TAMPA, Fla. — Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Simeon Rice isn’t kidding around when he says he wants to come back and play. Rice hasn’t taken a snap since the 2007 season, but at 43, he said he can still do it. And he wants to.
He has been tweeting about it and told ESPN he’s completely serious, if the Bucs will have him.
I stay ready if Tampa Bay wants a dominate the will call the dominator #UnstoppablePassRush pic.twitter.com/0n7F3zC7pF
— Simeon Rice (@simeon_rice) October 25, 2017
@JennaLaineESPN Believe it or not I can get them to the playoffs #TrainedAndReady
— Simeon Rice (@simeon_rice) October 25, 2017
“If they want a pass-rusher, they should bring in a pass-rusher extraordinaire who was one of the dominant pass-rushers of any era,” Rice told ESPN. “What is it going to cost? You don’t have one.”
The Bucs just lost speed-rusher Noah Spence, who suffered another shoulder injury and is now on injured reserve. The team also waived Jacquies Smith after he recovered from a torn ACL. The Bucs (2-4) are last in the league with seven sacks in six games. By comparison, the Jacksonville Jaguars lead the NFL with 33.
“My only request is you bring me in and let me play my brand of defense, which is real pressure football — sack fumbles and disruption,” said Rice, emphasizing that this has nothing to do with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his frustration about not getting votes.
Rice indicated that he previously had no intention of making a comeback. It wasn’t something that came up when head coach Dirk Koetter invited him to training camp. That all changed when he watched the Bucs lose 38-33 to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 15. Rice sat with Brian Ford, the Bucs’ chief operating officer, during the game.
“It was very hard watching what I could fix,” said Rice, who was the last Bucs player to notch double-digit sacks, with 14 in 2005. He reached double-digit sacks eight times, including in five consecutive years with the Bucs.
He has 122 career sacks and 28 forced fumbles in 12 seasons spent with the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos. Rice is 19th on the NFL’s career sacks list. Among the Hall of Fame-eligible members of the top 20, only Leslie O’Neal, Rice and Clyde Simmons haven’t been inducted.
Rice spent time helping Spence and defensive end Ryan Russell during camp this summer.
“He taught me things in five minutes that I’d never even heard of or even thought to put into my game,” Spence said. “He pointed out things in my game that I’d never even heard of. It was a blessing to have him out here to talk to us.”
Rice said the shoulder injury that plagued him at the end of his career has been healthy for some time. He said he trains six hours a day, five days a week, something that has become more of a lifestyle than a training regimen.
“With nine games left, [there is] plenty of time to finish with double-digit sacks and a playoff bid,” Rice said. “I bet on myself before, and it paid off. It’s really not a stretch at all. It’s facts.”
When defensive coordinator Mike Smith was asked about Rice’s comments about a comeback, he laughed, saying, “I don’t want to comment on that. He was a great pass-rusher. I know when I was 43, I know I couldn’t do what I was doing when I was 25.”
