The NFL will throw its biggest party Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, and the stadium’s main tenants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hope they are invited. Actually, they hope they qualify for the Super Bowl, pro football’s ultimate game.
That’s a tall order any year, what with injuries, strength of schedule and the fact there are other teams in the NFC with designs on the same prize. Also, there is history which is decidedly not on the side of the hometown team when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday. No team whose home stadium was the site of the Super Bowl ever advanced to the Big One. In fact, only five teams whose stadium was the site of the Super Bowl actually qualified for the playoffs that season. Miami did it four times – 1970, 1978, 1994 and 1998.
The 2000 Bucs are the other team. “Every year every team has that goal coming in, to get to the Super Bowl no matter where it is, and it just happens to be in our stadium this year,” Bucs linebacker Cato June said. Tampa has been the site of three Super Bowls – Super Bowl XVIII, played on Jan. 22, 1984 at Tampa Stadium, Super Bowl XXV played at on Jan. 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium and Super Bowl XXXV on Jan. 28, 2001, the first played at Raymond James. If the fourth Super Bowl played in Tampa is anything like the first three, there is a good chance we will see something we have never seen before on a Super Bowl Sunday.
We’ve seen spectacular performances by running backs and dominating displays of defense. We’ve seen a ball control offense like never before. And we’ve seen a heartwarming homecoming for a former Buccaneer quarterback who found himself drenched in a rain of confetti after the final gun. Marcus Allen delivered an electrifying 74-yard touchdown run in the second half of Super Bowl XVIII as the Raiders pounded the defending champion Redskins 38-9. Allen set a pair of Super Bowl records that day: the longest touchdown run and the most yards rushing (191). Oakland’s 38 points were also a record for points scored on Super Bowl Sunday.
Folks remember the Super Bowl’s second trip to Tampa for the 47-yard field goal Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood missed in the final seconds that allowed the New York Giants to hold on to a 20-19 victory. But that game was a study in ball control. The Giants controlled the ball for an amazing – and Super Bowl record – 40 minutes, 30 seconds. That offensive domination included a 14-play, 75-yard, 9:29 minute third quarter drive that concluded with a 1-yard plunge by Ottis Anderson.
The last Tampa Super Bowl saw on old friend, former Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer, rise to the top of the football world with a solid effort in a game dominated by his defense. The Ravens defense throttled the Giants in a 34-7 route. The Bucs reached the playoffs that season as a Wild Card, but lost in the first round. They’re hoping to do much better this time around. In 2000, Bucs fans were seen around town wearing T-shirts that said: “Super Bowl XXXV at Raymond James Stadium. Just another home game.” A slight adjustment to Super Bowl XLII and the slogan still works. Maybe.
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