The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The club joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team, along with the Seattle Seahawks and played its first season in the American Football Conference (AFC) West division before switching conferences with the Seahawks the following season, becoming a member of the NFC Central division. During the 2002 league realignment, the Buccaneers joined three former NFC West teams to form the NFC South. The club is owned by the Glazer family, and plays its home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Tampa Stadium was a large open-air stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It opened in 1967, was significantly expanded in 1974–75, and was demolished in 1999. The facility is most closely associated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, who played there from their establishment in 1976 until 1997. It also hosted two Super Bowls, in 1984 and 1991, as well as the 1984 USFL Championship Game.
Tropicana Field, also commonly known as The Trop, is a domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, that has been the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the team's inaugural season in 1998. The stadium is also used for college football, and from December 2008 to December 2017 was the home of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual postseason bowl game. It is currently the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball, making it the only year-round indoor venue in MLB. Tropicana Field is the smallest MLB stadium by seating capacity when obstructed-view rows in the uppermost sections are covered with tarps as they are for most Rays games.
The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 14 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, minors, pre-professional programs, and certificates.
Albert Lucas was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL) who died from a game-related spinal cord injury while playing for the Los Angeles Avengers.
George M. Steinbrenner Field, is a baseball stadium located in Tampa, Florida across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium, home of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The ballpark was built in 1996 and holds 11,026 people with an addition in right field built in 2007. This ballpark is the largest spring training ballpark in Florida.
Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball park in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, who was the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer from 1961–1987.
Hudson Whittaker, known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician.
Forrest Murrell Blue Jr. was an offensive lineman who spent eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Francisco 49ers (1968–1974) and Baltimore Colts (1975–1978).
The 2007 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 32nd season in the National Football League the 10th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the 6th under head coach Jon Gruden. On December 16, 2007, they clinched the NFC South division title, and returned to the playoffs after missing it in 2006. However, they were defeated 24-14 in the Wildcard Round by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The Wildcard game was Jon Gruden’s final playoff appearance as head coach of the Buccaneers before being dismissed at the conclusion of the next season.
The 2005 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 30th season in the National Football League the 8th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the 4th under head coach Jon Gruden. The season began with the team trying to improve on their 5–11 record in 2004 and The Bucs made a complete rebound from last season to make the playoffs since 2002 with an 11-5 record. Cadillac Williams won Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Bucs would lose in the Wild-Card playoff game at home to the 10-6 Redskins.
The 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 29th season in the National Football League the 7th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium, and the 3rd under head coach Jon Gruden.
The 2002 season was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 27th in the National Football League. It was the most successful season in franchise history as they won Super Bowl XXXVII.
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venue has been Tropicana Field.
The 2002 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 70th in the National Football League. The team improved upon their previous output of eleven wins, going 12–4 and making the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
The Tampa Bay Area is home to many sports teams and has a substantial history of sporting activity. Most of the region's professional sports franchises use the name "Tampa Bay", which is the name of a body of water, not of any city. This is to emphasize that they represent the wider metropolitan area and not a particular municipality.
Plant Field was the first major athletic venue in Tampa, Florida. It was built in 1899 by Henry B. Plant on the grounds of his Tampa Bay Hotel to host various events and activities for guests, and it consisted of a large field ringed by an oval race track flanked by a large covered grandstand on the western straightaway. Over the ensuing decades, Plant Field drew Tampa residents and visitors to see horse racing, car racing, baseball games, entertainers, and politicians. The stadium also hosted the first professional football and first spring training games in Tampa and was the long-time home of the Florida State Fair.
The Tampa Spartans football program was an intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tampa (UT) located in Tampa, Florida that began play in 1933. The program competed against other small college programs in the forerunner of today's NCAA Division II for almost forty years before moving to the top level of NCAA Division I as an independent in 1971. Successfully competing against top college programs as a much smaller school put an enormous strain on the university's finances, and the school decided to discontinue football after the 1974 season.
The 2016 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 41st season in the National Football League and the first under head coach Dirk Koetter. In week 13, the club won their seventh game, eclipsing their win total from 2015.
The 2017 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 42nd season in the National Football League, the 20th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium and the second under head coach Dirk Koetter.
