11 Years Ago Today
January 26th, 2014
“Don’t ever forget, Tampa.”
It’s been 11 years to the day since the Bucs hoisted the Lombardi Trophy with their first and only Super Bowl victory in hand.
What a glorious day it was. Aside from re-watching the entire game, the best way to re-live it is watching America’s Game: 2002 Buccaneers, from the folks at NFL Films. Here’s a summary video from NFL.com.
Enjoy!
January 26th, 2014 at 1:41 am
that thur video link thinger don’t work nothin good fer me, I tell ya hwat Joe.
January 26th, 2014 at 2:29 am
I just cried. 2014 HERE WE COMEE!!!!
January 26th, 2014 at 3:24 am
I wept, too.
January 26th, 2014 at 4:11 am
Nostalgic as I be…can’t help but feel that Dominik should still be part of what is the new regime. I get the fresh start sh*t but I feel his value, albeit flawed at times, still was bold and risky. Sucks when things didn’t work out(Jagodzinski/Bates/Clayton/Ward/Schiano-not to mention dumping 55 on his ass), but watching him draft in 2012 and pick up quality FA when finally given the dollars was well done. Thinking the glazers will regret letting him leave the org
January 26th, 2014 at 4:49 am
Just watched the actual video online, cried like a baby.
I’m believing in great things to come with the Lovie era!!!
January 26th, 2014 at 6:48 am
@PRBucFan
Yep still have my Championship DVD, and Jersey hanging in the play room. Still can’t believe we did it.
January 26th, 2014 at 7:46 am
Eleven years ago today was one of the top five happiest days of my life (on this planet).
Al Michaels and John Madden were the announcers, Beyoncé and Gwen Stefani performed, FedEx had the best TV commercial; January 26, 2003 was the day the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.
I remember that 70-degree day vividly. I got dressed early, stepped outside and mounted my team flag (remember those) on my Maxima and hopped on the 880, my adrenaline and Too $hort pumping.
Within five minutes I was pulled over by a California Highway Patrolman and got a stern warning. Not for speeding, mind you, but for flying the Bucs flag. You see, back in 1996, I lived and worked in OAKLAND. I was probably the only Tampa fan in “the Town” (that’s how the folks out there call their city) and this cop was concerned for my safety.
Undeterred, I thanked him and sped on my way through East Oakland.
The fact was a lot of Raiders fans did know me. I was a regular patron/fixture of the two main sports bars there: Rickey’s and the Golden Bear.
The NFL games on the West Coast start at 10 a.m. on Sundays. I was usually at one of these two establishments every week – for years – by 9:55 a.m.
Nobody had ever bothered to ask me what my name was; everybody called me Tampa. I was an emotional diehard fan, with a wardrobe full of regalia – hats, socks, shirts, drawers, jerseys and beads – and I could always be found intently watching one of the TVs in the back ( with no sound of course, as only the local team got the volume on game days).
Well, in keeping this short Super story long, do note that half the town – in the week leading up to that Sunday – wanted to bet/wager with me on the game. It was the first time in history that the NFL’s No.1 offense (the Raiders) was going to play the league’s No. 1 defense (the Bucs).
The electricity – and alcohol and sticky-icky induced enthusiasm of Raider Nation was at an all-time high. I was truly that one guy “behind enemy lines.”
Because of concerns for my safety I was coerced to watching the big game on a big screen at a house party instead of at The Bear.
There was a toddler there – the son of the hosts – who sat next to me, exchanged high fives and co-starred in my touchdown dances (Blow the Whistle, son!) throughout the evening as the Bucs whipped the Raiders like they stole something.
Later that night there were tire burnings and several small riots led by angry fan mobs. I rode on home with my car flag dismounted this time. No need to rub it in. Besides that, half the damn “Town” now owed me some money.
January 26th, 2014 at 7:50 am
@AfroBuc
Lol, Tell’it!!!
January 26th, 2014 at 8:14 am
Good times!!!
January 26th, 2014 at 8:24 am
Everyone remembers where they were that night.
So awesome.
Can’t believe its been 11 years. Wow.
January 26th, 2014 at 8:35 am
Gruden, Greatest coach the Bucs ever had!
January 26th, 2014 at 9:00 am
I will be forever grateful to Jon Gruden for winning the Superbowl….you just can’t imagine the feeling for a fan who held season tickets in 1976….watched us go 0-26….become the laughing stock of the NFL and the brunt of late night jokes.
I hope its not the last in my lifetime…but even if it is, I feel I have been totally blessed to experience it.
