As much as any team, NFL realignment in 2002 split the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ existence into two separate eras, with 25 years spent in the NFC Central with annual trips north to Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay, and the past two decades living in a much warmer existence in the NFC South.
From the humble early years and frigid road games to today’s comparably easy life — two of three division opponents are in domes, and Charlotte’s fairly temperate — it’s been two very different experiences, and for other reasons beyond the weather.
“I’m definitely biased, because we went into the South in 2002 and won the business,” said longtime Bucs defensive back Ronde Barber, now in the team’s Ring of Honor and a key part of Tampa Bay’s first Super Bowl championship team that first season in the new division.
Barber’s NFL career started in the North, which was not kind to a young defensive back, with Minnesota’s Randy Moss dominating and Green Bay’s Brett Favre slinging it and Detroit’s Barry Sanders running at and around them as well.
“We didn’t have to play Randy and the Vikings twice a year and Brett Favre twice a year, and there was something redeeming about that,” Barber said. “We handled Detroit a lot of the time, but dealing with those two in their height and their big years was tough. But I enjoyed being in the North, just because of those rivalries. I’ll always have those indelible memories because those were our up-and-coming years.
.