Lost Treasures: Birth of the Bucs

we Espeon classic sports century I'm Chris Fowler [Music] this is ESPN Classic [Music] ESPN Classic welcomes you to the following presentation of the National Football League [Music] I'm give Culverhouse I'd like to tell you why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to be a success [Music] when the ball was kicked off and our first football game I thought we didn't have a chance to win good enough [Music] I bombed as badly as anybody's ever done in history life [Music] we went through 140 some players the first year if their heart was beating in their arms were warmed they were on the field the team was banned but the coach was good I don't know what we'd have done we had a nobody the butt of jokes around the country around the world it has to teach us a lot about life that is an experience that would be with me for the rest of my life [Music] you can always debate which was the greatest NFL dynasty Lombardi's Packers the Steel Curtain in Pittsburgh Don Shula's Dolphins throw in Landry's Cowboys Walsh's 49ers you can make an argument for any of them but when it comes to picking the worst team of all time there's no debate it's the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers they won oh and 14 didn't win a single game and we were with them every step of the way documenting their first season in the NFL 1 Buccaneer place becomes the new home of the Bucs in June of 1976 the football team takes its character from its people and only when 40 men take the field for the first time as members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will the birth of the bus we complete this is the 25th anniversary of that season so we thought we'd revisit that team and the year they made the worst kind of football history well I got very friendly with Hugh Culverhouse the original owner of the pucks he was very interested in NFL Films of what we were doing and since he had a brand new team he was interested to see that we documented it well and one reason only that's to bring the fan great for face football he said I want to give you anything you want here I want this to be a good a good history of Buccaneers you knew NFL Films were around all the time it was kind of a given so it wasn't a distraction to me but I think it was for Coach and and the guys that came for Messi because they were used to a much more controlled environment but it was his first professional team he was coming from the college ranks and although is a high profile school USC I don't think he was used to having this much attention being paid to him by NFL Films well they can't come out on the field we'd ever let Cameron s first they K was so conscious of our wireless mic he actually covered it with his hat when one of his assistants tried to talk to him there's a cold beer if he like went to mr. Culver house with office for the coaches find out who will catch the ball took a while but finally the coach lightened up enough to include us in his jokes it's just a matter of finding who will catch the ball in traffic and I think that will be the telling factor as to who we actually end up keeping well that was so hard I couldn't all the cameras turn out takes well in films it means mistakes you know all the kinds of embarrassing things you leave on the cutting room floor well imagine trying to make a film with nothing but outtakes that's the problem we faced with birth of the bus you're gonna run them [Music] it's alright you had to catch this video to cut it hook down I'll change this drill this looks like a fire bill in a 30 grade school [Music] and I think anybody will make the Olympic team on this spot at this time you know sometimes you question whether your memory is accurate especially after 25 years so I was sort of curious to look at this footage again to see if the Bucks were really as bad as I remembered and I discovered no they were actually everything about the bucket here seems wrong from the start even the uniform design and logo thought they care about thought they were ugly remind me of a private movie assault Errol Flynn you know we're probably having those pirate hats on with pride on the side and the color and I just I didn't like it I didn't think it would go well man NFL but both of the colors that were chosen by the ownership so we went with it but I don't like it I mean the players didn't like him either well we had a lot of the orange only look like big creamsicles we weren't fond of the colors you didn't look too frightful and it's supposed to be a swashbuckler but he looked more like a happy fellow on the side of the helmet one person who appreciated the uniform was the man who lived with it every day the equipment manager Pat market shell oh I think it's a great-looking logo was originally going to be called Tampa Bay Orange and then I felt property so let's call it Florida orange so that's what it goes by it's Florida orange people say it's Tennessee yards it's not it's not Tennessee Orange and it's not the Texas orange it's just uh Tampa Bay Buccaneers the only ones that use it I thought it was a pretty sharp logo of course I'm going to because my feelings were getting hurt by all the constant criticism of this uniform and the and the helmet it's true people around the league laughed at the Bucs uniforms Mike if you called them the pastel pansies and some people called it Bruce and Bruce The Buccaneer s cause they lost I'll guarantee you they'd have been manly enough if they don't want we know that Circuit City presents Expo 2001 