From 1976 until 1994, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost far more games than they won. The Bucs’ status as a sporting punch line belied the fact that they were led by arguably the most important owner of that era. Known as the “Vice-Commissioner,” Hugh F. Culverhouse, Sr., wielded his financial acumen as a weapon, keeping other NFL owners in line through the economic downturn of the 1980s, two work stoppages, and a multimillion dollar lawsuit from a rival league. Culverhouse’s near–Dickensian frugality also led, directly and indirectly, to the Steve Young–Joe Montana quarterback controversy; Doug Williams’ triumph in Super Bowl XXII; and the largest fourth-quarter collapse in NFL history. Over two dozen interviews with Culverhouse’s allies and adversaries inform this thorough and balanced chronicle of the man and his team.

Friday Night Lights meets The Bad News Bears in “a brisk, warmhearted reminder of how professional sports can occasionally reach stunning unprofessional depths” (Publishers Weekly): the first two seasons with the worst team in NFL history, the hapless, hilarious, and hopelessly winless 1976­–1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Long before their first Super Bowl victory in 2003, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did something no NFL team had ever done before and that none will ever likely do again: They lost twenty-six games in a row. This was no ordinary streak. Along with their ridiculous mascot and uniforms, which were known as “the Creamsicles,” the Yucks were a national punch line and personnel purgatory. Owned by the miserly and bulbous-nosed Hugh Culverhouse, the team was the end of the line for Heisman Trophy winner and University of Florida hero Steve Spurrier, and a banishment for former Cowboy defensive end Pat Toomay after he wrote a tell-all book about his time on “America’s Team.” Many players on the Bucs had been out of football for years, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to have to introduce themselves in the huddle. They were coached by the ever-quotable college great John McKay. “We can’t win at home and we can’t win on the road,” he said. “What we need is a neutral site.” But the Bucs were a part of something bigger, too. They were a gambit by promoters, journalists, and civic boosters to create a shared identity for a region that didn’t exist—Tampa Bay. Before the Yucks, “the Bay” was a body of water, and even the worst team in memory transformed Florida’s Gulf communities into a single region with a common cause. The Yucks is “a funny, endearing look at how the Bucs lost their way to success, cementing a region through creamsicle unis and John McKay one-liners” (Sports Illustrated).

Get your football fanatic readers into the action. Inside the NFL uses chronological narratives to tell the beginnings of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, relate the greatest and lowest moments of the team, introduce the best players and coaches, and share other fun facts that help round out Buccaneers' history. Mini-biographies, sidebars, fun facts, fantastic quotes, and full-color, action-packed photographs will bring the NFL to your library.

This title examines the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, telling the story of the franchise and its top players, greatest games, and most thrilling moments. This book includes informative sidebars, high-energy photos, a timeline, a team file, and a glossary. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing Company.

Williams became the first black to make it big at a position previously reserved for whites. Without Doug Williams, the game of professional football would still be living under a veil of prejudice, but with one fell swoop, he shattered the myth that a black quarterback could not rise to the pinnacle of pro football.

"Chronicling the first two seasons of the worst team in NFL history, an entertaining sports story follows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1976 and 1977 seasons in which they cemented their place in football history as having the longest losing streak in the history of the league,"--NoveList.

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