Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber is officially an NFL alumni after retiring last week. Barber being a cornerback, had the privilege of covering some great wide receivers over his career.
Barber sat down with Peter King of Sports Illustrated recently to talk about some of the top wide receivers he had to face. His toughest foe at receiver might be a shock to all of us.
Barber told King that Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was the toughest receiver he had to cover.
“Megatron [Calvin Johnson] was impossible to cover. Randy Moss in his prime: nothing you can do,”Barber told SI.com’s Peter King. “But to me, (the Carolina Panthers‘) Steve Smith was the toughest guy I faced. When I played him, he was just like me. He chose to outwork everyone else out there every day. That was me.”
Smith was the top receiver in 2005, leading the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns. If not for some mediocre quarterback play during his career, who knows what type of numbers Smith would have put up.