thirty days of what's new what's hot and what's next featuring live demos of HGTV digital photography high-speed Internet access and more all this month at Circuit City Circuit City we're with you [Music] the more powerful accurate 3.5 RL with satellite-linked navigation system today at 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Classic when Bucks owner Hugh Culverhouse hired John Mackay away from Southern Cal in 1976 he got not only the most celebrated coach in college football at the time but a man with a keen sense of humor don't forget take off your shoes please that's the only thing we're gonna get right today as a shoes I think you know his little clips and his his one-liners were original and they were funny he could have been on the stage as a stand-up comic it bothers me that they have picked us to be the worst team in football because what they're doing now is challenging your physical and your mental capacity and my ability to coach how this this hurts me second worst team I could stand it but not the worst thing he did have a great sense of humor and that there were times when things were very difficult that he would come up with a line that really did help the situation particularly with the media I've broken down the expansion teams and they've averaged winning two point seven games the first year which to me is rather difficult I figured the two but the point seven has got me wondering what the hell is going on one of the reporters after a dismal game said coach how do you feel about your team's execution but he looked back he says I'm all for it but another one that I thought wasn't pretty funny you have asked well you know what coach Ricky bill carry the ball that thirty times they said well you didn't think it was that much because the ball was not that happy with an initial kicker Peter Jackie you know he was quoted in the paper saying that my dad intimidated we've got I intend to go to all the games John the cage sense of humor seemed to rub off on the fans I remember a banner hanging in the end zone that season hit red box fever catcher because our receivers can now just kind of take member his name hey you when Mikael was winning four national championships at SC he got equipped for every occasion the laughs like the victories came hard it was hard for him you know he was used to win a national championship and all of a sudden you're losing we'll have a bunch of 10:30 there will be no wakeup of 10:30 curfew tonight is at midnight you'll have dinner and meet for the means at seven-day o'clock you're free from eight to twelve which is a time enough to do most anything John McKay died earlier this year in his final interview with us in 1998 he talked about how much Harbor was back then to build an expansion team back then in 1976 there was no free agent market and the new teams weren't awarded bonus picks in the draft they had to play almost exclusively with castoffs from the other teams I think the National Football League should be ashamed of how they did it before it was not fair of the fans not fair of the owners totally not fair of the coaches and you just didn't have any chance he has very fond memories of the players and the guys that hung him and the guys had survived and the guys have made it to 77 I think he was just the right fit for the booking ears at the time he was you're right for us and he was for us for these newspapers and these fans because the team was bad have done if we had on nobody and to put that 1976 season in perspective consider this the Bucks were shut out five times they averaged nine points a game and they're the only team to finish the season with more players on injured reserve than touchdown scored 17 players on IR 15 touchdowns that's a bad season when the K went to Tampa he brought along several assistants from Southern Cal including Wayne fonts and dick beam beams duties were many and varied dick beam was he was the fix-it man whenever we had a problem Dean was in charge of fixing it and getting it right ball round each one of these groups dick if anybody's having any shoe trouble get him all right now I'll get some other shoe job I remember dick beam as the guy that followed coach McKay around that's what I remember most about him he was to me more a handyman than anything because he he was the guy to mean that major coaching the case had a cigar made sure whatever coach McCabe need you know he had it off I think that that's too hard I think anybody on that staff with a blitz on stack ours because if he asked you to light a cigar I'd litter he was more than a gofer I mean he did took care of all the administrative work in the pad and being is good because you know he looked out for Coach I mean he had been with coach at esli and he looked out for him and that was kind of important in those days I think to have someone there a buffer you know because it got a little nasty that first year [Applause] each year at the Super Bowl he directs the pregame introductions it's a job he learned in Tampa 25 years ago including a beauty salon in Orlando and that's where we caught up with him for this interview there were three of us that came from the SC staff and a lot of them have other coaches were personal friends of Coach McKay's and and we thought we were really putting something together good Dwyane fun this was his first opportunity to coach in the pros and he was excited about it but look at me come straight ahead now suddenly might be Anatomy your body will follow your head and I tell you what guys coach McHale