Business and political leaders worried that Tampa would be too small for the NFL, but they knew they could get a team promoting an area that included St. That's why the team was named Tampa Bay Buccaneers and not the Tampa Buccaneers when the NFL awarded the city the franchise in 1974. However, oddly enough, the nickname refers to the sunbeams of Florida (also known as the Sunshine State) and not just to fish. The Rays' current burst logo represents that, but the team doesn't shy away from fish either, as the Rays Touch Tank on the right-center field is one of Tropicana Field's most popular attractions. McCloskey soon became dissatisfied with the financial agreement with the NFL and retired from agreement a month later.
Hugh Culverhouse, a Jacksonville tax attorney who had failed in his attempt to buy the Los Angeles Rams, received the Tampa franchise. The new Tampa Bay franchise was named “Buccaneers” or “Bucs”, in reference to the pirates who frequented the Gulf Coast of Florida during the 17th century. The team's first home was Tampa Stadium, which had been expanded to accommodate 72,000 fans. In 1980, the Bucs had five wins, 10 losses and one draw against Green Bay Packers.
The last game of the 1981 season was against the Detroit Lions. The winner would take the Central Division crown and the loser would miss the playoffs. The Lions hadn't lost at home all season. The Bucs soon lost, but an 84-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Doug Williams to wide receiver Kevin House, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown from David Logan sealed the victory for the Bucs and a spot in the 1981 playoffs.
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Bucs 38-0 in the division round. Starting the 1982 season, the Bucs went 0-3 before a players' strike paralyzed the NFL for seven weeks. When the league resumed play, the Bucs won five of their next six games and qualified for the expanded playoff list. In the first round, the Bucs lost 30-17 against the Cowboys in Dallas.
The Bucs began the 1983 season by losing their first nine games, which knocked them out of the playoffs. They finished with a 2-14 record. In 1986, the Bucs were first in the draft and chose Auburn athlete and winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1985, Vincent Edward Bo Jackson, even though Jackson had told the Bucs that if they drafted him, he would not play for them. Jackson didn't like Culverhouse because the Bucs took him to Tampa for a physical exam and a visit at the team's expense during his last year in Auburn, and were led to believe that the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference had approved the trip. No approval was requested or granted, and the trip cost Jackson his eligibility during his senior baseball season.
Jackson believed that the Bucs deliberately tried to sabotage his baseball career to pursue professional soccer and be available as a first-round draft pick for the Bucs. Largely due to the Bucs' dismal performances on the field, the assists used to be among the lowest in the league. In general, the only times when games attracted an audience close to their maximum capacity were when the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers came to town and brought thousands with them. of his fans.
Both teams had a large following in Tampa Bay due to the large number of Midwestern expatriates in the area. As a result, most of the Bucs' home games were blocked locally. At any given time, 32 consecutive home games between 1982 and 1986 (all or part of the five seasons) were not broadcast locally. It wasn't until the hiring of Sam Wyche that Bucs fans had a reason to be optimistic.
Wyche had led the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance, when Cincinnati could have won if not for a fourth-quarter comeback designed by 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. Wyche was not immediately successful in Tampa, and even his bold statement of “five runs to two” (five wins and two losses) in his last season with the Bucs proved premature. However, Wyche is commendable for having selected three key players who would later prove to be the basis for the team's renewed defense success: Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch. Despite Dungy's success as coach of Tampa Bay, one of the constant criticisms from the media and fans and, later, from players like Warren Sapp, was that the defense was expected to take too much responsibility for winning games.
Beyond fullback Mike Alstott and running back Warrick Dunn, who served as a one-to-two punch attack, and wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the team was otherwise disappointing in attack. Despite continued criticism, Dungy remained loyal to his coaching staff, but at the end of the 1999 season, general manager Rich McKay forced Dungy to fire offensive coordinator Mike Shula. He was replaced by former Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Les Steckel in 2000, and the result was the Bucs' highest-scoring season in history, another 10-6 record and another trip to the playoffs as a wild card. Despite having transformed the team's offensive, Steckel's training sergeant approach as a coach (he was a colonel in the Marines) was not suitable for the franchise.
He was fired at the end of the season, after the Bucs lost 21—3 to the Philadelphia Eagles. Upon his arrival in Tampa, Gruden immediately set to work, acquiring former Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Keenan McCardell, and running back Michael Pittman from the Arizona Cardinals. The Bucs needed to improve their slow attack, as the league's radical realignment brought them to the new division of the NFC South, along with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints. The offensive reorganization worked, and combined with the league's best defense, the 2002 season was the Buccaneers' most successful to date.
