Although most Buccaneer fans will now associate this number solely with Brian Kelly, the current best No.25 was not the first such Buccaneer player to win a Super Bowl. Curtis Jordan toiled for the first seven seasons as the Bucs' nickel back and occasional defensive backfield starter, but was part of the Washington Redskins' team that won Super Bowl XVII against the Miami Dolphins. But the rest of the people to have worn No.25 would not really fit in any kind of all-time great Buc line-up. Scott Dierking was a Jets' cast-off who saw his best days in the Big Apple, and Tony Covington's career was ruined by injury after a promising rookie campaign. Sherman Cocroft remains one of the few Bucs to have recorded a safety (1989 season finale v Pittsburgh) and Melvin Johnson was part of the endless rotation of players to have started at free safety under Tony Dungy. So Brian Kelly wins pretty much by default even though he was been somewhat overshadowed during his Buccaneer career by his defensive backfield partner Ronde Barber. Aqib Talib showed some serious cover abilities during his time with the Buccaneers but too many off-field incidents saw him eventually traded to the Patriots during the 2012 season. Mike James was a back-up running back for his four years albeit with one huge performance in Seattle whilst Peyton Barber took over the number from his original 43 jersey at the start of the 2017 season. The two backs to follow Barber were both third down specialists but a long way from being close to the level of play the two corners had over a 15- season span. BEST EVER TO WEAR No.25 FOR THE BUCS - BRIAN KELLY

Click on the player's name for their profile page, Buccaneer stats and picture galleries Years Player Pos 1976-80 Curtis Jordan DB 1984 Scott Dierking RB 1985 Carl Howard CB 1986-88 Bobby Howard RB 1989 Sherman Cocroft S 1991-94 Tony Covington S 1995-97 Melvin Johnson S 1998-07 Brian Kelly CB 2008-12 Aqib Talib CB 2013-16 Mike James RB 2017-19 Peyton Barber RB 2020 LeSean McCoy RB 2021- 22 Giovani Bernard RB 2023- Patrick Laird RB