won't stand for the best player or even the worst player to loaf on a practice field if you don't give a hundred percent out here you can be gone you will be gone you will cut yourself here that helped him climb the ladder the head coach in Detroit good job that's good job damn good job to come back with a good buffer Wayne had two identities one for work and one for fun he loved to look at other women never did anything but I would love to look at him and he said his name was fonts before five but font ass after five and the coach Funt is after the Sun Goes Down yeah that was always a joke [Music] it's astonishing it's breathtaking it's the revolutionary Gmail profile arctica the first refrigerator that can follow filet in half the time it can 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Clair Shores en a preview of pardon the interruption thinnest 20 night hockey with the Stars Blues followed by SportsCenter and baseball tonight on espn2 rpm divided six followed by NFL tonight and later at documentary on NFL games ever played and on ESPN classic sports entry profiles Hank Greenberg and SportsCenter looks back on the top stories of the 80s later uh profile of Dan Gable and catch the new 24-hour time I would like for you to meet the staff of the team if we've gotten together so far Ron whoops Ron is a vice president operation he was head of the Oakland Raiders personnel for 13 years and Ron is number one man in 1976 Ron wolf was the changed smoky workaholic general manager of the Buccaneers at 37 he was a bright young guy but he aged rapidly that first season I came in I was too cocky too confident I was not as smart as I thought I was this was my big opportunity to go in and show everybody in the National Football League that I could run a franchise I bombed as badly as anybody's ever done in the history of the league that's a truth the main thing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers neither quality football players in order to become competitive the biggest thing we're trying to avoid is being embarrassed in the National Football League this season it was on-the-job training we were learning on a job and during my watch we set a standard in Tampa Bay they'll never be topped in the National Football League oh and 26 I cringe every time I hear that and I root for a lot of people to break that but I know that'll that'll be one record they'll never be broken Ron's fortunes improved considerably when he went to Green Bay in 1991 he built a team that won three straight division titles back-to-back conference championships and a Super Bowl in 1997 well [Music] when we interview Ron via just announced his retirement as general manager in Green Bay he was far removed from that 76 season but he did have some fond memories of his time in Tampa Bay the one thing to have them in Tampa that the greatest thing that's ever happened to Ron wolf because I met my wife there we've had 22 years of marriage now I have two children and even though we went on 26 the best thing that ever happened to me was I met my wife there the most impressive statistics associated with the 1976 Bucks all belong to Abe give Ron the team's wide-bodied offensive coordinator we have coach by naming a given that I truly love he's a super guy but I do get headaches when I have to order his coaching gear as you can see in these coaching shorts he has about a 50 waist and up to a normal person size you can see the difference and just talking about Abe's clothes in general he has the size 11 Triple E shoe his waist size is about 50 he wears a 4x shirt he's just a very large person cartoon character one of the all-time break has God did invent many eighties you know his upper body was like a sumo wrestler but from his waist down he was one part of the ball player from his waist up he was another he's behind just kind of went this way this waist went that way so it just didn't work it was funny think about Abe was that he was big and yet no he was quick on his feet if they've start to run it inside to chuckling his pants always go down to his knees they have to pull him up let's go come on come on let's go let's go let's go [Music] go fight boys heavy thing pulls your pet dog he was a real character he was fun to be around guys she was fun to be right yeah hannah bipro scouting this tom pass from cincinnati bengals table bat director of propel Tom bass looked like a James Bond villain but inside that menacing body beat the heart of a pole Tom bass was probably as I thought as much of a to personality person has I've ever seen he was so gentle when he write poetry and then recite it to you and then you see what a Hulk of a man he was yeah he was intimidating very gruff and and tough tough guy I if I was in a fight I'd want him on my side not the other side one important thing that I remember about him is he writes poetry and he's really very very good he has several books of poetry out on the market now today bass is retired and lives near the beach in Carlsbad California yeah I enjoy the water I think the water is important of my life yeah I started writing poetry when this when I was coaching them because I didn't have a lot of time to write anything else I feel the pain that odd moments throughout the day it serves as a constant reminder of the price that sometimes must be paid for a brief few moments of glory and success it's never really there on those Sunday afternoons when for 20 weeks I lose myself in flame becoming so involved I forget about my body loving just the play there can be no