Simeon Rice last played in an NFL game on Nov. 22, 2007. He’s been eligible for the Hall of Fame for five years. But at 43 years old, Rice thinks he can legitimately help the struggling pass rush of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and wants to play.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Rice isn’t kidding either. Rice sent a message to Buccaneers’ COO Brian Ford saying he wanted to come play.
“They have no pass rush,” Rice said. “None. I can get them to the playoffs. They got 10 games left. I got 12 sacks in me. Easy work.”
The Buccaneers rank dead last in the NFL in sacks this season with seven sacks through six games. Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald each have two sacks for Tampa Bay while Noah Spence, Robert Ayers and Adarius Glanton each have a lone sack this season.
The Buccaneers signed Darryl Tapp earlier this week to take Spence’s place on the roster after he was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
Rice has 122 sacks, which ranks 19th on the all-time list. Dwight Freeney has a half sack more than Rice in 18th and just signed with the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday. However, Freeney is 37 years old and hasn’t gone 10 years without suiting up like Rice.
Rice is still in fantastic shape for most normal human beings. Whether he is productive football player shape is completely uncertain. While the team downplayed the idea on Wednesday, it would be fun to see if Rice had anything left in the tank to give. The Buccaneers are 2-4 and in last place in the NFC South as it is, maybe they should pick up the phone after all.