EXCLUSIVE: Buccaneers legend Ronde Barber reveals toughest WRs he faced in NFL ft. Randy Moss
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber faced some of the greatest wide receivers in his 16-year NFL career. In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Barber was asked who some of the toughest receivers he covered in his illustrious NFL career were. Barber started out by revealing that Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter was tough to cover while with the Minnesota Vikings. He faced him when Tampa Bay was in the NFC North:
“Yeah, I had a bunch of... two of them played on the same team. As a matter of fact, when I saw them earlier in my career, and often, because if you remember back in the early, late part of the 90s, we were still in the NFC North.
"That meant we had to play the Vikings every year, and in fact, was a really good team back then. But the two receivers that the Vikings had... Cris Carter, who legitimately taught me how to play football, but learning how to cover him in the slot, and then randomly off those, those two guys... single-handedly will give you nightmares for weeks.
"And we had to play twice, four years of my career.”
Barber also mentioned another Pro Football Hall of Famer in Randy Moss. He also played for the Vikings. Barber stated Moss was an anomaly at the receiver position:
“Randy [Moss] was just so athletic to say that now because so many receivers look like him back then. To me, he was an anomaly. He was a four-three-speed guy at six-four and high point and get around you to catch anything.
"There's not many guys that we felt like we had to cover at that time, change or defect for, but he was definitely one of them. But obviously challenging, you know, as an athlete competitor, you raise the price of their challenges.”
Barber also spoke of former Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith because of the similarities between his and Smith's work ethic:
“Steve Smith was another guy. A lot of people asked me why. I was like, because, you know, I had a pretty long career. Steve had the same career. We had the same personality.
"We're like, he's a little shorter than probably anticipated guys for success, and he just wanted to outwork you and joke with people all the time like, man, all I wanted to do was not get Steve Smith mad at me.”
Most Career Receiving Yards Among Players Not (yet) In The NFL Hall Of Fame:
1. Larry Fitzgerald - 17,492
2. Steve Smith - 14,731
3. Reggie Wayne - 14,345
4. Andre Johnson - 14,185
5. Anquan Boldin - 13,779
6. Henry Ellard - 13,777
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123. Julian Edelman - 6,822
Barber continued on about Smith, commenting on how he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame some day:
“If he got mad at you, another switch came on and elevated his game. So, I’d spin like the whole game talking, man, everything good to keep him in a genial kind of mindset. But when he got going, he was really, really tough. Steve Smith will eventually, one day ,be in the Hall of Fame.”
Barber on covering recent Hall of Famers Terrell Owens and Calvin Johnson
Barber said that former San Francisco 49ers receiver Terrell Owens was tough to cover and was the supreme talent:
“T.O. was another one. Obviously, the freak of nature was the biggest, fastest human being I've ever seen play football. We had to play him in quite a number of times in San Francisco. So yeah, that's just to name a few of me. I had a bunch."
Barber stated that former Detroit Lions wider receiver Calvin Johnson was tough as well. He stated that all of the receivers he'd mentioned are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
"Megatron [Calvin Johnson]. Guy’s a first ballot Hall of Famer for a reason. There were times when we played them [Detroit Lions] because we ran across some time to coordinate defense. I don't have anything that's going to work against this guy. So that's just to name a few, and it's no coincidence that all those guys are named Hall of Famers."
One note on Calvin Johnson making the Hall of Fame: He's only the third WR in the last 25 years to make the HOF on the first ballot, joining Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.
Owens was inducted into Canton in 2018, while Johnson was a part of the Hall of Fame class last year. One day, we'll get to see Barber take his rightful place in Canton with them.
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