46 Fun Facts About Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Which former Heisman Trophy winner quarterbacked the Buccaneers during their winless 1976 season?

Steve Spurrier, a local favorite from the Florida Gators, came in the Bucs' first-ever trade; he later coached Florida to the 1996 national title.

The Buccaneers joined the NFL alongside which other 1976 expansion team, swapping conferences with them after a year?

The Seattle Seahawks began in the NFC West while Tampa Bay took the AFC West, so in 1976 the Bucs played no division rival twice.

Which team did the Buccaneers finally beat for the first win in franchise history?

The New Orleans Saints lost to the Bucs at home, and their coach, Hank Stram, was fired after the season and never coached in the NFL again.

Which Bucs coach is famously credited with joking that he approved of the Buccaneers' execution?

John McKay gets the credit in Bucs lore, but the story may be apocryphal.

Which Hall of Fame defensive end was the Buccaneers' first-ever draft pick, first overall in 1976?

Lee Roy Selmon joined his brother Dewey on the first Bucs team, but a back injury ended his career before the 1985 season.

Which team beat the Buccaneers 9–0 in Tampa in the 1979 NFC Championship Game, in the Bucs' fourth season?

The Los Angeles Rams never scored a touchdown, but Frank Corral's three field goals were enough to win.

Which quarterback led the 1979 and 1981 division winners before leaving for the USFL in a salary dispute?

Doug Williams quarterbacked Tampa Bay's 1979 and 1981 division champions, left after a contract standoff with Hugh Culverhouse to join the USFL's Oklahoma Outlaws in 1984, and later won Super Bowl XXII with Washington.

Which quarterback did the Buccaneers trade to San Francisco?

Steve Young had a rough start in Tampa Bay, but in San Francisco he threw a record six touchdown passes and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIX.

Which 1986 first-overall pick refused to sign with Tampa Bay and chose baseball instead?

Bo Jackson, the 1985 Heisman winner, refused to sign after a visit on the Bucs' plane cost him his college baseball eligibility; he signed with the Royals, and the Raiders drafted him in 1987.

Which real-estate magnate bought the Buccaneers in 1995 for a then-record $192 million?

Malcolm Glazer won a bidding war with George Steinbrenner and Peter Angelos, who had bid to move the team to Baltimore; Glazer pledged to keep it in Tampa.

Which Premier League club did the Buccaneers' owners take over in 2005?

Manchester United fans bitterly opposed the takeover, yet the club won the 2008 Champions League under the new owners.

Which Vikings defensive coordinator did the Bucs hire as head coach in 1996?

Tony Dungy took over a team with 12 double-digit-loss seasons in 13 years, made four playoff trips, was fired, then won Super Bowl XLI with Indianapolis.

Which defensive coordinator ran the Buccaneers' famous Tampa 2 defense?

Monte Kiffin ran the Cover 2 so well in Tampa that the scheme is now commonly called the Tampa 2.

What were the Buccaneers' orange 1976–96 uniforms nicknamed?

Creamsicle orange gave way to red and pewter in 1997, the same year the Bucs ended an NFL-record 14 straight losing seasons.

What was the name of the winking-pirate logo the Bucs used from 1976 to 1996?

Bucco Bruce became the face of the losing years, so the new owners scrapped him in 1997 to change the team's image.

To mark their switch to red and pewter in 1997, what did the Bucs make their old pirate logo do?

Walk the plank: the winking pirate went off the ship Bounty at the St. Petersburg Pier, even though Governor Lawton Chiles had granted him a pardon.

Which Bucs receiver's overturned catch in the 1999 NFC Championship Game prompted a rule change?

Bert Emanuel's diving catch was ruled incomplete because the ball's nose touched the turf, and the play led the NFL to clarify its catch rule.

What did the Buccaneers give the Raiders in 2002 to acquire their head coach?

Four draft picks and $8 million: Tampa Bay sent Oakland two first-rounders, two second-rounders and cash for its new head coach in February 2002, and his Bucs beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl the following January.

What nickname did the Bucs' 48–21 win over the Raiders in the January 2003 championship game earn?

The Pirate Bowl tag played on both clubs' buccaneer imagery; Tampa Bay's defense intercepted Rich Gannon repeatedly, returning several for touchdowns, against an Oakland offense its own head coach had built.

Which Buccaneer was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII after intercepting Rich Gannon twice?

Dexter Jackson won MVP even though teammate Dwight Smith returned both of his own interceptions for touchdowns.

Which Bucs cornerback's late pick-six sealed the January 2003 NFC Championship win in Philadelphia?

Ronde Barber's 92-yard interception return of a Donovan McNabb pass sealed the 27–10 win and silenced Veterans Stadium.

Which Buccaneers back, drafted in 1996, was nicknamed 'A-Train'?

Mike Alstott made six straight Pro Bowls, but neck injuries forced him to retire in January 2008.

Which Florida State Heisman winner did the Bucs take first overall in 2015 over Marcus Mariota?

Jameis Winston passed for 5,000 yards in 2019, but Tampa Bay let him leave the next spring and signed Tom Brady instead.

