The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also known affectionately as the �Bucs� are the pro football team located in Tampa, Florida. One of three pro football teams in the state of Florida, they are members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference that is part of the National Football League � the NFL. They joined the NFL in 1976 as one of two expansion teams of the AFC West. The other team was the Seattle Seahawks. The Bucs lost their first 26 games and were not really very popular with the local fans in the Tampa Bay area. They had a short winning season in the late 1970s and the early 1980s but the team did suffer through a bad fourteen season losing streak after that time period.

They have been pretty consistent as a team since 1996 and have been playoff contenders on a regular basis. They won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 and that has been their only Super Bowl appearance up till now.

The expansion franchise for Tampa Bay was originally awarded to Tom McCloskey but soon he was replaced by Hugh Culverhouse from Jacksonville, Florida. The Buccaneers got their name through a contest of name the team and were named after the Gasparilla Pirate Festival which occurs yearly and is located in Tampa, Florida. The team plays their home games in the Tampa Stadium and it seats a little over 72,000 fans for every game. The team�s first quarterback was Heisman trophy winner Steve Spurrier.

They started out with a rocky beginning and their first two seasons were winless. They had an overall record of 0 26 before they finally won their first game in 1977. They beat the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans and then went on to win their next game at home with a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The team faced some financial problems when the team�s original owner passed away in the 1980s and the team had to be sold by the family heirs. By 2002 though, the team had recovered under the new owners and the coaching of Jon Gruden. Gruden was from the area and was only too happy to come home to coach the Tampa Bay Bucs. He immediately changed the offense to a more efficient powerhouse and at the same time the Bucs were placed in the new NFC south Division. They had a superb defense that led the league and this led to the 2002 season to be the Bucs best season ever. They won the NFC South title and had a record of 12 4 that year. They then went on to win against Jon Gruden�s former team, The Raiders of Oakland. Even though the Raiders were reputed to have the nation�s top offense, the Bucs prevailed and won the Super Bowl XXXVII with a score of 48 21.

They had slump years in 2003 and 2004 but returned to their winning ways in 2005 and marked their 30th season as members of the NFL. They won the NFC South division that year with an 11 5 record. They went on to lose though in a Wild Card round game to the Washington Redskins.

2006 saw a bad year for the Bucs with injuries and a lot of their starters being rookies. They finished the year with a 4 12 record and were forced to spend money in the free agency that year in order to get some fresh talent for the team.

The 2007 season had the team winning the NFC South title and ended the year with a 9 7 record. Along with this they got the 4th seed in the NFC. This made their 2nd division crown in three years under the direction of Jon Gruden. The Wild Card playoff game played in January of 2008 found the Bucs losing to the to be Super Bowl Champs, the New York Giants with a score of 24 14.

The sky is the limit for the Bucs and hopefully 2009 will find the team healthy and with a will to go the distance.

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