http://www.tbo.com/sports/bucs/MGB7SZFDTOE.html
Jon Gruden broke out the chisel Thursday at One Buc Place, though a chisel isn't a checkbook. Gruden made another monument out of another Buc. It was the last day of minicamp. The subject was Jamael Oronde Barber.
"They talk about Lynch, Brooks, Sapp, but what about Ronde?" Gruden said. "You got to throw him in there, don't you? I don't know anybody else who has 20 sacks, 20 picks, a Super Bowl ring, multiple division titles, Pro Bowls and is the kind of player he is off the field. To me, his head should be on Mount Rushmore with those other guys you're talking about."
Well said.
But: What about Ronde?
Ronde Barber sat on a bench at One Buc. He's a tower of strength, but these days doesn't feel as if he's set in stone. Numb is how he feels. One of the NFL's top cornerbacks is in the final year of his contract. And nobody seems in a rush to make him a new one. Two of the faces on Gruden's Rushmore, Warren Sapp and John Lynch, are long gone.
What about Ronde?
"I'm not a huge Bush fan," Barber said, "but I'm feeling pretty lame duckish right now."
Let's Get It Done
The deal the Bucs need to make, the deal to lock up Ronde Barber and throw away the key, keeps not getting done. It didn't happen under Rich McKay. It has yet to happen under Bruce Allen.
All the other defensive cornerstones got the monster contract. Sapp. Lynch. Brooks. Rice. Heck, Booger McFarland cashed in.
What about Ronde?
Signing him makes sense to almost anyone. Do you think Derrick Brooks restructured so someone like Ronde Barber couldn't be brought back?
You heard Gruden. "He's everything you want in a player and a person," Allen said. So what's the problem?
What about Ronde?
For a guy with a supernatural knack for being in the right place at the right time, Barber suffers from bad timing. Five years ago, when his marketability was zilch, he signed a six-year, $18-million deal. He instantly began outplaying it, with 10 interceptions, a Pro Bowl, a championship ring and the signature play in team history, that pick and run at Philly.
The timing isn't good now, either. The Bucs have young offensive players like Chris Simms reaching for the stars. And Barber turns 32 after next season, whatever that means.
"Nothing," teammate Simeon Rice said. "The man performs."
The Bucs could wait and see how Barber plays, which is what they always do. Enough of that. And the mind-set that if you pay Barber, you'll have to pay everyone else. Well, Ronde Barber isn't everyone else. He's been a bargain for years. No, he didn't first pave the way, like Sapp, Lynch and Brooks, but he's laid down a righteous legacy. And each day a deal doesn't get done is one day closer to the day he leaves.
"I have a pretty strong feeling it's going to come to that," Barber said.
It would be stunning.
Barber forced a smile.
"Prepare to be stunned."
It's Time For Action
This isn't a guy who likes to talk about contract stuff. It takes a lot for his jaws to unlock. Even when they do, he includes fellow corner Brian Kelly, whose worth only seems palpable when he goes down with an injury, like the one that jolted the Bucs defense the season after the Super Bowl.
"When B.K. went down, remember what happened?" Barber asked.
Bad things.
Imagine what would happen if Barber and Kelly held out of training camp next month? They'd look a lot more valuable in an awful hurry. Oh, and Gruden's head would explode.
But Barber grimaces at the idea of holding out.
"That's not my nature. I'm an honorable guy and expect others to be honorable, too."
Everyone knows the honorable thing to do. And the right thing. No more wonderful Gruden and Allen words about Barber. Time to walk the walk. That's how a lot of people feel.
What about Ronde?
"How do you think I feel?"
Quack, quack.
Great read...Ronde Barber!!
Great read...Ronde Barber!!
, or you're full of 
. Personally I think you looked like this 
!!!
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