The Beginnings Of The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Expansion of the National Football League to twenty-eight teams was an agreed part of the AFL/NFL merger of 1970 and confirmed at the end of that season, but attempts to carry it out did not materialize until after the 1973 season, when it was announced that Tampa would be the first city to get an expansion franchise, at a cost of $16 million. Part of the reason for the delay was due to uncertainties in a few of the newly integrated teams’ stadiums due to new NFL capacity requirements; both the Buffalo Bills and Boston Patriots had stadiums inadequate for the NFL, so that Tampa interests unsuccessfully courted both teams to move to the Tampa Bay area. Once Rich and Schaefer Stadiums were built for the Bills and Patriots respectively, the league was stable enough to begin expanding.

Originally the proposed Tampa Bay expansion franchise was awarded to Tom McCloskey, a construction company owner from Philadelphia. McCloskey quickly became dissatisfied with the financial arrangement with the NFL, and backed out of the deal a month later. Hugh Culverhouse, a wealthy tax attorney from Jacksonville, who had failed in his bid to buy the Los Angeles Rams due to an unannounced sale to Robert Irsay, instead received the Tampa franchise.

A name-the-team contest resulted in the name “Buccaneers”, a reference to the pirates who frequented Florida's Gulf coast during the 17th century,

The Buccaneers joined the NFL as members of the AFC West in 1976. The following year, they were moved to the NFC Central, while the other 1976 expansion team, the Seattle Seahawks, switched conferences with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

Longtime USC coach John McKay was recruited as the team's first head coach. McKay had never been a fan of the NFL and turned down three previous offers for a coaching position, but was finally convinced after being offered a $3 million contract and the challenge of building a new team from scratch. He stressed a five-year plan that relied on veteran players, quality draft picks, and patience. However, the expansion draft prior to the entrance of the Bucs and Seahawks into the league was not as generous as it would become for later NFL expansion teams, so the Buccaneers were saddled with aging veterans and castoffs from other teams. Despite McKay's coaching, the Bucs often appeared incompetent, with missed tackles, fumbled snaps, and a frustrating inability to score, and the patience of fans and local media soon wore thin. McKay was also criticized for relying too much on the USC playbook—for example, the “student body right” rushing play—not to mention choosing running back Ricky Bell over future NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett in the 1977 NFL Draft.

This frustration, and even anger, that Buccaneer fans targeted at McKay – which prompted the brief popularity of bumper stickers that proclaimed “Throw McKay in the Bay” – stemmed from the team's notorious 26-game regular season losing streak, including a then-record 0–14 season (a record since broken by the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns who each finished 0–16). The 1976 Bucs are widely considered one of the worst NFL teams of all time. They were shut out five times and scored only 125 points the entire season, an average of nine per game, while giving up 412. The Buccaneers suffered so many injuries that they were forced to hire players off the street and from the CFL. The team became the butt of many jokes, especially from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, but also from fans themselves, who late into the 1977 season, wore bags on their heads and encouraged the team to “go for 0”, as in zero wins. 

The 1977 season started even worse as the Buccaneers were shut out six times. In Week 13 the Bucs finally managed to win their first regular-season game (the team had beaten the Atlanta Falcons 17–3 in a 1976 pre-season game), defeating the New Orleans Saints on the road 33–14. The win was highlighted by three interceptions returned for touchdowns, an NFL record at the time. The team would later equal this feat 25 years later when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Saints QB Archie Manning had said that it would be a disgrace to lose to Tampa Bay, and after the game was over the Buccaneers players taunted him by chanting “It’s disgraceful!”. Manning to this day disputes the charge that he said this. Others have noted that clever coach McKay may have made the statement up to motivate the team. After being greeted by 8,000 cheering fans when the team arrived back in Tampa late that evening after the game, the Bucs followed up the victory with a win at home over the St. Louis Cardinals during the final week of the season. Afterwards, a mob of fans ran onto the field and tore down the goalposts. There 0-26 start is one of the most famous records in sports but what is often forgotten is it is not the longest losing streak in the NFL. The Cardinals in the early to mid 40s during World War II lost 29 straight games.

The 1978 season was another losing campaign, but it was highlighted by the presence of rookie quarterback Doug Williams. Despite a season-ending injury in which his mouth had to be wired shut, he showed enough potential to give Bucs fans hope for the future. His leadership and often electrifying play would transform the team much sooner than anyone expected. Injuries led to a 5–11 record, but for the first time the Buccaneers began to resemble a real team.

The Bucs’ situation improved rapidly in 1979. With the maturation of quarterback Doug Williams, the first 1,000-yard rushing season from running back Ricky Bell, and a smothering, league-leading defense led by future NFL Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon, the Bucs kicked off the season with five consecutive victories, a stunning performance that landed them on the cover of Sports Illustrated. With four games left in the season, the Bucs only needed to win one of them to make the playoffs, and did so in their final contest at home against the Kansas City Chiefs, which was played in the worst downpour in Bucs history. Finishing with a 10–6 record, the Bucs had their first winning season, and indeed won the Central Division in a tiebreaker over the Chicago Bears. In an upset, the Bucs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24–17 in the divisional round of the playoffs. Because the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the other NFC playoff game, the Bucs hosted the NFC Championship Game the following week in Tampa. The Bucs lost to the Rams 9–0, thanks to great defense by the Rams. In only their fourth season, the Bucs seemed on the verge of fulfilling McKay's five-year plan.

The Buccaneers in the next decade and a half would be one of the worst teams in the league. It would take until 1997 for the team to be a consistent contender finally winning a Super Bowl in the 2002 season and winning a second Super Bowl in 2020.

Here is a short trailer of the expansion of the franchise done by NFL Films.