30 NFL players you won’t believe never won an award

29. Ronde Barber
Pro Football Hall of Fame: 2023

Ronde Barber was one of the biggest playmakers in the history of the NFL. He’s tied for eighth all-time in career defensive touchdowns. He was first-team All-Pro three times in his career, and he was one of the quintessential members of that superstar Tampa Bay defense that won the 2002 Super Bowl title. 

Barber also had an insane career, playing for 16 years as a cornerback. He was incredibly effective, and some of those seasons he was putting up insane stats. In 2001, he had 10 interceptions. Only nine players have secured double-digit interceptions in the 21st century, and only Trevon Diggs in 2021 has more than Barber’s 10.

Yet, Barber never came particularly close to Defensive Player of the Year recognition. He only received votes once. In 2007, he finished the season seventh in voting, which in reality translates to just one first-place vote. Bob Sanders won that year with 31 first-place votes. It wasn’t even one of his better seasons, and he didn’t even make the Pro Bowl that season. 

He should have been in the conversation in 2001 and 2005. It’s wild to look back and see the Steelers Kendrell Bell winning the award in 2001 with just 69 tackles and nine sacks. In 2005, 10 players received DPOY votes. It’s preposterous that Barber wasn’t on that list. Nathan Vasher and Alex Brown were on the list, but Barber wasn’t.