doubt who will be the loser in the end but I would have it no other way pro football is my way of life and part of me shall die the year I can no longer play [Music] he's gonna happen anytime that's why GEICO's here 24 hours a day every day Geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah open a cash account and get a free six months premium membership the morningstar.com some restrictions apply call 1-800 Ameritrade Discover Card gets you on game day challenge log on to espn.com keyword Discover card and enter your predictions win the chance to appear on January 1st with a host sub College GameDay Fowler Corso and her treat at the Rose Bowl and test your wits against the greatest minds in college football a Bay Buccaneer promotional film roll 3 we didn't know what to expect when we started filming birth of the Bucs during the 1976 training camp we've never done this before follow a team literally from its first day of existence right through the season it was a test for our camera crews but it was more of a test for the coaches who it's just eight weeks to mould this collection of misfits into an NFL team I remember the very first day when a really a ragamuffin bunch of kids came under that goalpost trying to look important trying to look like the National Football League we had so much enthusiasm that we had a team in Tampa that first time our camp we'd go out there and say we don't win some games he's not gonna be bad it's not gonna be a typical expansion team but then reality came in later on as far as the talent is concerned I was sure we had players that probably couldn't have played at the University of Southern California on our second team and they were starting for us our first couple staff meetings we were looking at each other saying wow we have a ways to go here good yeah we went through 140 some players the first year if their heart was beating in their arms were warmed they were on the field we basically got a lot of guys that nobody else wanted including me I played nine years of San Francisco only played about one of the nine years so I was very expendable we had our names on piece of the tape stuck to the front of our helmet so that you know we'd know who each other was so the coaches would know who each other was a collection of guys from all over the place getting together I mean in the first day people introducing people to and to one another nobody knew who anybody was I introduced myself to one guy a guy named Parnell Dickinson it was one of our quarterbacks and I'm John Mackay you what you're the coach I don't think I look that old at the time the only thing more depressing than the practices was the heat I'll tell you one thing it seemed to me like it got hotter since we came out of here I remember going out for the first practice and looking around at all these guys they were all dying I mean it was just so humid and hot I've never been in such warm conditions as there were here and in July and August different kind of heat it was very humid you could set your watch by it we actually welcomed the daily rain showers that would interrupt practice I thought the thunder and lightning was a better show than the Buccaneers every day after practice the rains come adding to the mind-bending sameness of summer camp the players found out that coach McKay was deathly afraid of lightning and a minute lightning was anywhere around you know he'd call how practiced when he saw it in the distance we got off the field he didn't want to take any chance of that thunder and lightning was incredible I remember one day Steve Sabol looks at me and he goes Hank let's go up this roof here and shoot some of this light other than the control tower at the airport Hank McElwee and Steve Sabol were the highest things in the area in an amazing electrical storm like remember we had trash bag he's on his raincoat which came on this metal roof and there's lightning going all around us that I'm saying why I thought this is it we're not for it there's no way we're not gonna get struck by lightning the most memorable scene in birth of the Bucs involved a free agent rookie halfback from the University of Illinois named John C Wilson two years away from the game have begun to erode his skills but perhaps an even greater indictment is his difficulty in learning the play I'm not doing too good mental but I think they're taking me along a little slow because I'm a little slow and learning but I can learn just about now Hank and I had positioned our camera at the far end of the field and we were rolling when John McKay told the rookie he was cut it was the first time he'd ever captured anything like that on film we're gonna have to let you go right but I think you've worked real hard on it and things up I think there's two or three guys that haven't played as much in the last year or two it I think it's tough to come back you know I think you lost some of your speed you feel like you've lost on history well no not really but like a grind muscle what kind of bad on Jhansi Wilson never caught on with another team and he quietly faded from sight except for those occasions when we would rerun that footage now when we were putting this film together we thought now here is the ultimate lost treasure John C Wilson let's see if we can find it we put our entire research staff to work trying to track down the elusive John C Wilson it's talked about making calls for about two months it was a very tedious process to go through personally I'm calling from NFL Films we're trying to track down the