Ronde Barber shouts out Mike Tomlin during Pro Football Hall of Fame induction

Mike Tomlin skipped a Steelers practice Friday night because he honored a friend. The Steelers head coach presented a coveted Pro Football Hall of Fame gold jacket to one of his former players.

And Ronde Barber, the long-time Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback, made sure to mention Tomlin Saturday in his acceptance speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The two first met each other in 2001, when Barber was a cornerback in Tampa and Tomlin was the defensive backs coach. The Tampa stop was Tomlin’s second NFL assistants job. With the coach back in Latrobe, Pa., for training camp Saturday, Barber mentioned his friend in his speech and how a Tomlin tweak impacted his career.

“By the time I finished my fourth year, I was a middle of the road free agent with little to no interest and only one place to go. Stay put and get a new DB coach,” Barber said. “And that was Mike Tomlin. Mike’s not here, but he gave me my jacket yesterday. And before he ran me through his first EDD drill, and if you don’t know what that means, it’s every day drill. He told me, ‘Ronde, you’re different. That what he’d seen me do, no one else was doing.

“He told me you’re gonna be a 20/20 guy,” Barber said. “Okay, so we set our sights on that and it will be 12 more years and a 45/25 career that sent me here. Football is always changing. And Mike T, you helped me change one little corner of the game that would define me. I think he imagined this for me well before I could. He gave me the air to breathe it into existence. Thanks for the empowerment, dude. Thank you.”

The numbers Barber referenced were sacks and interceptions. Barber loved a corner blitz and it appears Tomlin suggested it.

Salute to @CoachTomlin 🫡

📺: #PFHOF23 Enshrinement on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/N26R40uXPY

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 5, 2023

Mike Tomlin called it ‘unbelievable’ honor to be part of Barber’s induction ceremony

Meanwhile, back in training camp, Mike Tomlin acknowledged Barber’s induction.

“I had the unbelievable honor of putting the gold jacket on Ronde Barber,” Tomlin said. “He’s a former player and a really close friend of mine. It was just a really great environment in Canton. It’s a special place, man, special weekend. Got to spend some time with some Steeler greats, some Steeler representatives. It was just a beautiful week.”

Coincidentally, the Steelers open the exhibition season against the Bucs this Friday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.