PRO

Long recognized as the NFL’s best linebacker, he elevated his status as the league’s most accomplished defender after being honored as the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2002... Regarded as the best player on the league’s best defense.... Team captain instrumental in leading Tampa Bay to its first Super Bowl championship in 27 seasons... Has played at a level unmatched among NFL linebackers... Named to six consecutive Pro Bowls (1997-2002), tied for the most all-time in club history (also marked his fifth straight selection as a starter)... Along with DT Warren Sapp, became the first pair of teammates selected in the same draft class (1995) to earn six Pro Bowl appearances since the Buffalo Bills’ DE Bruce Smith and WR Andre Reed (1985 draft class)... Earned All-Pro honors from the Associated Press for the fourth consecutive year (first team honors in 1999, 2000 and 2002 and second team honors in 2001)... Led the defense in tackles for the fifth straight season in 2002 and has paced the club in that category in six of the past seven seasons... Ranks as the most prolific tackler in franchise history with 1,277 stops... Tied for sixth in club history with 17 career interceptions... Impacts a game or the opponent’s game plan because of his game-breaking play ability.... Displays unique skills as a run and pass defender... Excellentfield tackler who boasts exceptional speed to stop the NFL’s top playmakers... Fast pursuer who can lay a walloping hit on the opposition... Ultimate professional who is a steady force on and off the field... Only linebacker in NFL history to have three interception returns for a touchdown in a season (2002) and his four touchdowns on turnovers (2002) are tied for second-most in a single season in NFL history... Added an interception return for a score in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl XXXVII victory... Ranks third on the club’s all-time games started list (125) and is sixth on the all-time games played list (128)... Has played in 128 consecutive games and has posted 112 straight starts, the most among active Buccaneer players... Has not missed a start in each of the last seven seasons... Can also boast 17 career INTs, 12 forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and 86 passes defensed... Started in nine postseason contests, notching 88 career tackles, three passes defensed, one fumble recovery and two INTs... Has earned NFC Player of the Week honors four times and Player of the Month honors twice during his career.