John see you out there try it out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976 after weeks of dead ends Ericka Pittman found our man he was living in the tiny town of South Carolina [Music] so there isn't much going on in pastry when we arrived to interview John it was the lead story in the local paper [Music] John met us at the Kings tree Junior High School where he works as a truant officer he still didn't understand why we had traveled all this way just to interview him as it turned out John had never seen the film until our producer louis schmidt played it for him that day okay we got one boy is having some problems out there as you know John Wilson coach two years away from the game have begun to erode his skills but perhaps an even greater indictment his difficulty in learning the way we're gonna have to let you go put you on waivers but if the only picture ponds you just work out everyday if you if you're not in shape to show the coach he has no idea of your ability cuz you didn't see me before okay sure okay I know that every day I had no malice I've got to give you a fair shake because I had been out and so I've taught it myself did I do the best I could did you follow them that C then we what did you feel when they didn't win the game that we'll see man I thought maybe that there are some times that you know like any human being if I be in certain situations I could've helped but when the cake cut you and I know you there were cameras around you know never saw the cameras you know I was always had tunnel vision at the time television has two so the other if I'm going back home now you know what I could do she saw that job up lays down everything I know I told my dad could you come and get me because I just got cut and he got all nervous they I get me that I really got cut with a knife or something you know I said nah man I just got you got what I'm glad you came I'll just does me in my ear I think I can go hairs on my chest now [Music] [Music] introducing Dockers [Music] [Music] and totally new Nissan Altima handy huh there's a lifesaver we're looking for a new VP of our northeast operation aren't you the VP of Northeast operations imagine what the journal could do for you get eight weeks of the journal for just 38 cents a day 50% savings of all 805 909 four hundred at eight hundred five nine to nine four hundred this is ESPN Classic here's the part of Buccaneer history 25 years ago this is the Jersey that I will as a Buccaneer back in 1976 and now this Jersey has been passed on down to my daughter and to my son this is the original Parnell Dickinson Buccaneer Jersey Parnell Dickinson was an original Buccaneer he was the backup quarterback in 1976 he only played one season in Tampa but he still has a role there on game day he's the league's designated uniform inspector it does a lot for me because now I'm still tied to the game somewhat and I'm working for the league but I'm the work that I do it for the team that I want played right [Music] at each bucks home games you'll find Parnell patrolling the field looking for an untucked Jersey here a flapping towel over there but back in the days of disco Parnell was far more concerned with football than fashion he was one of the first people other than Leroy Solomon he was one of the first Buccaneers to be loved by the community Parnell Dickenson the only rookie we have he has a great deal of natural ability he logically is coming along a little bit slower in the middle part of the thing but his ability is worth working with was Pater but I think that name may have been given to him by the opposition you get the idea on this play against the Bronco I said paid are you in play very well did you we didn't look like it hurt he said walk on a plate pretty good I said you had three interceptions he said I know but they were high intercepts they were better intercepts are better in testing on a lot better he was an interesting quarterback from the stand please the first guy that started to run around quite a bit and could run and throw not just basically a runner Parnell did like the scramble and this 46 yard game was the Bucks longest run of the entire season when I first saw my so I thought it would take it like anyone who's I thought it's gonna take him two three years to develop into a real strong quarterback but we all thought it was going to Parnell never did start a game in Tampa that's because the Bucks traded for Steve Spurrier the Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida Spurrier had been a backup quarterback with the 49ers but his name alone was enough to sell tickets that first season in Tampa he's a big name come down there and I thought he would buy us time so I realized that is a big mistake because he didn't live up to the expectation of the fans and it's not so much his fault is what was around him but you can only take it so far I don't know what they all they expected for me I hadn't done very much in nine years with San Francisco I think they made the trade just to you know have a older experienced quarterback and let's see what happens coach Vince Lombardi one time said losing it winning is a habit unfortunately so is losing so we were sort of in the habit of losing and we didn't have a very good team but we had two or three close games where we had a chance to win but it just didn't work out no one could have succeeded with the 76 bucks certainly not Steve Spurrier who was rusty after nine years on the bench in San Francisco but as badly as he was battered he still started all 14 