Tampa
Bay Buccaneers Big And Bold Fleece Throw Blanket
Tampa
Bay Buccaneers - Team History
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, professional football team and one of five teams
in the Central Division of the National Football Conference (NFC)
of the National Football League (NFL). Under the league’s realignment
plan, which will take affect in 2002, the Buccaneers will play in
the South Division of the NFC. The Buccaneers play at Raymond James
Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and wear uniforms of red, silver, and white.
The Buccaneers
joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team. Former University of
Southern California (USC) head coach John McKay was hired to pilot
the club, but Tampa Bay’s first season was a dismal one. The
club became the first team in NFL history to lose all 14 regular-season
games, suffering five shutouts and fielding the conference’s
worst offense and defense. The Buccaneers’ losing streak grew
to a league-record 26 consecutive games as the club lost the first
12 games of its second season.
Tampa Bay improved
in 1978, winning five games behind running backs Ricky Bell and
Anthony Davis, rookie quarterback Doug Williams, and brothers Lee
Roy and Dewey Selmon, who played defensive end and linebacker, respectively.
A year later, in 1979, the Buccaneers stunned the league, winning
their first five games en route to a first-place tie with the Chicago
Bears in the Central Division. Williams had an excellent season,
and Bell ran for more than 1,250 yards. The Selmon brothers led
a top-rated defense, and McKay was named coach of the year. In the
playoffs Tampa Bay upset the Philadelphia Eagles before falling
to the Los Angeles Rams (now St. Louis Rams) in the NFC Championship
Game.
After an injury-plagued
1980 season, Tampa Bay qualified for the playoffs in 1981 and 1982
behind Williams, who continued to be one of the best quarterbacks
in the NFC. Both years the Buccaneers lost in the first round of
the playoffs. Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win-loss record in the strike-shortened
1982 season was followed by a long series of losing seasons through
the mid-1990s, as the Buccaneers perennially ranked as one of the
NFL’s worst-performing teams.
In 1996 Tony
Dungy, a former defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings,
was hired as the Buccaneers’ head coach. He rebuilt the team
with young, talented players such as running backs Mike Alstott
and Warrick Dunn, quarterback Trent Dilfer, and cornerback Donnie
Abraham. Tampa Bay began the 1997 season with five consecutive wins
and finished the season with a 10-6 win-loss record, advancing to
the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. After defeating the
Detroit Lions in the first round, the Buccaneers lost to the Green
Bay Packers, the eventual NFC champions. After the 1999 season the
Buccaneers reached the NFC Championship game for the first time
since 1979, but lost to the Rams.
In the playoffs
following both the 2000 and 2001 seasons Tampa Bay lost in the first
round. Team officials then used money and draft picks to lure coach
Jon Gruden away from the Oakland Raiders. The move paid off as the
next year Gruden led the Buccaneers all the way to the Super Bowl,
where they beat the favored Raiders, 48-21.
2003 Super Bowl
XXXVII Defeated Oakland Raiders, 48-21
<p>Tennessee safety Eric Berry would be a perfect fit with the Bucs.</p>
<p>He's special," said Monte Kiffin, the long-time Bucs defensive coordinator who coached Berry last season with the Vols. "I'm not just saying this. He's the real deal. He's a football junkie and was watching tape right away.</p>
<p>"We had a rule when I was coaching John Lynch. We called it the Lynch Rule when we brought him down in the box. I brought in the Berry Rule."</p>
<p>Berry, 21, has read all the mock drafts that have him going No. 3 overall to Tampa Bay. But when it comes to the NFL Draft, "safety first" is not their workplace motto.</p> <p>In fact, when Berry hits his browser, it's to record all the criticism he is taking from pro football analysts in Knocks-ville.</p> <p>"The only thing I've done is gone on...
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have acquired wide receiver Reggie Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles for a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft. The deal was announced by both teams Monday, the fourth day of free agency. The 29-year-old Brown has 177 career receptions and 17 touchdowns. Brown was selected third in the second round of the 2005 draft after playing four years at the University of Georgia.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released punters Josh Bidwell and Dirk Johnson and reserve cornerback Torrie Cox. The moves Thursday came hours before the start of the NFL's free agency period. Bidwell spent six seasons with the Bucs after joining them as an unrestricted free agent in 2004. Johnson appeared in 11 games last season, filling in for the injured Bidwell, who did not play after...
How each of the 32 NFL teams are approaching Friday's opening of free agency with no salary cap: AFC BALTIMORE RAVENS Ravens don't intend to be thrifty. In quest to enhance roster, especially at wide receiver, Ravens expect to benefit from cost-cutting measures by other teams. "There will be some real good players that are going to get cut," general manager Ozzie Newsome said.
NEW ORLEANS - Saints fans hugged, kissed and spilled onto the streets Sunday as a city-wide party erupted after their once woebegone NFL franchise defeated the Indiapolis Colts in the Super Bowl.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail Sunday on US$1,500 bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room.
Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail Sunday on $1,500 bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room. Sapp was released at about 11 a.m. Sunday -- a time the NFL Network analyst would have been helping with Super Bowl coverage. The network has pulled Sapp off the air until it investigates the matter.
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