Ronde Barber followed Darrelle Revis in Saturday’s induction order into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The two cornerbacks were nothing alike, as Barber pointed out in his 14-minute, 37-second speech.
Revis was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the all-time greats. There were questions about whether Barber, who played 16 seasons, earned five Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl ring, would ever earn enshrinement.
But in his sixth year of eligibility, in the same class with Revis, Barber earned his place in Canton.
“My football journey that I’ve been on for 40 years has reached it’s end, that there’s nowhere else to go,” Barber said. “I can stop being an angry worker. I can stop trying to prove everyone wrong. I’ve come a long way in 26 years. After today, there will be 23 corners in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I’m not like any one of them because I couldn’t be. I’m here because I refused to just be a guy. Ordinary was not an option.
“I learned along the way that the NFL is a special place, man. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter where your journey started. Nobody gets to define you but you. It rewards you to dare to be uncommon and choose to be a little bit extraordinary. This is one of the most humbling moments of my life, standing in front of you now, and I can’t wait to proudly represent professional football and the Pro Football Hall of Fame as I wear this gold jacket.”
Barber joined former teammates Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Derrick Brooks in Canton. Former Bucs head coach Tony Dungy also is enshrined.
Barber said he was “too small, too slow and too much of a system cornerback” to play in the NFL, according to most. He thanked his doubters who “undervalued, underestimated and underappreciated me” and inspired him to prove them wrong.
“I set out to become uncommon,” Barber said.
His mission was accomplished Saturday.