January 26th, 2014 at 9:04 am
Brings back so many great memories for me. The birth of my baby girl, finished college and my Bucs won the superbowl. I was in a daze that whole year. It wasn’t because of the narcotics I experimented with either…I don’t think…..
January 26th, 2014 at 9:39 am
special time … we’ve been to the mountaintop and it was beautiful … we’ve been to deepest valley and it is painful …. hopefully, we’re on our way back up
January 26th, 2014 at 9:45 am
@AfroBuc- great story, thanks for sharing. A true Bucs fan. Love it,
January 26th, 2014 at 9:54 am
Ended up drunk in a ditch in Ybor City with a tattoo on my arm. Still not clear how it got there.
Best night of my life.
What a great freaking team and masterful coaching job.
January 26th, 2014 at 9:54 am
That was better than sex!
January 26th, 2014 at 10:13 am
I will definitely watch my super bowl DVD today. Such an amazing day. Speaking of which though, does anyone here own the ultra limited edition Super Bowl 37 DVD and book package the buccaneers website put out right after the Super Bowl? I wanted it so bad but was in college at the time and couldn’t afford it. I would die to have a burnt copy and am willing to pay good money. I have searches for years since then on amazon, eBay, Craigslist with no luck. Please email me at rome21e@yahoo.com if anyone could help
January 26th, 2014 at 11:07 am
My wife & I have had season tickets since 1977. I do not remember which game it was, but about half way into the season I told my wife we were ‘seeing something special’. Never did I expect the Bucs would win it all that year. Still can’t believe that magical season actually happened. So glad we were there to see it!
January 26th, 2014 at 11:27 am
A friend and I drove out to SD and back for the game. As we came out of the mountains and into the city a car passed me in the center lane to my left. Then I looked in the side view mirror and saw a C.H.I.P. running his lights. I thought he was going to pull over the guy that just went by. But no, he pulls up next to my window and looks in and signals with his hand. at first I think he wants we to pull over but soon realize he’s giving me a “thumbs up.” Big smiles from everyone!
With my Buc tag on the back of the car, Buc flags hanging from the windows, magnetic decals on the car, and “San Diego or Bust” painted onto the back window, it was not difficult to see who we were rooting for in the big game. It seems that every resident of SD that weekend was a Buc fan that weekend. They hated the Raiders.
In the Gaslight district where everyone was partying the night before the game, it seems that we Buc fans were outnumbered 10 to one by Raider fans. It was a bit tough. We really had it over them the next day though, and I can’t wait for it to happen again. Go Bucs!
January 26th, 2014 at 11:33 am
I just finished watching the whole actual game and everytime I see Derrick Brooks get that pic six, it’s pretty f**king awesome
January 26th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
One of the best day sof my life! My season tickets were pulled by the Bucs so a buddy of mine and I headed out to San Diego for 4 days to go to the game. We sat with a bunch of Bucs fans in our section, section next to us was all Raiders fans. They were loud and laugibly crass before the game and after the early Brad Johnson interception. They didn’t make a noise after that, just stared out in disbelief!
I also remember being out in the Gaslamp district downtown when a bunch og gangster Raiders fans were trying to fight anyone they could. The cops came out and arrested a bunch of them. I think they were actually gangster kids from LA that drove down. Anyway pretty interesting to see that.
Hopefully we can make a run at it again in the next few years.
January 26th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
I cry every time I watch the DVD. I suppose I will still cry 20 years from now as well.
January 26th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
I was elated at the Bucs super bowl win also. The word fan is a part of the word fanatic. Obviously Gruden knew Oakland’s weaknesses. I enjoyed comments about this greatest day in Bucs history.
January 26th, 2014 at 5:42 pm
Best day of my life…met my future wife and mother of my children at my brother’s Super Bowl party that day.
Day will live in infamy in my own mind….
January 26th, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Thank you Jon Gruden. It’s sad the way fans and media ran you out of town.
January 27th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
I live 1-hr. north of San Diego and though I had an opportunity to go to that SB, I turned it down to watch the game with my dad in an intensive care ward. I sat on his bed with him and we watched a small 13″ set hanging from the ceiling and my 4’x6′ Bucs flag draped over the glass wall looking in to his room so anyone who walked by knew without doubt we were Bucs fans. As a former Tampa resident who’s followed the team since their inception, the tears of joy flowed that day like never before, at least not until the day my dad passed shortly after that glorious day. Watching this short video clip brought all those memories back again. I will never forget that day.
Thank you Bucs for those memories, now let’s go do it again!
January 27th, 2014 at 2:36 pm
Joes… I have the game in HD 720. Your welcome to a copy. Get a hold of me