It’s long overdue.
Many of us remember that golden moment in Bucs history when the clock hit zeroes in Super Bowl XXXVII to officially declare Tampa Bay the Super Bowl champions, recording their first championship in team history.
Stories have been written — and some still to this day — on how the Bucs claimed victory. From the defense’s historic performance that night, to the offense’s control throughout the game, and of course, how the victory came against former head coach Jon Gruden’s previous team the Oakland Raiders. But while there are many storylines from that historic day, the bigger picture is how the Bucs got there.
Better yet, an even greater story would be how late owner Malcolm Glazer got the Bucs to championship level after buying the team in 1995 to ultimately reach the pinnacle of the NFL — great enough for an ESPN 30 for 30 feature.
Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Glazer was committed to winning football in Tampa Bay after purchasing the ball club. Decisions like bringing in a coach named Tony Dungy, allowing for the the Bucs journey to notoriety to begin, seasons later trading for Gruden to get the Bucs over the hump of the playoffs and on to a Super Bowl, and winning many, many games along the way.
It’s easy to find and remember how often former coaches and players have talked about him in brief instances on how he set the tone for a new atmosphere inside the organization. Players like Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks, who were the first two draft picks under Glazer, have called him “a friend” and have talked about the respect for players he had as well as how he greeted them and wished them luck out of the locker room before each game.
Let’s not forget the tone he set outside of the organization also, by establishing the Glazer Family Foundation in 1999, which many in and out of the NFL talk about often.
So while recalling a lot of that glorious 2002 season that led the Bucs to their first championship is certainly fun (especially if you have the Super Bowl DVD), but let’s get a feature on how they get there courtesy of Malcolm Glazer. Certainly that will be a 30 for 30 that many in and out of the Bucs organization and fandom would welcome.
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