A Tribute to Hardy Nickerson

Hardy Nickerson was one hell of a linebacker for the Buccaneers. Nickerson played for the Bucs for 7-years, from the 1993-1994 season to the 1999-2000 season. Nickerson made the Pro Bowl a total of five times in his career, all while with the Bucs in 1993, ’96, ’97, ’98, and ’99. He was also selected to be a First-Team All-Pro twice in his career, both times while with the Bucs in ’93 and ’97.

During Nickerson’s 7 seasons as a Buccaneer, he amassed 104 of his 225 games played, 7 of his 12 interceptions, 13 of his 19 forced fumbles, 9 of his 14 fumbles recovered, 9 of his 21 sacks, and 926 of his 1,584 tackles.

Ranker.com has compiled a list of ‘The Best Tampa Bay Buccaneers Players of All-Time’. They rank Hardy Nickerson as the 10th best Buccaneer of all time behind #1 Derrick Brooks, #2 Ronde Barber, #3 Warren Sapp, #4 John Lynch, #5 Mike Alstott, #6 Lee Roy Selmon, #7 Simeon Rice, #8 Warrick Dunn and #9 Gerald McCoy. The list goes beyond just the top 10, but that’s enough for now. The cool thing about this list is that it is ever-changing and gets to be voted on by the fans. If you want to check it out and vote for yourself, click HERE

Not only do I think that Nickerson is one of the all-time best Buccaneers players, but one of the all-time best linebackers and players in NFL history. We’ll see if his son, who currently plays for the Bengals, will end up being just as good as his dad was. So far, he’s only had a brief two years in the NFL. I wouldn’t mind seeing him become a Buccaneer some day. Go Bucs!