Badass Buccaneers

Tampa Bay had an incredible 2010, surprising most analysts by racking up 10 wins despite having a young squad. The 2011 Buccaneers surprised analysts again, but because they took a giant step backwards and finished 4-12.

It takes effort finding a player currently on the roster who I would consider a badass (a player I could proudly buy his heresy and not have my dad roll his eyes at me.) Gone are all of the premier players on defense from the Super Bowl winning 2000 team. The only player worthy of being considered a badass would be running back LeGarrette Blount (#27). Blount is a power back who would rather over and through a defender then run around a defender, which earns points for badassness. But, truth be told, the defensive linemen are young (except Albert Haynesworth, who more a jackass instead of a badass) and the offensive line is OK but not spectacular (center Jeff Faine, tackle Donald Penn). Blount kind of wins this by default.

Historically, the Bucs do have some pretty badass players, even if the franchise had a horrible reputation for about 30 years. You could go down the entire defensive roster of the Super Bowl winning year (#99 Warren Sapp, #55 Derek Brooks, #47 John Lynch), and even some of the offensive guys too (#40 Mike Alstott). But the original Tampa Bay badass is Lee Roy Selmon (#63.) The defensive end from the University of Oklahoma was the 1979 Defensive Player of the Year, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and named to the 1980s All-Decade Team. Selmon is almost solely responsible for breaking up the Buccaneer's losing ways, a pretty badass achievement for a defensive lineman.


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