games the Tampa Bay but Booster Club that was organized then they actually gave me the most valuable player on the team and now 14 went over 14 and a quarterback to get to award that was probably a pretty neat accomplishment Spurrier quit the Bucs after just one season today he's the head football coach at Florida where life is a lot easier he hasn't had a losing season in 12 years obviously as a head coach at Florida here I do a lot of speaking and it has given me some good joke material being the quarterback on the losing his team ever there were seven former Southern Cal players on the Bucs roster but the one who got the most attention was John McKay son Jake a number 89 McKay had two sons in the organization Jake a dear wearing his practice jersey and rich who was the father j/k was a productive college receiver but there were people both on the Bucks it in the media who questioned whether he belongs in the NFL JK seemed to sense this one he did this interview in 1976 I don't feel that I haven't made by any stretch of the imagination I if I'm one of the best four or five or three whatever they keep you know then I'll make the team if not I'll be on my way when he joined the team we didn't we didn't realize he'd be a starter but he went right to the front of the line and he was one of the starters there so I don't know I don't think I'd want to coach my son but John McKay apparently did and that led to talk of favoritism j/k worked hard in practice had excellent hands ran good routes he was somewhat small as advertised they said what he didn't have great speed he didn't have great size but he could catch the ball did a lot of players feel that the reason he made the team was because of his father yes I really think it did bother my father he you know he took it a little personally that all of a sudden he's going to play his son over player X I bothered him a little bit I don't think it bothered my brother still when you're the coach's son things can be a little awkward in the locker room but in spite of that Jake a big find at least one bright moment in that dismal season I recall one thing that I was starting wide receiver and I was the first player introduced in the history of that franchise which was kind of cool [Music] one McKay is still what the club and helping to build it into a Super Bowl contender that's rich McCain who started as a ball boy then went to Princeton and became a warrior he served as the Bucs legal counsel in 1989 and five years later assumed the role of general manager he was like a ball boy or whatever on the sidelines being a part of it always very interested in the game very bright young man we all knew that rich was you know a very young guy who was retrieving balls you know for me back then who was just a kid and now he runs the entire organization when you trace it all the way back to 1976 when he was tossing the ball around on the sidelines and now he's the general manager of a contending team it's quite an evolution there's something in the blood and the K blood this is pretty good athletically [Music] [Music] very cheap [Music] time to redo the kitchen let's skip that home equity long dick thanks on the job so Ferguson bang we need a loan right [Music] one banks too cool for your home equity loan come to Lending Tree calm fill out one form and get up to four offers within hours when banks compete you win at lending recom you never thought about the US Army or Army deserve this there are two hundred twelve ways for you to become a soldier and work at a job call one eight hundred nine to find out which job is for you and discover the two hundred twelve ways you can be an army of war access nfl.com for official fantasy football get exclusive features and real time scoring free at NFL dodge on 1 July 30th the Buccaneers flew to Los Angeles for the preseason opener the first game in franchise history it's a long flight from Tampa Florida to tell off edgeless and we're chartered this plane called McCullough air lives and I've never heard of McCullough air lab the only McCullough I ever heard was Chang sauce I'm said and now there's a McCullough Airlines I'm a little bit worried right away but John McCain it was a return to the scene of his greatest coaching glory to see this team now or during the training camp I've got a team we're gonna see I have no idea that they barely know each other's name we actually had a lot of fans out here because of my dad primarily and and the fact that we had probably a dozen FC players on the team at the time going back to my hometown and as many people I know and like out there and I hope someone like me and I come to the game it'll be an unusual thing I guess but I'm fully prepared to meet my maker out there at the LA Coliseum the team's dress in the JSON locker rooms and the ears seemed defeated just watching the Rams file out of the door it was the first glimpse of what was ahead for John McKay that season the coach agreed to wear a microphone that night the result was vintage McKay equal parts anger and humor oh geez gentlemen we can't stop the pass or a run hell of a lot of careers going Monday yeah let's play everybody hell we're just talking about we're not through with one thing here we can't play that's now let's just replace the guy with the football damn chicken he got out of here that's what I say we got many cooks you know no sour yeah yeah I figured that you would stagger around what's wrong with playing Mon in the game got nothing made the biggest thing I remember was the sideline the sideline