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Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Bryan Glazer believes it’s time for former defensive end Simeon Rice to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Monday, the team announced Rice will be the newest member of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor. The ceremony will take place on November 30 when the Bucs host the Arizona Cardinals — Rice’s first NFL team.
Glazer pointed to Rice’s impressive numbers, especially during a stretch from 1996 to 2005.
“From 1996 to 2005, [Rice] totaled a league-best 101.5 sacks over those eight years — more than Hall of Famers Michael Strahan and Jason Taylor,” Glazer said. “During that same stretch, his mark of eight seasons with double-digit sack totals is the seventh most in NFL history, and six men ahead of him on that list are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Glazer also highlighted a key fact: Rice is the only retired player with at least 100 sacks in eight straight seasons who hasn’t been inducted into the 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 player with 100 sacks over eight consecutive seasons who doesn’t own a gold jacket. It’s time to rectify that oversight, he said.”
One of the NFL’s Most Dominant Pass Rushers
Rice, now 51, finished his 12-year career with 122 sacks. He was a semifinalist for the 2025 Hall of Fame class but didn’t make the list of finalists. When he retired in 2007, he ranked ninth in NFL history in sacks. He’s now 21st.
Several retired players above him on the all-time list are also not in the Hall, including John Abraham (133.5 sacks), Leslie O’Neal (132.5), and Robert Mathis (123). One other player ahead of Rice, Von Miller (129.5), is still active. Another, Terrell Suggs (139), became a finalist for the 2025 Hall of Fame class in his first year of eligibility.
A Shift in Perspective
Rice once cared deeply about getting into the Hall of Fame, especially while his parents were still alive.
“At one point, I absolutely wanted that call,” he said.
He became emotional while talking about his late parents, Henry and Evelyn, who passed away in 2015 and 2016. He said he hoped to be inducted before they died but has since come to peace with where things stand.
“I remember my father saying, ‘Sim, this is going to happen,’” Rice recalled. “But after they passed, I didn’t carry that burden anymore.”
Now, he says being inducted into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor has helped him find closure.
“It helps me reconcile a lot of things in my soul,” he said.
The Bucs Back Him for Canton
The Buccaneers believe this recognition could help boost Rice’s Hall of Fame case. Tampa Bay has used its Ring of Honor to support players who later made it to Canton, like John Lynch and Ronde Barber. The team’s other Hall of Famers — Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and coach Tony Dungy — were all inducted before entering the Ring of Honor.
“To be represented in the Ring of Honor is a cool thing,” said Rice, who will become the ring’s 16th member. “It’s cool. There are certain entitlements. These are man-made things. So these aren’t real things. We live real lives. The moment is real. The experience is real. I mean, mine was more in philosophy of an emotional connection with my parents. That was it. You know what I mean? That was it.
Still, Rice reminded people of what he accomplished on the field.
“I know I was the baddest motherf—er in the world. Excuse my language. I know what it feels like to get 4.0 sacks in games. I know what it’s like to get 6.0 sacks in games. I’m done taking over the guys that got jackets. I’m like, ‘Hey, I killed him, 3.0 sacks in the game, 2.5 sacks over there. I done won a Super Bowl. I done did all those things. You know what I mean? I literally did it,” He said.”
A Career Full of Highlights
Rice was selected third overall in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Cardinals and won Defensive Rookie of the Year after recording 12.5 sacks. In 1999, he posted a career-high 16.5 sacks and earned his first Pro Bowl selection.
He joined the Buccaneers in 2001 and became a key part of one of the best defenses in NFL history. From 2001 to 2005, he recorded sack totals of 11, 15.5, 15, 12, and 14. He was named a first-team All-Pro in 2002 and second-team All-Pro in 2003. He also led the league in forced fumbles (six) in 2003.
Rice helped lead Tampa Bay to its first Super Bowl title in the 2002 season. He finished that playoff run with four sacks and three forced fumbles, including two sacks in the Super Bowl win over the Raiders. He made three Pro Bowls overall (1999, 2002, 2003).
Rice left the Bucs in 2007 after a shoulder injury. His 69.5 sacks with Tampa Bay rank third in team history, behind only Selmon and Sapp.
A Special Honor from His NFL Home
Rice played briefly with the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts before retiring. But he says being recognized by the Bucs — the team he helped take to the top — means the most.
“It’s nothing like being accepted and being honored at home,” Rice said. “I played at a lot of places, I played a little bit after I left in Denver [in 2007] and I played with [Dungy in Indianapolis] — that was towards the end, [and] I was injured. And I played with the Cardinals. But it’s nothing like being honored by a team that you helped take to the next level. And I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart to raise to this level.”
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This report used information from ESPN.
