The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David in the second round in 2012, taking him 58th overall. The night before the Buccaneers had followed up the selection of Alabama safety Mark Barron at the seventh overall pick by making a late-evening trade to get back into the first round to nab Boise State running back Doug Martin at number 30.
Thus, as the second day of the 2012 draft began on Friday evening, the Buccaneers did not own a second-round pick. While they were very pleased to have landed Martin, that trade up also made it seem unlikely that the Bucs would land David, one of the scouts’ favorite players in that class. However, when David unexpectedly slipped into the second half of the second round, Tampa Bay decided to get aggressive again. This time, Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik sent a fourth-round pick to Houston to move up from pick number 68 in the third round to that fateful 58th spot.
A decade and a half later, that goes down as one of the best draft decisions the NFL’s 28th franchise has ever made. Barron didn’t really work out and was later traded to the Rams and converted to linebacker. Martin, who sadly passed away in last October at the age of 36, had two enormous seasons but otherwise was limited by injuries. David became just the third player in Buccaneer annals to play at least 14 seasons while putting together a Hall of Fame-worthy résumé.
David was an instant hit upon arriving in Tampa, was subsequently a team captain in 12 of his 14seasons and was undeniably one of the greatest linebackers of his generation. And for the Buccaneers, he was always the right man to have on the field. Always.
When Tampa Bay opened its 2012 campaign with a 16-10 home win over the Carolina Panthers, David was in the starting lineup at weakside linebacker. Greg Schiano’s Buccaneers were operating out of a 4-3 base alignment but for this game they opened in a nickel package, taking one of the three off-ball linebackers off the field in favor of a fifth defensive back. Linebacker Adam Hayward came off the field; Lavonte David did not. David contributed six tackles in his debut.
On January 3, 2026, Lavonte David waved to the Raymond James Stadium crowd as he left the field following a 16-14 win over those same Panthers. The victory had kept Tampa Bay’s hopes for a fifth straight division title alive, though a Falcons win the next day would give Carolina the NFC South crown on a three-way tiebreaker. David’s announcement last Tuesday that he was finally calling an end to his illustrious career meant that Week 18 win over Carolina would be his last game played.
David, of course, started that game, leading the team with six tackles and adding a fumble recovery, the franchise-record 21st of his career. The final numbers on David’s career participation were in: 215 games played, 215 starts. While he finished third in both categories in franchise history to Hall of Famers Rondé Barber (241, 232) and Derrick Brooks (224, 221), he is the only Buccaneer ever to play over 200 games and start every single one of them.
That note, in fact, is unselling how remarkable a feat this was by David. As confirmed by the Elias Sports Bureau, David has the fifth most games played of any player in NFL history who started every game he played. And among defensive players, he is the league’s all-time leader. Here are the top 10:
Most NFL Games Played by Players Who Started Every Game They Played