coach always one of the guys back from the sideline you can't be on the sideline you got to be back and the guys were never back he was screaming you know who's in charge of the sideline and of course nobody wants to be in charges but and then he turned around he said I'm cutting everybody everybody near the sideline is light in the game it appeared the Bucs had scored their first ever touchdown on a run by backup quarterback Parnell Dickenson that recall touchdown being called back was uh police think somebody was holding on the play but those types of things happen all year long I mean that every game there was something that would go wrong it was a broken play it was a scramble play and he was very very upset with the execution of the offense when that game I always thought that that was so hard for him to return to a place where he had had so much success and to walk in there and know that it wasn't going to turn out the way he wanted it to that had to be art Gemma I would hope the hell we could play more aggressive football I have never seen a team tackle this poorly in football in my whole life 27 years of coaching that's the worst exhibition exactly such what you think of your professional debut with the professional wrestling well we we made up for it by not tack on New York and September 11 caused a lot of turmoil and fear among those who suffered a severe loss of confidence our our young people we can help by talking honestly the children assuring them that they are safe and by explaining that there are only a few bad people there for bad things don't happen very often we could restore confidence in children by demonstrating our own courage and ability to overcome most importantly we should never let them feel like they are the victim the Americans are going through a tragic time we all have painful emotions following these hideous events here are some ways to get through this time of crisis please ask for help if you wanted avoid repetitive viewing of the terrible images and do something donate money donate blood volunteers for more information contact your local American Red Cross chapter or visit our website together we can Sunday on ESPN Classic sometimes the only thing worth fighting for I gotta do something like boy [Music] jon voigt about my my my my they done away and Ricky Schroder [Music] classic red shell 9 p.m. Sunday Oh be on ESPN Classic number 53 is Larry ball 25 years ago he was a linebacker for the Bucs today he coaches badminton at Croft high school in Cooper City Florida short serve your short service to make them pop it up no we haven't confirmed this but we feel pretty confident in saying Larry is the first football player to go from the shuttle run to the shuttle one thing we do know is he's the only NFL player to experience the high of an undefeated season and the low Hubbell winless season that's because prior to joining the Bucs he played for Don Shula's 17a no Miami Dolphins in 1972 I have a little trivia question where I'm the only person to have done that it's nice to be able to say that I have something that's mine Lee Roy Selmon stands alone in the history of the Tampa Bay franchise he was the team's first ever pick in the 1976 draft and today he is the only Buccaneer enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame picking Lee Roy Selmon was the only easy decision Ron wolf had to make that first season we had the first pick in the country and Lee Roy Selmon we think he's gonna be an outstanding professional football player probably played 10 15 years I was very excited I remember the nervousness the butterflies coming in Solman played nine seasons with the Bucs and when the team made the playoffs in 1979 he was one of the few holdovers from the original roster the you could see that there was another level that you were competing against that was much more required of you if Leroy had one fall as a football player it was his gentle nature there were coaches who felt he could have been even greater if you were more like his brother doing to be here with my brothers was totally unexpected because we were graduating out of oak on the university we were told by everybody he would never play together again that happened that was excited Leroy is a little bit nicer than dude and if you were laying on the ground Leroy is gonna jump over you he's gonna step on you you know so when we got both of them it was a real pick he was our one star that we had at the time was uh Leroy and the AP had played on a major market team every household would have talked about it but he became an all-pro and a Hall of Famer anyway so that tells you how strong he was it's been said that it would be very hard for me to get into the National Football League Hall of Fame for a lot of reasons that you have not participated in a Super Bowl you've not been on a championship team and all those things are true I'm so appreciative of someone in Tampa Bay who always put a sign in the counter of the end zone that says Lee Roy Selmon for the Hall of Fame I don't know who that was but that is very special so you kind of kind of people that live in the Tampa Bay area this weekend Enterprise rent-a-car announces special low rates from just $9.99 a day Friday till Monday from just $9.99 a day big enterprise will pick you up Circuit City presents Expo 2001 30 days of what's new what's hot and what's next featuring live demos of HGTV digital photography high-speed Internet access and more all this month at Circuit City Circuit City we're with you announcement from the