They won the NFC South title with a 12-4 record, the best in team history, and then defeated the San Francisco 49ers in what became coach Steve Mariucci's last game with that franchise. In a surprising surprise, the Buccaneers won their first NFC road championship against the Eagles in the last NFL game played at Veterans Stadium. Cornerback Ronde Barber capped the victory by intercepting a pass from Donovan McNabb and returning it 92 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia fans could only see it in stunned silence. The distracted Buccaneers started the 2004 season with a record of 1-5, their worst start since Gruden arrived.
The diminished accuracy of kicker Martin Gramatica didn't help, as the team lost many close games to achieve a 5-11 record, making the Buccaneers the first NFL team to win a Super Bowl with consecutive losing seasons. The highlights of 2004 were rookie receiver Michael Clayton's great quality of play and the return of Doug Williams, who joined the Buccaneers' main office as an executive. The Bucs followed up with significant victories over their NFC Southern Division rivals, sweeping both the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons, in addition to defeating the Panthers in an unusual victory in Carolina. Even with a tough loss to the Chicago Bears and a humiliating close to the New England Patriots, the Buccaneers finished 11-5 and won the NFC South by virtue of a playoff against the Panthers.
The Buccaneers' 30th anniversary season would end on a bitter note, as they lost 17-10 at home to the Redskins in the wild card round. A late touchdown by the Buccaneers could have tied the game, but the play was declared incomplete when a cabin review confirmed the referee's decision. However, the lost season was more than just injuries, as most of the players placed in the injured reserve had done so after the team started 0-3, and with offensive blocks in the first two games in which the Buccaneers failed to score no touchdown. The departure of several defensive coaches and key assistants didn't bode well for the players, who complained to some media that they couldn't hear from coaches at team meetings.
The Buccaneers started the season 0-3, with quarterback Chris Simms throwing just one touchdown against seven interceptions. In the third game of the season, a last-minute loss to the Carolina Panthers, Simms suffered a ruptured spleen and was placed in the injured reserve for the rest of the season. After their week off, the Buccaneers chose rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, chosen in the sixth round coming from Toledo. At 7-5, the Buccaneers hadn't defeated an opponent with a winning record.
In a rainy game against the Washington Redskins, the Buccaneers won 17-16 and lost to the Detroit Lions at home. The Buccaneers defeated the would-be NFC West champion, Seattle Seahawks, 38-15 in Tampa. Despite the team's record, receiver Mike Evans, chosen in the first round of the draft, had more than 1000 receiving yards and became the youngest player in the NFL to record the most of 200 receiving yards in a single game. Vincent Jackson had more than 1,000 receiving yards, representing Tampa Bay's first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in a season.
The franchise is considered a Phoenix club from the original Tampa Bay Rowdies of the first NASL and wears a star on its shield commemorating the 1975 championship. The name Tampa began to replace other toponyms in the area, and the city even annexed two smaller cities in the 20th century (West Tampa in 1925 and Port Tampa City in 196). Another detail of the story is that the name given to the bay by the first European explorers and cartographers was not Tampa Bay, but The Bay of Holy Spirit. The Bayfront Center (also known as Bayfront Arena) was a multipurpose facility along the shores of Tampa Bay, near downtown St. Instead of trying to fight their way to get the Stingrays name, the team's owners decided to go in another direction, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
In week 15, Micheal Spurlock recorded the first touchdown scored by a Tampa Bay Buccaneer in a home win against the Atlanta Falcons. Tampa Bay was ready to host the New York Giants at Raymond James Stadium for their second home playoff game in three seasons. They started playing at the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, and then moved across the bay to what is now the Tropicana. Field in St.
Although the Devil's part of the name was due to lightning found in the Tampa Bay area, some people had problems with the word of the team's name. The Tampa Bay Rowdies are members of the USL Championship (USLC) and compete in the second division of the United States soccer pyramid. The Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL) played three seasons at Tampa Stadium, from 1983 to 1985. They released three-time Pro Bowl defender Simeon Rice and midfielder Shelton Quarles, both players who spent most of their careers in Tampa Bay. The Rowdies won the first edition of the Soccer Bowl in 1975, giving Tampa Bay its first professional sports championship, and they were successful for most of their existence.
Several minor league franchises also play in the region, including the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship, the Tampa Bay Sun FC of the USL Super League and five minor league baseball teams that compete in the Florida State League Single-A. They were transferred to NFC Central, while the other team that expanded in 1976, the Seattle Seahawks, changed conference with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West.
