Re: Tiki Or Ronde ---- Which Barber Is Better?
Bucs' Barber uses unique skills to make NFL history
Bucs' Barber uses unique skills to make NFL history
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Ronde Barber returns one of his 40 career interceptions, this one against Cleveland during the season opener.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame came looking for a piece of Ronde Barber last week. It wanted the gloves and jersey he wore during the Buccaneers' 21-0 victory against the 49ers.
If the Hall of Fame ever comes calling for the rest of Barber, his unique ability not only to intercept a quarterback but to sack him will be the reason.
In the 90 years the NFL has been around, no one has combined those seemingly contrary skills better than Barber, whose pick of 49ers quarterback Troy Smith last week made him the first player ever to record at least 40 interceptions and 25 sacks.
"He's one of the premier cornerbacks in the league,'' said Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whose job Sunday includes finding a way to make sure his quarterback, Joe Flacco, doesn't become Barber's latest victim when the Bucs (7-3) take on the Ravens (7-3) in Baltimore.
No easy task there. After all, many of Barber's 40 interceptions and most of his 26 sacks have come largely as a result of the unique role he plays rather exquisitely on certain passing downs. Though he lines up as a traditional cover corner against basic formations, Barber moves into the slot and becomes a blitz-threatening outside linebacker when the Bucs face three or more receivers.
"He literally becomes our (strongside) linebacker,'' Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud said. "And that's what's so unique about him, because there aren't a lot of guys who can play corner and then come in and play linebacker.
"He can stand out there on the corner and play bump-and-run with a receiver on one down, and then he'll come into the slot and have the mindset of a linebacker and read keys just like a linebacker.''
Barber, 35, may have the mindset of a linebacker, but he certainly doesn't have the build of one. At 5-foot-10 and 184 pounds, he's considered a little small even for a cornerback.
He's quick off the snap, though, and that skill combined with his ability to anticipate the play and disguise his intentions gave former Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin the idea to move him to the slot and blitz with him. The role was not one Barber ever dreamed of playing, but as a young cornerback eager to get on the field no matter the capacity, he quickly made this hybrid position his niche.
"I never felt like it was a relegated role,'' Barber said. "In fact, I really kind of embraced it and defined the position and that was really just a result of me taking advantage of an opportunity.''
Oh, he took advantage all right. With opposing offensive coordinators unaccustomed to seeing a cornerback blitzing from the slot, Barber says he rolled rather easily to his first dozen or so sacks.
"For the first eight or nine years, no one accounted for me,'' Barber said. "It was pretty much a free ride. I had to beat a (running) back and that was it, and when I was younger that really wasn't a big deal.''
The sacks might have come easier than expected the first few years, but weren't all the result of opponents' failing to recognize Barber's intentions. Barber's work ethic and desire to excel played a part, too. He sought out then-Bucs assistant coaches Lovie Smith and Mike Tomlin, now head coaches with Chicago and Pittsburgh, respectively, to refine his craft.
Smith coached Bucs linebackers from 1996-2000, Tomlin defensive backs from 2001-05.
"I remember him telling me about talking to Lovie Smith early on about some of the linebacker keys and some of their details,'' Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. "And I know that when Mike Tomlin came here, he refined some the detail things he was doing to the point where he's now just keying like a linebacker.''
Despite the work he's put in, the sacks have been harder to come by in recent years. After recording 20 between 1998 and 2005, Barber has just six since the start of the 2006 season.
Age is one reason for that. At 35, Barber has lost some of his speed and quickness. And opponents are game-planning for him more now. Still, Barber has found a way to counter that and remain disruptive.
"It's a combination of those unique abilities he has and his willingness to just stick his nose in there be tough,'' Ruud said. "I really think he likes that part of it, where he's taking on a lineman and a back, or whatever. I think he takes a lot of pride in being able to beat a back or get underneath a tackle and get to the quarterback. He just makes great use of his abilities and there's never been anybody else who's done it like that.''
Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian can attest to that. Mangurian has been coaching offensive lines and tight ends since before Barber came into the league as a third-round draft pick in 1997 and agrees there's never been another player like Barber.
"I'll be the first one to say what a great player he is, because whatever number of sacks he's got, he got a lot of them on me,'' said Mangurian, who has coached offensive lines or tight ends for the Broncos, Giants, Falcons and Patriots.
"He's a great pass rusher, because he has a great sense of how to beat people and because he's got a lot in his repertoire. He's a special guy that you absolutely have to game plan for. He's one of those guys that changes what you do, an impact player. I said a long time ago that impact players are the guys that make you change your game plan before you ever play the game. That's what Ronde Barber does.''
Note the present tense Mangurian used. In his 14th NFL season, Barber is still giving offensive coordinators and quarterbacks headaches, and that's one of the things Harbaugh finds so amazing.
"He's an amazingly gifted guy to still have the physical ability that he has after all these years,'' said Harbaugh, who, as the Eagles defensive backs coach from 1998-2007, has seen first-hand some of Barber's best work.
"The big thing for him, though, is he understands the ins and outs of every coverage they play and probably a couple they don't play. He also recognizes the routes really before they happen. He has all the tips to be able to anticipate where he's going to have to be to make those plays, and so it's probably that combination of things that makes him so special.''
Whatever it is that has made Barber special, the likelihood is growing that at some point a team of Hall of Fame voters will sit down and debate whether his accomplishments are worthy of enshrinement. It seems that's all Barber really wants. He doesn't lobby openly for the honor, but believes he's carved a niche in this game no one else has, and the Hall of Fame is where that gets recognized.
"It would be nice," Barber said, "to be in that conversation some day.''
