How will we know when the Bucs are going to be a winning team? When we can convert a 3rd and 28 like this! No, it wont happen all the time, but when you have a player like Warrick Dunn, you can do things like convert a 3rd and long like that.
While Dunn had a great night, he had his coming out party the week before in Detroit. This was Trent Dilfer’s night. He was 18 of 24 for 248 yards and 4 touchdowns, including this gem. The Bucs sailed to 4-0, and I was kicking myself to make sure I wasnt dreaming. The Bucs were going to go back to the playoffs after 15 years!
1979 was pure magic. The Bucs hadnt won more than 5 games in any year, and they matched that already in week 5. But two losses in a row had fans wondering which was the real Bucs team?
The 5-0 one, or the 0-2 version.
Ricky Bell answered with 167 rushing yards, and 9 yards receiving.
Its that 9 yards that represent in this video!
It was icing, pure and simple, but isn’t that the best part of the cake? This one was orange, and it was very very sweet, especially for those of us who have waited so long for these creamsicle uniforms to take us back to Buccaneer days gone by.
It was a risk wearing these things…if the Bucs were contenders, and lost this game, they may not have pulled out Bucco Bruce for ANOTHER 16 years! Instead, in a season slowly going down the drain, the whole day was devoted to hope; Hope for our franchise QB who led the team downfield, hope for the coach with his first victory, and the celebration that ensued as Mr. Glazer was there with great adulation.
Three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.
No other wide receiver in Tampa Bay history has ever accomplished that feat. Not Keyshawn Johnson, not Kevin House, not Mark Carrier.
He came here basically in a trade with Dallas for locker-room problem Keyshawn and started his first season the way he ended his time here, injured. He dropped a TD catch in Washington while pulling a hamstring, and didn’t see the field again for some time. This opened the door for Michael Clayton in 2004 for his rookie season.
When he came back, Mr. Galloway showed some flashes of what he was capable of.
The next year, in 2005, Galloway became Brian Griese’s best buddy until Chris Simms took over.
No matter who the signal caller was, Joey G got his 1,000 yards.
Bruce Gradkowski, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown; Joey performed for them all.
His signature end zone celebration, the bicep show, followed his signature on-field move- Speed.
This clip shows it all, Joey Galloway was just plain fast.
If Josh Freeman reminds me of anyone, as far as rookie QBs go, it would be Vinny Testeverde. His demeanor and build structure are very similar, but of course there are just as many dissimilarities as there are close calls.
1989 was one of the better years for the Bucs as far as the poor years, and Tight End Ron Hall who past away in recent years, had excellent hands.
Historically, it was pretty cool; The Bucs finally beat the Dallas Cowboys. They played them in 1977 when the Bucs were infants and the ‘Boys were going to the Superbowl. Then the Bucs became a playoff team, but no match for Dallas teams in 1980, ‘81 and ‘82, including twice in those last two years.
Then in 1990, both teams were at the bottom, but the Bucs were considered an up and coming team. Not so said the Cowboys, who swept the Bucs that year in two games, and showed the world THEY were the up and coming team.
Fast Forward ten years, and the Bucs are truely the dominant team of the two, with Dallas a faded memory of what they once were, and Tampa Bay a couple of years away from Superbowl greatness. The game wasnt even close, and Brian Kelly made sure he was heard from to in this rout.
The 5-0 Bucs in 1979 hit a wall in New York vs the Giants and fell to 5-1. To say they hit a wall the next week would not be entirely accurate! Believe it or not, the score was 0-0 at the half, and the Bucs scored the first TD of the 3rd quarter, and then the flood gates opened. New Orleans scored on the next straight 6 possessions, going on to win 42-14.
While up 42-7 with under 2:00 to go in the game, Mike Rae, the back up Quarterback to Doug Williams, entered the game and threw what appeared to be a TD pass to Jimmy Giles. It was ruled incomplete, and so on 4th down Rae made it cound, even though the replay shows he may have juggled the ball.
The Bucs would go down to 5-2, and start a new winning streak that would take the team to new highs and an eventual placement in the ‘79 NFC Championship game.
He did it, then, he did it again!
Just after being re-signed by the Bucs, Michael Spurlock, the first Buccaneer to ever return a kick off return for a touchdown in Bucs history, returns this punt for a score to tie the Saints on the way to beating the eventual SuperBowl champs!