American property Network you can buy cars for as low as twenty-nine dollars per month choose from thousands of cars repossessed and seized by the US Marshal IRS FBI and private organizations call 1-800 three seven zero twenty sixteen foreclosed homes and distressed properties are selling for as low as $1.99 per month call 1-800 three seven zero two zero six zero for current auction listings call 1-800 three seven zero 2016 call toll free Hank Greenberg was a tough Jew when tough shoes were important one century Wednesday he felt every home run he gets in 1938 was the home run against pillar to fall on the kite who would earn you a punch in the mouth people did not expect Jews to be good athletes single seasons that he had were phenomenal he gave to the name too the village Steven Shainberg Ford century the captors in beyond a p.m. Wednesday the yen classic John McCain won four national championships at USC he wrote books and lectured on the science of winning but none of that prepared him for his first season in Tampa 14 League games 14 losses there's never been another season like 10 yards is not very far in a football field but with our office where we broke the huddle it means we'll been a mile I remember late that season we had to go there up to Pittsburgh play the Steelers with Fred no Blount Lynn Swann Franco Harris and that one of the greatest teams in the history of the NFL I I don't have ever gone on a field feeling we would somehow get a win we played them tough I think we lost 40 good enough are they gonna name the score I mean there was so much better than we were and then there was jokes made about us and we were the butt of jokes around the country around the world and the comedian's like Johnny Carson on a nightly basis would have jokes about the Buccaneers we were very often on it's Joe plan they lose the part of as monologue at least he talked about it you know he's not talking about the Rams and the Bears somebody else he's talking about our football team the Fox knew when they faced Seattle in week six it might be their only chance for a win you see the Seahawks were also a first-year team and both clubs were all in five when they met in what the press called the expansion hold this was kind of the measuring stick and we both came in at the same time where you know let's see where we are well how are we compared to them I thought personally that we matched up well against this team I think this is gonna be our first win I mean you're really doing there with this attitude we're gonna win again you come that we're gonna win the game the game went back and forth neither team was really good enough to win but the Bucks were just bad enough to lose I think of all the lawsuits we took that was a hardest goes for the guys were totally depressed I think it was probably the lowest point of the year I remember crying it out to that game and it's just like I can't believe I can't believe we didn't win this game I think that was like the final dagger when when we didn't get the Seattle that we knew this is definitely possibility of not winning any that's when it first set in my goodness we're gonna go through this whole thing and never win a game what a disgrace that is tore at the end of that year you know you would give me kind of wonder well you know the odds got to be in our favor to one game just clearly on odds the sake of odds we should win one game here but it didn't happen you [Music] the cars you can depend on the cards at last [Music] we'll be there I hate crepes ravine and purple and heedless sure they taste great but on a supermarket floor they can make the nasty slipped and fall hi I'm al mangonia safety specialist with Liberty Mutual Insurance there's no reason the supermarket Lord has ever be a dangerous place so we're working on non-slip flooring and other materials to keep you safe Liberty Mutual it's more than insurance it's insurance in action I also hate bananas [Music] the year 2001 marks the silver anniversary of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but there are no ceremonies planned to honor that 70 16 and over unions no parades it may just be that this film is the only recognition they received I'm kind of sad that they're not gonna honor the team I think what the team went through together you know with that losing season is unique in the annals of pro football and probably all sport and that win and if the team got to be really good most of us probably wouldn't be around anymore it was a very close-knit group for that reason even though they weren't the greatest memories in the world they are memories and a lot of good things came out of that a lot of the things that happened to us made us better people for it of course we would love to have been undefeated rather than winless but we had we had some great times and I made some great friends along the way and we built something that was really good just for the record the Bucs didn't win a regular-season game until December of their second season their losing streak can reach 26 games by then they finally beat the Saints in New Orleans and when they flew home there were 5,000 fans waiting at the airport to greet them ESPN Classic thank you for watching this presentation of the National Football League the NFL is online at NFL comm for more log on to espn.com you're watching ESPN Classic

Channel: Max Carey

Views: 11,333

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Id: 6pM_i6iGR5M

Length: 60min 53sec (3653 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 06 2019