Team History: Gruden-led Buccaneers beat Raiders for club’s only championship
The merger between the upstart American Football League and the National Football League in June 1966 led to the creation of several new franchises. The Falcons and Dolphins each began play later that year, followed by the Saints in 1967 and the Bengals in 1968, bringing the size of the league to 26 teams in the merger season of 1970.
However, the agreement called for 28 teams, so the NFL began the search for two more cities. The merger called for teams to have stadiums that had at least 50,000 seats, but Buffalo and Boston did not meet that requirement. The Bills played in the outdated War Memorial Stadium and owner Ralph Wilson threatened to move the team to Seattle if a new stadium was not built. City officials gave in and Rich Stadium opened in 1973.
Meanwhile, the Patriots had a similar stadium issue, but for a different reason. Boston had little space available and there was talk of moving the team to Tampa Bay before the Bay State Raceway gave the team land to build a stadium in Foxborough, a city about 30 miles to the south.
With the stadium part of the merger agreement fixed, the NFL focused on expansion, with the two potential relocation cities, Seattle and Tampa Bay, as the top choices. In 1974, Tampa Bay was awarded a franchise in late April, followed by Seattle in mid-June.
At first, the Tampa Bay bid was given to Thomas McCloskey, a Philadelphia construction magnate. After failing to purchase the Eagles, he was the first person the NFL called about the Florida team. However, McCloskey and the league could not come to an agreement overpayment of the $16 million franchise fee.
Hugh Culverhouse, a real estate investor and former legal counsel for the IRS, had his own history with losing out on a team. He had reached a handshake deal to buy the Los Angeles Rams from Dan Reeves for $17 million in 1972. Instead, Reeves sold the Rams to Robert Irsay, who immediately swapped franchises with Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom.
Culverhouse sued, saying the others colluded to prevent him from completing the purchase. The out-of-court settlement included a promise that Rosenbloom would help him to get an expansion franchise. Culverhouse was awarded the Florida team on April 24, 1976. He had originally been offered the Seattle bid, but his residence in Jacksonville made Tampa Bay the more attractive option.
A contest gave the team the name Buccaneers, which was a reference to the pirates who frequented and explored Florida’s Gulf Coast. Culverhouse named John McKay as the club’s first head coach. The vocal McKay had spent the past 16 years leading the University of Southern California, and he used more than a few USC plays at the professional level.
The Buccaneers searched through the slim pickings in the Expansion Draft and found offensive tackle Dave Reavis defensive tackle Dave Pear and safety Mark Cotney. In the first two rounds of the Draft, Tampa Bay selected brothers Lee Roy and Dewey Selmon (who had joined with his older brother, Lucious, to form the defensive line at Oklahoma).
The offense was hard to come by in the team’s first few years, but the defense kept the Buccaneers in games. Tampa Bay’s first quarterback was Steve Spurrier, who would go on to become a successful college coach at Florida and South Carolina. The club lost all 14 games, was shut out five times and scored just 125 points in 1976.
Tampa Bay’s best chances to win came in the middle of the season. The Buccaneers and Seahawks squared off in the “Expansion Bowl” in Week 6. The two winless teams combined for 310 yards in penalties, but linebacker Mike Curtis blocked a field goal that preserved a 13-10 Seattle victory. Earlier in the quarter, Danny Reece was on his way to a return touchdown for Tampa Bay, but punter Rick Engles made a game-saving tackle.
The following week, the Buccaneers and Dolphins met in the first battle of Florida teams. Former Miami receiver Morris Owens burned his former team for three touchdowns, but the Dolphins blocked a field goal and an extra point. Garo Yepremian kicked a 55-yard field goal in the final minute to give Miami a 23-20 win.
Before the 1977 season, the Buccaneers and Seahawks switched conferences, with Seattle moving to the AFC West and Tampa Bay going to the much more travel-friendly NFC Central. However, the change did not stop the losing. The team was shutout six times overall, with five coming at home. The lone close game in the early part of the season was a 23-20 loss to Seattle in Week 5. Eventually, the losing streak reached 26 games.
In the second to last game of the season, Tampa Bay forced New Orleans quarterback Archie Manning into six interceptions and returned a record-tying three for touchdowns in the 33-14 victory, the first in franchise history.
Buccaneer fans did not have to wait long for the team’s second win. Gary Huff and Morris hooked up for two long passes, including a 61-yard touchdown, in a 17-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Tampa Bay finished with a 2-12 record, and the 50 points scored in the two wins almost matched the 53 scored in the team’s first 12 games.
After a 5-11 record in 1978, the Buccaneers boasted the league’s best defense following year, led by All-Pro Lee Roy Selmon. Second-year quarterback Doug Williams led an offense that included tight end Jimmy Giles and running back Ricky Bell, the first overall pick in the 1977 Draft, who ran for 1,263 yards.
Tampa Bay shut out the Chiefs to finish off a 10-6 regular season and win its first NFC Central title in 1979. In their first playoff game, the Buccaneers got two Bell touchdown runs and a scoring pass from Williams to Giles in a 24-17 win over Philadelphia.
Points were hard to come by in the NFC Championship Game. Los Angeles held Tampa Bay to 177 total yards, and three short Frank Corral field goals were enough, as the Rams won, 9-0, to reach their first Super Bowl and play for their first title since 1955.
