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Jones: Will Tampa Bay hit a Hall of Fame dry spell now?

 
Marty St. Louis may lack the Hall of Fame stats, but two scoring titles, an MVP award and clutch goals should count for a lot. (Dirk Shadd, Times)
Marty St. Louis may lack the Hall of Fame stats, but two scoring titles, an MVP award and clutch goals should count for a lot. (Dirk Shadd, Times)
Published June 27, 2017

Andy's in. Deservedly so. About time. Long overdue.

Now that that's finally out of the way, who's next?

Former Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk became the latest Tampa Bay sports star to be inducted into his sport's Hall of Fame. He joins a list of Tampa Bay Hall of Famers that includes Lee Roy Selmon, Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp of the Bucs and Wade Boggs of the Rays.

(Sorry, we're not counting guys who only had cups of coffee in Tampa Bay, such as Dino Ciccarelli, Denis Savard and Mark Recchi. In fact, it even feels a little strange putting Boggs on that list, but we always do because he's a Tampa guy and his 3,000th hit was a homer at the Trop in a Rays uniform.)

PHOTO GALLERY: Dave Andreychuk going into Hall of Fame.

So who will join the list next?

For now, three are knocking on the door.

John Lynch, Ronde Barber and Marty St. Louis.

Maybe, maybe and maybe.

Dirk Shadd | Times

Now that Dave Andreychuk is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, let's see about getting Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis to join him.

Dirk Shadd | Times

Now that Dave Andreychuk is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, let's see about getting Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis to join him.

You get the uneasy feeling that Andreychuk could be the last Tampa Bay Hall of Famer for a while.

Put it this way: there are certainly no slam dunks out there.

First, Lynch. The bone-rattling safety on the Bucs' suffocating Super Bowl defense looks as if he is fighting an uphill battle.

He has been one of 15 finalists for four consecutive years, but still hasn't garnered enough votes to get in. Now the wait could get longer as the list of strong first-ballot Hall of Fame candidates gets more crowded. Linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, receiver Randy Moss and guard Steve Hutchinson could all be first-ballot considerations next year. After that, elite safeties — a position largely ignored by the Hall — start lining up with Baltimore's Ed Reed and Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu almost certainly going in as soon as they are eligible.

All that could leave Lynch squeezed out.

Loren Elliott | Times

On the football side of things, we're still waiting for John Lynch to get the Hall of Fame nod.

Loren Elliott | Times

On the football side of things, we're still waiting for John Lynch to get the Hall of Fame nod.

The other Buc on the immediate horizon is Barber, who is eligible starting next year.

Barber is a much more interesting — and perplexing — case.

Honestly, Barber was never one of the best pure cornerbacks in the NFL. He wasn't what you would call a shutdown corner, like Deion Sanders. But there haven't been many corners as versatile as Barber.

He could play the pass. He could play the run. He could make splash plays.

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He's the only member of the NFL's 25/40 club with 28 sacks and 47 interceptions. Granted, that's kind of a gimmicky stat because not many players have played in a scheme where they could have that many sacks and interceptions. Still, at one point, he started every game for 12 consecutive seasons. Only Brooks has more tackles in franchise history. And Barber had 12 touchdowns in the regular season.

Throw in the 92-yard interception return in the 2002 NFC Championship Game, which remains the greatest moment in the history of Tampa Bay sports, and the case for Barber is stronger every time you study it.

Times file

Former Buccaneer Ronde Barber is another one we'd like to see soon in the Hall of Fame.

Times file

Former Buccaneer Ronde Barber is another one we'd like to see soon in the Hall of Fame.

But, when it comes to whether or not Lynch and Barber join Brooks and Sapp, the question always remains: will voters — rightly or wrong, fairly or unfairly — induct four players on a defense that only won one Super Bowl?

Then there's St. Louis, who is sort of the opposite of Andreychuk. He doesn't necessarily have the numbers. His 391 goals are tied for 102nd all-time. His 1,033 are 72nd.

But he has the intangibles: two scoring titles, an MVP award, a ton of clutch goals and the inspiring little-engine-that-could story that everybody loves. And, unlike the argument that kept Andreychuk out for so long, St. Louis was one of the top five or so players in the league for portions of his career.

Still, he's a maybe at best. Just like Lynch. Just like Barber.

Others are long, long shots, such as Vinny Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Simeon Rice.

FINALLY: Scotty Bowman says 'it's about time' Andreychuk got HOF call.

Down the line, Tampa Bay has other possibilities. Maybe Evan Longoria. Maybe Steven Stamkos. Maybe Gerald McCoy. But all three still have work to do. None would make it if their careers ended right now.

Coaches/managers such as John Tortorella, Joe Maddon and Jon Gruden will be worth considering someday.

But, for now, enjoy Andreychuk getting into the Hall of Fame.

He might the last Tampa Bay star getting into a Hall of Fame for a while.