The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (sometimes abbreviated as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. They currently belong to the Southern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, joined the NFL as 1976 expansion teams.

The club is currently owned by Malcolm Glazer and coached by head coach Jon Gruden. Under their leadership, the team won a Super Bowl during the 2002 season.

The Bucaneers joined the NFL as members of the AFC West in 1976. The Bucs were moved to the NFC Central in 1977, while the other 1976 expansion team, the Seattle Seahawks, switched conferences with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both 1976 expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

Throughout most of the team's history, the Bucs have been known for losing. The team made history by setting an NFL record for losing 26 games in a row, a record which is still unbroken. The Bucs never won a single game during the their inaugural season, and they continued to lose 12 more games the following season. During most of the 1980s and early 1990s, the team set another ignominious record by going 13 seasons in a row with losses in the double digits. The team became the butt of many jokes, whether from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show or from some of the fans themselves, who late into the 1977 season, wore bags on their heads and encourgaged the team to "go for 0", as in zero wins.

After a particularly dismal effort during the streak, longtime Bucs coach John McKay gave perhaps the quintessential comment on the organization's plight. In a post-game press conference, Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen asked McKay about the execution of his team's offensive line. McKay responded, "I'm in favor of it." Another choice quote that summed up his frustration at the time: "We can't win at home, we can't win on the road, and quite frankly, I don't know where else to play."

Just before the end of their sophomore season, the Bucs did finally manage to win their first game—on the road, defeating the New Orleans Saints, 33-14. The win was highlighted by three interceptions returned for touchdowns, an NFL record at the time. (The team would later equal this feat 25 years later when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.) After being greeted by 8000 cheering fans when the team arrived back in Tampa late that evening after the game, the Bucs followed up the victory with a win at home over the St. Louis Cardinals during the final week of the season.

The Bucs' fortunes soon reversed under quarterback Doug Williams, and the team started the 1979 season with five consecutive victories to win their division and advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost at home to the Los Angeles Rams, 9-0. The Bucs made the playoffs again by winning their division in 1981 season and entering the first round during the strike-shortened 1982 season, but they lost both times to the Dallas Cowboys. 1982 would be Tampa Bay's last playoff appearance for 15 years, and worse yet, the team would not have a winning season during that time, either.

It can be argued that the team's lengthy woes were primarily due to how original team owner Hugh Culverhouse ran the organization. Although the Bucs were consistent losers on the field, the team remained one of the most profitable franchises in the NFL, mainly because the amount spent on player salaries was one of the lowest in the league, which prompted few quality players to sign with the team. The ones who did were often traded away--like quarterbacks Steve Young to the San Francisco 49ers or Vinny Testaverde to the Cleveland Browns--or driven away, in the case of Doug Williams, who in his book Quarterblack: Shattering the NFL Myth, tells how he fled the NFL for the USFL team Oklahoma Outlaws when Culverhouse refused to pay him a salary that was commensurate to his stature as a starting quarterback. Many Tampa Bay fans point to this event as the key reason the Bucs slid into a seemingly never-ending succession of double-digit losing seasons, no matter who was brought in to coach the team.

Upon Culverhouse's death in 1994, the Buccaneers were placed up for sale. Interested parties included New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos. In a last-minute surprise, Malcolm Glazer outbid both of them for $192 million, the highest amount of money ever paid for a professional sports franchise at that time. Glazer immediately placed his sons Bryan, Edward, and Joel in charge of the team's financial affairs, and the family's deep pockets and serious commitment to fielding a winning team allowed the Bucs to finally become competitive. The team's performance dramatically improved when the Glazers hired Tony Dungy as head coach, jettisoned the old uniform designs, and convinced Hillsborough County voters to raise sales taxes to partially fund the construction of Raymond James Stadium.

During Dungy's first season in 1996, the team continued to struggle as usual, starting the season 1-8. But in the second half of the season they finished 5-2, primarily due to the performance of a defense ranked 7th in the NFL led by Hardy Nickerson and younger players such as Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, and Warren Sapp.

In 1997, the Bucs started the season 5-0, picking up where they left off the previous season. They ended up finishing 10-6, made the playoffs for the first time since 1982, and won their first playoff game since 1979. Their season ended in the Divisonal Round, losing at Lambeau Field to the eventual NFC Champion Green Bay Packers.

The 1998 season saw the Bucs lose several close games, en route to a final 8-8 record and missing the playoffs. The following season, however, saw much better fortunes. On the strength of the NFL's #1 overall defense, the Bucs finished the 1999 season with an 11-5 record as champions of the NFC Central Division. They defeated the Washington Redskins 14-13 in the Divisional round, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams in the NFC Championship Game, 11-6.