After a 5-10-1 record the following season, the Buccaneers went 9-7 and earned their second division title in 1981, but Dallas shutdown Williams and Bell in a 38-0 victory in the Division round. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, Tampa Bay slipped into the expanded playoffs with a 5-4 record. The Buccaneers led the Cowboys, 10-6, in the second quarter before Danny White threw two touchdown passes and Dallas came back for a 30-17 win.
At that time, Williams was the lowest-paid starting quarterback in the NFL at just $120,000 per season. When he asked for a raise to $600,000, Culverhouse balked, despite McKay’s support. Williams left to play for the Oklahoma Outlaws of the United States Football League and later won a Super Bowl with the Redskins. After Williams left, the Buccaneers fell apart. The team went 2-14 in 1983, the first of 12 straight double-digit loss seasons, which is still a league record in futility. McKay resigned the following year.
Culverhouse kept the team’s payroll low and made several mistakes in the Draft.
The biggest gaffe came in 1986. Culverhouse took a two-sport athlete and potential top pick Bo Jackson on his private jet to visit the team. The trip violated NCAA rules and occurred during Auburn’s baseball season, thus ruling him ineligible to play. Jackson responded by refusing to sign after Tampa Bay selected him first. The team forfeited his rights the following year, and Jackson was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round despite already playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals.
Culverhouse died from lung cancer in 1994. The team was near bankruptcy and Hugh Culverhouse Jr. told his father’s estate trustees to sell the team. Despite offers from Yankees owner (and Tampa resident) George Steinbrenner and Orioles owner Peter Angelos, Palm Beach businessman Malcolm Glazer outbid them both and bought the team for a then-record $195 million in January 1995.
Soon, the bright orange and red “creamsicle” color scheme was gone, replaced by darker red and pewter uniforms and a helmet that featured a skull with crossed swords. Glazer named former Vikings defensive coordinator Tony Dungy as head coach in 1996.
After a 6-10 mark in his first year, Dungy led the team back to the playoffs in four of the next five seasons. In 1997, the Buccaneers went 10-6 and defeated the Lions in the Wild Card game before falling in Green Bay the following week.
Tampa Bay moved to the newly constructed Raymond James Stadium in 1998, and responded with an 11-5 record that gave the team its first division title in 18 years. Quarterback Shaun King hit tight end John Davis midway through the fourth quarter and the Bucs edged the Redskins, 14-13, to reach their second NFC Championship Game.
The Rams were the opponents, as they were in 1979, only they were in St. Louis now. The game was a defensive struggle once again, with Martin Gramatica’s second field goal giving the Buccaneers a 6-5 lead early in the fourth. Kurt Warner’s 30-yard scoring pass to Ricky Proehl with 4:44 left proved to be the difference in an 11-5 Rams win.
Tampa lost in the Wild Card round the next two years, and Dungy was fired after the 2001 season. Potential replacements included Spurrier, Bill Parcells, and Marvin Lewis. Spurrier signed a lucrative deal with the Redskins and Parcells eventually went to Dallas.
Lewis, the Baltimore defensive coordinator, was a popular choice, but the Glazer family did not want another defensive-minded leader after Dungy. Instead, they chose Jon Gruden, or at least they wanted to choose him. The problem was, he was still the coach of the Raiders. However, the teams worked out a deal, with Tampa Bay sending Oakland four draft picks (two in the first round and two in the second) along with $8 million.
Gruden’s improved offense featured Brad Johnson at quarterback, Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott in the backfield, and receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Keenan McCardell. The stifling Buccaneers defense featured five Pro Bowlers: linemen Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice, linebackers Derrick Brooks and Shelton Quarles and hard-hitting safety John Lynch. Tampa Bay went 12-4 and won its fourth division title in 2002, the first in the new NFC South. The Buccaneers defeated the 49ers in the Division round and the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game to reach the Super Bowl for the first time.
In Super Bowl XXXVII, the Buccaneers defeated Gruden’s former team, the Raiders, 48-21. Johnson threw two touchdown passes, and Tampa Bay intercepted league MVP Rich Gannon five times, returning three for scores. Dexter Jackson had two picks to earn game MVP honors, but he was selected early in the fourth quarter, before Dwight Smith punctuated the win with his second interception return touchdown.
Gruden coached the Buccaneers for six more years and led the team to the playoffs twice in that span, including an 11-5 record and another division title in 2005. However, both appearances ended with Wild Card losses and Gruden was fired after the 2008 season.
Tampa Bay has not made the playoffs since 2007. The team went 10-6 under former defensive backs coach Raheem Morris in 2010, but the Packers made the playoffs thanks to a tiebreaker. The club also had Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith, and Dirk Koetter as head coaches. Schiano was the former head coach at Rutgers, Smith had led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI and Koetter had previously been the team’s offensive coordinator.
Malcolm Glazer died in 2014 at age 85. His son Bryan, who has been executive vice president since 1995, now oversees the team’s day-to-day operations.
Bruce Arians takes over as after a year off from coaching. He led the Cardinals to the NFC Championship Game in 2015. Arians inherits a team that includes quarterback Jameis Winston, wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, tight end Cameron Brate, and linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White, the fifth pick in the 2019 draft.
-By: Kevin Rakas