The Bucs' quarterback's 2019 season was the first in NFL history to include what unwanted combination?

30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions came when the Bucs' passer threw 33 and 30 in 2019, and the season ended on his overtime pick-six against Atlanta.

Which coach left the broadcast booth for the Bucs job in 2019, at the cost of a sixth-round pick to Arizona?

Bruce Arians had spent 2018 as a CBS analyst but was still under contract to Arizona, so Tampa Bay swapped a sixth-round pick for the Cardinals' seventh.

Who did the Bucs beat 31–9 in Super Bowl LV?

The Kansas City Chiefs, the defending champions, managed only field goals as Tampa Bay's pass rush harassed Patrick Mahomes all night; Tom Brady won his seventh ring in his first Tampa season.

Who was promoted to Bucs head coach in March 2022?

Todd Bowles took over when his predecessor stepped aside right after Tom Brady's return, a handover timed so Bowles inherited a roster set up to win.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback signed with the Bucs in 2023 after Brady retired?

Baker Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman winner at Oklahoma, signed a one-year deal in March 2023 and posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating at Lambeau Field that December, then earned a long-term extension.

Which Bucs receiver matched Jerry Rice's NFL record with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons in 2024?

Mike Evans reached the mark with a catch on the Bucs' final play of the 2024 season, the same day they clinched the division.

What famous feature sits behind the north end zone at Raymond James Stadium?

A replica pirate ship, made of concrete rather than wood, fires its cannons whenever Tampa Bay scores.

What is the name of the Buccaneers' mascot?

Captain Fear became the mascot in June 2000, and in the club's telling the Coast Guard fished the bearded pirate out of Tampa Bay.

Which future general manager of Brett Favre's Packers helped build the expansion Buccaneers?

Ron Wolf built the foundation for the Bucs' trip to the NFC title game in their fourth season, but by then he was back with the Raiders.

In which stadium did the Buccaneers play their home games from 1976 to 1997?

Tampa Stadium, nicknamed the Big Sombrero, was torn down in 1999 after the Bucs' new owners got a new stadium built next door.

Through the 2024 season, which other franchise joined the Buccaneers as unbeaten in multiple Super Bowls?

The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowls XXXV and XLVII and, like Tampa Bay with XXXVII and LV, had never lost one through the 2024 season.

The 1982 Bucs earned what nickname by winning five of six games in the final moments after the strike?

The Cardiac Kids tag came from a string of last-minute wins that carried the 1982 Bucs to a 5–4 finish and the expanded playoffs, where they lost 30–17 at Dallas in their last winning season under Hugh Culverhouse.

Which Bucs head coach was hired in 2012 and lasted two seasons?

Greg Schiano's two Tampa seasons brought a MRSA outbreak in the locker room and a public rift with his starting quarterback.

Which pass rusher, signed to a one-year deal in 2019, broke Warren Sapp's Bucs single-season sack record?

Shaquil Barrett's record season led the Bucs to place the franchise tag on him in 2020 so he would stay.

Which running back gave the Bucs their first 1,000-yard rushing season, in 1979?

Ricky Bell, the No. 1 pick in 1977 out of USC, ran for 1,263 yards in 1979, but he died of heart failure in 1984 at just 29.

What did the Bucs put on the goalposts in 1979 to stop fans tearing them down?

STP oil treatment was smeared on the uprights to make them too slippery to climb, but the Bucs kept losing and only clinched the division in the final week, 3–0 at home in a downpour.

Which Bucs head coach was nicknamed 'Chucky' because a Raiders lineman thought he resembled the horror doll?

Jon Gruden, traded away by the Raiders, beat them in Super Bowl XXXVII in his first season as the Bucs' head coach.

Which safety, drafted in 1993, was released in the Bucs' 2004 veteran purge?

John Lynch, a third-round pick in 1993, was cut in March 2004 in a salary purge, played on in Denver through 2007 and entered the Hall of Fame in 2021 while serving as 49ers general manager.

Which longtime Raiders receiver finished his Hall of Fame career with the Buccaneers in 2004?

Tim Brown played for the Raiders team the Bucs beat in Super Bowl XXXVII, then spent his last NFL season in Tampa.

Which former Patriots tight end came out of retirement in 2020 to join Tom Brady in Tampa?

Rob Gronkowski, retired after the 2018 season, came over in a trade for a fourth-round pick and caught two touchdown passes in Super Bowl LV.

Which quarterback did the Buccaneers draft 17th overall in 2009 under new coach Raheem Morris?

Josh Freeman lost his captaincy and then his starting job in 2013, and the Bucs released him that October after failing to trade him.

Why did Tampa end up hosting Super Bowl LV instead of Los Angeles?

Construction delays in LA, blamed on record rainfall, pushed the Inglewood stadium's opening back a year, so owners moved the game to Tampa and gave LA Super Bowl LVI.

Which running back was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the Bucs in 2005?

Cadillac Williams ran for 1,178 yards as a rookie and helped turn a 5–11 team into NFC South champions.