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers consistently ranked among the NFL’s top defenses and made several trips to the postseason, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII.
 
Barber finished his career with 47 interceptions and 28 sacks, leaving him as the only player in NFL history with at least 45 and 25, respectively, in those categories. He’s the NFL’s all-time sack leader for cornerbacks and also made 88 tackles for loss. Twice he intercepted three passes in a game, and six times he forced at least two turnovers in a game. He scored 14 touchdowns on returns: eight interceptions, four fumbles and two deflected punts.
 
He played big on big stages. In the 1999 NFC Championship Game, Barber made eight tackles, two behind the line, in an 11-6 loss to Rams. In the 2003 NFC title game, he returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown to seal the 27-10 win over the Eagles and added a sack, forced fumble and four passes defensed. In the Super Bowl win over Oakland, he contributed five tackles.
 
Barber’s breakout season came in 2001. He led the NFL with 10 interceptions, leading to the first of his three All-Pro honors and first of five Pro Bowl invitations. Twice that year he was named Defensive Player of the Week. He would earn that honor nine times in his career, matching the NFL record shared by RAY LEWIS, LAWRENCE TAYLOR, CHRIS DOLEMAN and BRUCE SMITH — all members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
 
Barber was voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s (second team) and was the Buccaneers’ winner of the Ed Block Courage Award in 2011, given across the NFL to a player from each team who demonstrates courage, sportsmanship and dedication to his hometown community. 
 

 
Interceptions
 Sacks
Year Team
G
No.
Yds
Avg
TD
 No.
1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1
0
0
0.0
0
 0.0
1998 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 2 67 33.5 0 3.0
1999 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
2
60
30.0
0
 1.0
2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
2
46
23.0
1
 5.5
2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
10
86
8.6
1
 1.0
2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
2
9
4.5
0
 3.0
2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
2
53
26.5
1
 1.5
2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
3
23
7.7
0
 3.0
2005 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
5
105
21.0
0
 2.0
2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
3
103
34.3
2
 0.0
2007 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
2
32
16.0
1
 1.0
2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
4
69
17.3
1
 2.0
2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
0
0
0.0
0
 2.0
2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
3
98
32.7
0
 1.0
2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
3
12
4.0
0
 1.0
2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16
4
160
40.0
1
 1.0
Career total  
241
47
923
19.6
8
 28.0
Additional Career Statistics: Punt returns: 3-30, 1 TD.  

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

1999 NFC — St. Louis Rams 11, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6

  • Barber started at right cornerback. He had eight tackles, two of which were for a loss.
2002 NFC — Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10
  • Barber started at right cornerback. He had three tackles and one sack. He also had one interception which he returned 92 yards for a touchdown, one forced fumble and four passes defensed.
SUPER BOWLS

Super Bowl XXXVII – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21
  • Barber started at right cornerback. He two tackles and two assists and one tackle on special teams.
ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS

All-Pro: 2001 (AP, PFWA) • 2004 (AP) • 2005 (AP)

All-Pro Second Team: 2002 (AP) • 2006 (AP)

All-NFC: 2005 (PW)


PRO BOWLS

(5)    – 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009


IN THE NFL RECORD BOOK (at time of his retirement following 2010 season)
  • [Tied for 1st] Most Interceptions Returned for Touchdown, Game – 2 (vs. Philadelphia, Oct. 22, 2006)
  • [Tied for 1st] Most Fumbles Returned for Touchdown, Season – 2 (2004)
  • [Tied for 1st] Most Opponents Fumbles Returned for Touchdown, Season – 2 (2004)
  • [Tied for 3rd] Most Fumbles Returned for Touchdown, Career – 4
  • [Tied for 3rd] Most Opponents Fumbles Returned for Touchdown, Career – 4

TEAM RECORDS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers records held by Barber
(Records through the 2012 season, Barber’s final season with Tampa Bay)
  • [1st] Most Defensive Touchdowns, Game – 2 (vs. Philadelphia, Oct. 22, 2006)
  • [1st] Most Interceptions, Season – 10 (2001)
  • [1st] Most Interceptions Returned for Touchdown, Game – 2 (vs. Philadelphia, Oct. 22, 2006)
  • [1st] Most Interceptions, Career – 47
  • [1st] Most Interception Return Yards, Career – 923
  • [1st] Most Touchdowns on Interceptions, Career – 8
  • [1st] Most Games Played, Career – 241
  • [1st] Most Games Started, Career – 232
  • [1st] Most Defensive Touchdowns, Career – 12
  • [1st] Most Total Touchdowns by a Defensive Player, Career – 14
  • [Tied for 1st] Most Interceptions, Game – 3 (at New Orleans, Dec. 23, 2001; at New Orleans, Dec. 4, 2005)
  • [2nd] Most Tackles, Career – 1,428
  • [Tied for 3rd] Most Defensive Touchdowns, Season – 2 (2000, 2004, 2006, 2007)
Postseason records
  • [1st] Longest Interception Return – 92t (at Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 2003)
  • [Tied for 2nd] Most Games, Career – 10
  • [Tied for 2nd] Most Defensive Touchdowns, Game – 1 (at Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 2003)
  • [Tied for 2nd] Most Interceptions, Career – 2


LEAGUE/TEAM STATISTICAL TITLES

NFL statistical championships
  • Interception title: 2001
NFC statistical championships
  • Interception title: 2001
Team statistical championships
  • Interception titles: 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012


YEAR-BY-YEAR TEAM RECORDS
 
Year Team W L T Divison Finish
1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 (2nd)
1998 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8 8 0 (3rd)
1999 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11 5 0 (1st)
2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 (2nd)
2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 7 0 (3rd)
2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 4 0 (1st)
2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 9 0 (3rd)
2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 (4th)
2005 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11 5 0 (1st)
2006 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 12 0 (4th)
2007 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 7 0 (1st)
2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 7 0 (3rd)
2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 13 0 (4th)
2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 (3rd)
2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 12 0 (4th)
2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 9 0 (4th)

* Qualified for postseason in bold

 

Full name: Jamael Orondé Barber 

Birthdate: April 7, 1975

Birthplace: Blacksburg, Virginia

High school: Cave Spring (Roanoke, Virginia) 

Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame: Jan. 17, 2023

Other members of the Class of 2023: Don Coryell, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko, Darrelle Revis, Ken Riley, Joe Thomas, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware.

Pro career: 16 seasons, 241 games.

Drafted: 3rd round (66th overall) in 1997 by Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Uniform number: 20

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Enshrinement is Aug. 5.