Tampa Bay Buccaneers (often shortened as the Bucs) are a professional
American football team based in Tampa, Florida. They are currently members of
the Southern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National
Football League (NFL). The team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, joined the NFL
in 1976 as expansion teams. They played their first season in the AFC West as
part of the 1976 expansion plan. After the season, they switched divisions with
the Seattle Seahawks and became part of the NFC. The club is currently owned by
Malcolm Glazer and coached by head coach Raheem Morris.
Founded:
1976 as an NFL expansion team
Home
stadium: Raymond James Stadium
Uniform
colors: Red, Pewter, Black, and White; some Orange |
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football |
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Started
out in AFC West in 1976; moved to NFC Central in 1977.
Tampa Bay went 0-14 in their inaugural season, and started
their second season 0-12 before recording their first
win. the club also did not win a game in which the temperature
at kickoff time was below 40°F (4°C) until the last
week of the 2002 regular season, having lost 20 such
games prior. they also once lost 27 consecutive games
played both outdoors and on artificial turf; this streak
began after a victory over the Bengals at Cincinnati
in the 1980 season opener and lasted until they defeated
the Eagles in Philadelphia on the first week of the
1995 season. In addition, the club once had a 20-game
road losing streak against AFC teams, which ended when
they won 17-10 over the Broncos at Denver on December
26, 1993.
the
team made a habit of losing. the Buccaneers lost at
least ten games in 17 of their first 21 seasons, including
12 straight from 1983 to 1994. After a particularly
dismal effort in the late 1970s, longtime Bucs coach
John McKay gave perhaps the quintessential comment on
the organization's plight: A reporter asked McKay about
his team's execution during the game. McKay responded
"I'm in favor of it." In the mid 1990s the team was
sold by original owner Hugh Culverhouse to the Glazer
family, who's financial support allowed them to finally
become competitive. the team's performance dramatically
improved when the Glazers brought in Tony Dungy to coach.
the Bucs also abandoned their traditional team colors
of orange and white in favor of dark red, black, and
pewter.
With
league realignment in 2002, the Bucs moved into new
NFC South division, along with the Atlanta Falcons,
Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints. they are 1-0
in Super Bowls, having defeated the Oakland Raiders
in Super Bowl XXXVII in January, 2003, and they are
1-2 in NFC Championship games, having defeated the Philadelphia
Eagles on the road on January 18, 2003), and losing
to the Rams twice, in 1979 to the Los Angeles Rams at
home, and in 1999 to the St. Louis Rams on the road.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2003–2008
Soon after the Super Bowl victory, a growing number of press reports indicated
Gruden's lack of patience with general manager McKay. McKay was a major
architect of the Bucs' rebuilding effort over the previous ten years, and he,
like Gruden, had long-established ties to the Tampa Bay area. However, during
the 2003 season, the Gruden-McKay relationship deteriorated as the Bucs
struggled on the field. In November, Keyshawn Johnson was deactivated by the
team ten games into the season for his conduct, which included sideline
arguments with Bucs coaches and players. Johnson was eventually traded to the
Dallas Cowboys for wide receiver Joey Galloway.
In December, the Glazers allowed McKay to leave the Bucs before the end of the
regular season, and he promptly joined the Falcons as president and general
manager. Thus, McKay watched his first game as a Falcons executive sitting next
to owner Arthur Blank in a Raymond James Stadium skybox. The Falcons defeated
the Bucs 30-28. The Bucs suffered a sluggish start and finished the season 7–9.
With the Raiders' dismal 4–12 performance, neither Super Bowl team reached the
playoffs that year.
For 2004, Bruce Allen was hired as general manager. After Allen's arrival, both
John Lynch and Warren Sapp were released, stunning many Buccaneer fans. The
distracted Buccaneers began the 2004 season with a 1–5 record, their worst start
under Gruden. The fading accuracy of kicker Martin Gramatica did not help
matters, as the team lost many close games en route to a 5–11 record.
