Tampa Bay's 10 Greatest Athletes

Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp

This weekend, the Yankees are in St. Petersburg to play the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tampa Bay's Top 10 Athletes

10. Fred McGriff, 1st base, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 1998-2001, with a return in 2004. The Tampa native played 19 seasons in the majors, 5 with the Rays, hitting 493 home runs (99 of them with the Rays), with no serious accusation of having used performance-enhancing drugs. He was an original Devil Ray in 1998, and an All-Star with them in 2000. He should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

9. John Lynch, safety, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1993-2003. A 9-time Pro Bowler -- 5 times in Tampa, 4 with the Denver Broncos -- he is the Bucs' all-time leading tackler, and a member of their Super Bowl XXXVII Champions. But the Bucs and the Broncos have named him to their team halls of fame, and he is now the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. He is not yet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he should be.

8. Evan Longoria, 3rd base, Tampa Bay Rays, 2008-17. Not the greatest player ever to play for the Rays -- they've also had Hall-of-Famer Wade Boggs -- but the greatest Rays player. He is their all-time leader in hits (1,471), home runs (261) and RBIs (892).

A 3-time All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove, in 2008 he led them to their 1st postseason appearance, including the American League Pennant, and won the AL Rookie of the Year. He also led them to the postseason in 2010, '11 and '13. In other words, they've never made it without him. And he's no longer with them, now with the San Francisco Giants.

7. Dave Andreychuk, center, Tampa Bay Lightning, 2001-06. Only 87 of his 640 NHL goals were scored for the Bolts, but he captained them to the 2004 Stanley Cup, acting as their "Jump on my back" veteran. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

6. Steven Stamkos, center, Tampa Bay Lightning, 2008-present. Despite injuries that cost him big chunks of the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2016-17 seasons, he's already scored 348 goals for the Bolts. A 5-time All-Star, he's won 2 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies for leading the NHL in goals, and led the team to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals.

5. Vincent Lecavalier, center, Tampa Bay Lightning, 1998-2013. A 4-time All-Star, he was a key member of the Lightning's 2004 Stanley Cup winners. He won the Richard Trophy in 2007, and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contributions in 2008. He retired with 421 goals (383 in Tampa). He is not yet in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but should be. The Lightning retired his Number 4.

4. Martin St. Louis, right wing, Tampa Bay Lightning, 2000-14. A 6-time All-Star, he had a dream season in 2003-04, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as Most Valuable Player (as chosen by the sportswriters), the Lester B. Pearson Award as most outstanding player (as chosen by the players), the Art Ross Trophy as leading point scorer, and, most importantly, the Stanley Cup.

He later won 3 Lady Byng Memorial Trophies as "most gentlemanly player." The 1st Lightning player to get his number retired (26), he scored 365 of his 391 NHL goals for them. He is not yet in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but should be.

UPDATE: He was elected on June 26, 2018.

3. Lee Roy Selmon, defensive end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1976-84. The 1st player drafted by the expansion franchise turned out to be their 1st All-Pro, their 1st retired number (63), their 1st inductee into their Ring of Honor, and their 1st inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A 6-time Pro Bowler, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979, a year that also featured the Pittsburgh Steel Curtain, the Dallas Doomsday Defense, the Denver Orange Crush, the Miami Killer B's, and the Oakland defense that was so tough it didn't need a nickname. He was named to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 98th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

2. Warren Sapp, defensive tackle, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1995-2003. A 7-time Pro Bowler, he and Derrick Brooks arrived the same year, and turned the franchise around. He was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1999, and was the emotional leader of the team that won Super Bowl XXXVII.

His Number 99 was retired, he was elected to the NFL's 1990s and 2000s All-Decade Teams, and he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To this day, fans who doesn't remember Selmon -- and many who do -- who, when asked to think of a great Buccaneer, will think of Sapp first.

But one of his teammates might have been even better:

1. Derrick Brooks, linebacker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1995-2008. An 11-time Pro Bowler, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2000, and led the defense that helped the Bucs win Super Bowl XXXVII. The Bucs retired his Number 55, and he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked him 97th on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.