The third time was a charm for 1997 Virginia alum Ronde Barber, who was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday night, in the third year that he had been named a Hall of Fame finalist.
Barber, a Roanoke native and three-time All-ACC cornerback at Virginia, played all 16 of his NFL seasons in Tampa Bay, where he won a Super Bowl, in 2002, and was a three-time first-team All-Pro (2001, 2004, 2005).
A member of the 2000s All-Decade Team, Barber led the NFL in interceptions with 10 in 2001, was in the Top 10 in the league in passes defensed five times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2005), and ranks second all-time in passes defensed (197).
His 14 touchdowns rank him fourth all-time among non-offense players.
He is the only player in NFL history to record at least 45 interceptions and at least 25 sacks; he had 47 picks and 28 sacks.
Another only player in NFL history factoid about Barber: he’s the only guy to make 200 consecutive starts at the cornerback position.
His 241 games played and 232 starts are both Tampa Bay franchise records.
His 1,428 career tackles is the second most in Tampa Bay franchise history.
He started 215 consecutive games to end his career and never missed a game due to injury.
When Barber is inducted with the rest of the Class of 2023 in Canton in July, he will become the fifth person with UVA ties in the Hall, joining former UVA standouts Bill Dudley and Henry Jordan, former coach Earle “Greasy” Neale and with UVA alum Ralph Wilson Jr., who was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his work as the owner of the Buffalo Bills.
One last thought: maybe Visa should remake this classic commercial from 2002 and 2003 …
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Chris Graham