The replay of the controversial 2-Point Conversion was deemed inconclusive. This
proved to be the turning point of their season.In the 2005 season, the
Buccaneers celebrated their 30th season in the league, and returned to their
winning ways. The Bucs selected Carnell "Cadillac" Williams in the first round
of the 2005 draft, and the rookie would provide a running game the Buccaneers
had not possessed since the days of James Wilder in the 1980s. After starting
5–1, the team entered a midseason slump hampered by a season-ending injury to
starting QB Brian Griese. Replacement starter Chris Simms struggled early, but
came into his own leading to the team to a last-minute win over the Redskins.
The Bucs won the NFC South Division finishing 11–5. The season ended abruptly,
however, with a 17–10 loss in the Wild Card round, in a rematch with the
Redskins.
After winning the division in 2005, the Bucs suffered through an abysmal 2006
season. The season was plagued by injuries, with starters such as G Dan Buenning,
WR Michael Clayton, RB Carnell Williams, DE Simeon Rice, CB Brian Kelly, and QB
Chris Simms all being placed on injured reserve at some point in the season. The
season also saw a lot of rookies starting for the Bucs, such as QB Bruce
Gradkowski, T Jeremy Trueblood, and G Davin Joseph.
The Bucs started off the season 0–3, with QB Chris Simms throwing only 1
touchdown to 7 interceptions. In the third game of the season, a last-minute
loss to the Panthers, Simms's spleen was ruptured, and he was placed on injured
reserve for the balance of the season. After their bye week, the Bucs elected to
start rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, a 6th-round pick from Toledo. After
nearly beating the Saints, Gradkowski led the team to last-minute wins over the
Bengals and Eagles. The success was short-lived, however, and the Bucs lost five
of the next six games. Tim Rattay replaced Gradkowski as quartback late in the
season, and the team finished 4–12. The aged defense, with 5 starters who had
played there for a decade or more, was ranked 17th overall, the first time a
Tampa defense was not ranked in the top ten since 1996.
Against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Raymond James StadiumAfter a disappointing
4–12 effort in 2006, the Buccaneers for the first time in several seasons had
money to spend in free agency. They brought in quarterback Jeff Garcia,
offensive tackle Luke Petitgout, defensive end Kevin Carter, and linebacker Cato
June. On April 28, the Buccaneers drafted Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams
with the 4th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. After the draft the Buccaneers
picked up tight end Jerramy Stevens and defensive tackle Ryan Sims.
The offseason changes resulted in the Buccaneers winning the NFC South title in
the 2007 season, finishing with a 9–7 record, and the 4th seed in the NFC. The
division crown was the second one in three seasons under Gruden. In the Wild
Card round of the playoffs held on January 6, 2008, the Buccaneers lost to the
eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants by a final score of 24–14.
During the 2008 offseason, the Bucs re-signed head coach Jon Gruden and general
manager Bruce Allen through the 2011 season. They also acquired former players
Warrick Dunn, who had spent the last 6 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, and
Brian Griese who was the starting quarterback for the team in 2005 until a knee
injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year. Chris Simms was finally
released, having not played in a game since his injury in 2006. The Bucs got off
to a great start in 2008, with a 9–3 record going into the final month of the
season, tied for first place in the division, with a chance at the top seed in
the conference. On December 2, it was announced that defensive coordinator Monte
Kiffin would be leaving the team after the season's end, for the same job at the
University of Tennessee, serving under his son Lane Kiffin, who had just been
named the new head coach at the school. After the announcement, the Buccaneers
would lose the final four games of the season to finish 9–7 for the second
consecutive season. Unlike 2007, it was not enough to secure the division
championship, nor a playoff appearance.
In January 2009 the Buccaneers fired Jon Gruden and made Raheem Morris the
head coach after having just named Morris the replacement of Monte Kiffin as
defensive coordinator. Bruce Allen was also let go, along with Mark Dominik his
successor as general manager. On February 25, the Bucs released veterans Derrick
Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, Jeff Garcia, and Cato
June.[14]The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded for TE Kellen Winslow Jr. on February
27 for two undisclosed draft picks. They signed RB Derrick Ward, from the New
York Giants, to a four-year, $17 million contract. They signed quarterback Byron
Leftwich to a two-year deal. They drafted Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman
17th overall in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. They also signed
free-agent kicker Mike Nugent to a one year deal on March 4.
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