Tampa Bay Buccaneers Trivia
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46 free Tampa Bay Buccaneers trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This Tampa Bay Buccaneers trivia quiz starts with the worst start any team has had — 0–14, then 0–26 — and John McKay's one-liners, then covers Lee Roy Selmon, Doug Williams and the 1979 miracle, Bo Jackson's refusal, the Creamsicle years, and the Glazers, Tony Dungy, the Tampa 2 and the draft that landed Sapp and Brooks. From there it runs through the Gruden trade, the Pirate Bowl rout of the Raiders, the long drought, Jameis Winston's 30/30 season, and Tom Brady's arrival, Super Bowl LV in their own stadium, Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans' record eleven straight 1,000-yard seasons — plus the pirate ship, Captain Fear, the retired numbers and the Saints rivalry. Questions run from easy to hard with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation.
30 of 46 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which former Heisman Trophy winner quarterbacked the Buccaneers during their winless 1976 season?
Steve Spurrier
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.
Q 02The Buccaneers joined the NFL alongside which other 1976 expansion team, swapping conferences with them after a year?
Seattle Seahawks
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.
Q 03Which team did the Buccaneers finally beat for the first win in franchise history?
New Orleans Saints
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.
Q 04Which Bucs coach is famously credited with joking that he approved of the Buccaneers' execution?
John McKay
John McKay gets the credit in Bucs lore, but the story may be apocryphal.
Q 05Which Hall of Fame defensive end was the Buccaneers' first-ever draft pick, first overall in 1976?
Lee Roy Selmon
Lee Roy Selmon joined his brother Dewey on the first Bucs team, but a back injury ended his career before the 1985 season.
Q 06Which team beat the Buccaneers 9–0 in Tampa in the 1979 NFC Championship Game, in the Bucs' fourth season?
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams never scored a touchdown, but Frank Corral's three field goals were enough to win.
Q 07Which quarterback led the 1979 and 1981 division winners before leaving for the USFL in a salary dispute?
Doug Williams
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.
Q 08Which quarterback did the Buccaneers trade to San Francisco?
Steve Young
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.
Q 09Which 1986 first-overall pick refused to sign with Tampa Bay and chose baseball instead?
Bo Jackson
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.
Q 10Which real-estate magnate bought the Buccaneers in 1995 for a then-record $192 million?
Malcolm Glazer
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.
Q 11Which Premier League club did the Buccaneers' owners take over in 2005?
Manchester United
Manchester United fans bitterly opposed the takeover, yet the club won the 2008 Champions League under the new owners.
Q 12Which Vikings defensive coordinator did the Bucs hire as head coach in 1996?
Tony Dungy
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.
Q 13Which defensive coordinator ran the Buccaneers' famous Tampa 2 defense?
Monte Kiffin
Monte Kiffin ran the Cover 2 so well in Tampa that the scheme is now commonly called the Tampa 2.
Q 21Which Bucs cornerback's late pick-six sealed the January 2003 NFC Championship win in Philadelphia?
Ronde Barber
Ronde Barber's 92-yard interception return of a Donovan McNabb pass sealed the 27–10 win and silenced Veterans Stadium.
Q 22Which Buccaneers back, drafted in 1996, was nicknamed 'A-Train'?
Mike Alstott
Mike Alstott made six straight Pro Bowls, but neck injuries forced him to retire in January 2008.
Q 23Which Florida State Heisman winner did the Bucs take first overall in 2015 over Marcus Mariota?
Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston passed for 5,000 yards in 2019, but Tampa Bay let him leave the next spring and signed Tom Brady instead.
Q 14What were the Buccaneers' orange 1976–96 uniforms nicknamed?
Creamsicle
Creamsicle orange gave way to red and pewter in 1997, the same year the Bucs ended an NFL-record 14 straight losing seasons.
Q 15What was the name of the winking-pirate logo the Bucs used from 1976 to 1996?
Bucco Bruce
Bucco Bruce became the face of the losing years, so the new owners scrapped him in 1997 to change the team's image.
Q 16To mark their switch to red and pewter in 1997, what did the Bucs make their old pirate logo do?
Walk the plank
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.
Q 17Which Bucs receiver's overturned catch in the 1999 NFC Championship Game prompted a rule change?
Bert Emanuel
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.
Q 18What did the Buccaneers give the Raiders in 2002 to acquire their head coach?
Four draft picks and $8 million
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.
Q 19What nickname did the Bucs' 48–21 win over the Raiders in the January 2003 championship game earn?
The Pirate Bowl
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.
Q 20Which Buccaneer was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII after intercepting Rich Gannon twice?
Dexter Jackson
Dexter Jackson won MVP even though teammate Dwight Smith returned both of his own interceptions for touchdowns.
Q 24The Bucs' quarterback's 2019 season was the first in NFL history to include what unwanted combination?
30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions
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.
Q 25Which coach left the broadcast booth for the Bucs job in 2019, at the cost of a sixth-round pick to Arizona?
Bruce Arians
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.
Q 26Who did the Bucs beat 31–9 in Super Bowl LV?
Kansas City Chiefs
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.
Q 27Who was promoted to Bucs head coach in March 2022?
Todd Bowles
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.
Q 28Which Heisman-winning quarterback signed with the Bucs in 2023 after Brady retired?
Baker Mayfield
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.
Q 29Which Bucs receiver matched Jerry Rice's NFL record with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons in 2024?
Mike Evans
Mike Evans reached the mark with a catch on the Bucs' final play of the 2024 season, the same day they clinched the division.
Q 30What famous feature sits behind the north end zone at Raymond James Stadium?
A replica pirate ship
A replica pirate ship, made of concrete rather than wood, fires its cannons whenever Tampa Bay scores.