The Bucs made the playoffs in 2000 (10-6) and 2001 (9-7) as well, but after two lopsided defeats in the first round of the playoffs in both seasons at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, Tony Dungy was fired at the end of the 2001 season. After a prolonged and much-maligned search for a new coach (during which both Bill Parcells and Marvin Lewis were considered for the position, but did not take the job), the Bucs finally hired Jon Gruden from the Oakland Raiders on February 20, 2002. The price, however, was steep - four total draft picks (the Bucs' 1st and 2nd round picks in 2002, their 1st round pick in 2003, and their 2nd round selection in 2004) and $8 million in cash. Gruden immediately went to work, acquiring former Jacksonville Jaguars WR Keenan McCardell, and RB Michael Pittman from the Arizona Cardinals to bolster an anemic offensive attack.

With league realignment in 2002, the Bucs moved into the new NFC South Division, along with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

The Buccaneers are 1-0 in the Super Bowl, having defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003, and are 1-2 in NFC Championship games. The Bucs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on the road on January 18, 2003). The Bucs have lost to the Rams twice. The first loss was in 1979 to the Los Angeles Rams in Tampa, while the second was a 1999 road game against the St. Louis Rams.

The 2002 Buccaneers became the first team ever to win the Super Bowl after not having made selections in either of the first two rounds of the previous spring's college draft (having traded these selections to the Oakland Raiders for the rights to head coach Jon Gruden), the first team ever to win the Super Bowl after having lost at home on opening day, the first team ever to win the Super Bowl after having gained less than 100 yards rushing per game during the regular season, and the first team ever to win the Super Bowl after having been eliminated in the wild-card round of the prior season's playoffs.

The 2003 season proved to be a losing one for the Buccaneers. Finishing the regular season 7-9, it marked the first time in the decade of the 2000s that both Super Bowl teams from the previous season did not even make the playoffs; Tampa Bay was thus unable to successfully defend its Super Bowl title.

In the 2004 season, the Bucs started out 1-5 after losing two of the team's best defensive players (John Lynch and Warren Sapp, both of whom had their contracts expire and were not resigned) and two top wide receivers, Keyshawn Johnson (who was deactivated by the team ten games into the 2003 season, then traded to the Dallas Cowboys for Joey Galloway) and Keenan McCardell (who held out with a contract dispute and refused to play until he was given a new contract or was traded; McCardell was eventually traded to the San Diego Chargers for draft compensation.) This was Tampa's worst start since Gruden took over the Bucs in 2002, and led to a final record of 5-11, which made the 2003-04 Buccaneers the first NFL team ever to follow up a Super Bowl championship with back-to-back losing seasons.

The 2005 season saw the Bucs return to a winning record. With their 2005 campaign marking the Buccaneers' 30th Season in the NFL, the Bucs won their first four games before entering a midseason slump hampered by a season-ending injury to starting QB Brian Griese during a win over the Miami Dolphins. The Buccaneers drafted rookie Carnell "Cadillac" Williams in the 2005 draft, and he would provide a running game the Buccaneers hadn't had since Warrick Dunn. "Cadillac" Williams would be the only RB to rush for 100+ yards his first game, and would later on become AP's Offensive Rookie of the Year. Replacement starter Chris Simms struggled early during the slump losing games to the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers; however he led the team to a last-minute win over the Washington Redskins in a 36-35 thriller to break that slump. The Bucs followed up with important wins over their NFC South division rivals, sweeping the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons both as well as defeating the Panthers for a rare victory at Carolina. The split series between Tampa and Carolina combined with the Bucs wins over the other division teams gave the Tampa Bay Bucs a tie-breaker advantage over the Carolina Panthers to win the 2005 NFC South division title. Even with a tough loss against the Chicago Bears and a humilating shutout against the New England Patriots, the Bucs finished 11-5 and earned the third seed for the 2005 NFC playoffs.

The Buccaneers 30th Season would end on a sour note, as they lost to the 6th seed Washington Redskins 17-10 in the first round of the 2005 NFC playoffs. One of the final plays of the game was highly contested by the fans, as it seemed a late touchdown would have tied the game. The apparent toucdhown was ruled incomplete and a review upheld the referee's decision. It was a fitting win for the Redskins who felt they were cheated when the two teams met earlier in the year, on 2 point conversion plunge by fullback Mike Alstott.

Furthermore the team faced criticism by fans attending their single playoff game in 2005, as many fans who ordered tickets were unable to get them until well into the game. Eventually the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were forced to admit their wrong doing, and sent hundreds of fans "thank you" packages consisting of a tshirt, hat, sweatshirt and two flags.