Tampa Bay Buccaneers jon gruden GRUDEN VS GRUDEN Jon Gruden was one of the most successful young coaches in the National Football League NFL His first head-coaching job started in 1998 with the Oakland Raiders He was just 35 The Raiders went 8 8 in his first two seasons They surged to 12 4 in 2000 They fell just short of the Super Bowl The following year they made the playoffs again But they lost to the New England Patriots For most of their history the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had poor records In their first 20 years they made the playoffs just three times The Bucs had improved under coach Tony Dungy He led the team to the playoffs in 1997 1999 2000 and 2001 But they made early exits each time Owner 9
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Malcolm Glazer was not satisfied He fired Dungy Glazer wanted to hire Gruden as his new coach Raiders owner Al Davis wanted something in return for letting Gruden go Davis and Glazer decided on a trade Gruden went to Tampa Bay In return Oakland got two first-round and two second-round picks in future NFL drafts Tampa Bay also gave the Raiders 8 million Gruden was thrilled about his new job It was like a storybook opportunity for me to go home he said I was a ball boy for the Bucs Gruden led the Bucs to a 12 4 record in 2002 It was the best in team history They easily defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the playoffs Then they toppled the Philadelphia Eagles on the road For the first time they were headed to the Super Bowl Their opponent The Raiders The game pitted Gruden’s old team against his new one Sportswriters called it the Gruden Bowl Many also termed it the Pirate Bowl Both teams had pirate-themed names Many people thought Oakland would win But Gruden was familiar with Oakland’s offense It had not changed much since he left His knowledge paid off Tampa Bay intercepted two passes in the first half It jumped out to a 20 3 lead left defensive back Dwight Smith 10
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Lee Roy Selmon Defensive End Buccaneers seasons 1976 84 Height 6-foot-3 Weight 256 pounds GRIDIRON GREATS SELMON ON THE MENU Tampa Bay used its first-ever draft pick to take the best player available In 1976 that was Lee Roy Selmon He was a huge but humble defensive end He was known as a genuinely nice guy He helped players up after knocking them down Opponents respected his skills on the field Green Bay quarterback David Whitehurst called him the best defensive lineman I’ve ever seen He’d make the play turn around and line up again A back injury forced him to retire in 1984 In 2000 he opened a restaurant in Florida It was called Lee Roy Selmon’s It served his mother’s recipes for dishes such as chili and meatloaf 11
