Paul Blake Gruber (born February 24, 1965) is an American former football

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

fourth overall in the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marq ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Career

Gruber spent his entire

career with the

from 1988 to 1999. He never missed a snap in his first five years in the league. Over his 12-year career he appeared in 183 games, starting all of them, which was a Buccaneers record until

Derrick Brooks Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973) is an American former football outside linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college football at Florida State, wh ...

broke it in 2007. For most of his career, Gruber was one of the few marquee players on a bad team; indeed, his early years were spent on some of the worst teams in Bucs history. The Bucs had losing records in each of his first nine seasons, including the last seven years of an NFL-record streak of 12-consecutive 10-loss seasons. He missed the last part of the 1999 season, in which the Buccaneers advanced all the way to the NFC Championship Game, due to a broken leg. The injury was slow to heal in the offseason, which was a factor in his decision to retire during the summer of 2000.Romano, John
Loving every minute of it

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

, 2001-01-25. On June 6, 2012, it was announced that Paul Gruber will be the latest member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ring of Honor. Gruber joined Hall of Famer

Lee Roy Selmon Lee Roy Selmon (October 20, 1954 – September 4, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a defensive tackle ...

, former coach John McKay and tight end

Jimmie Giles Jimmie Giles, Jr. (born November 8, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alcorn State University and was selected by the Houston Oil ...

as the fourth inductee into the Ring of Honor, established in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruber, Paul 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin American football offensive tackles Wisconsin Badgers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players People from Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Ed Block Courage Award recipients