Everyone Wants A Piece Of The 1976 Buccaneers

The 1976 Buccaneers haven't gotten this much attention since John McKay said he'd cut every one one of them if they didn't get behind the sideline. Just imagine how it's going to be if the Dolphins go 0-15. The week leading up to that last game is going to be crazy. They might even plan some kind of get-together or something for those guys. This week, various papers have dug up even more of the old team including Mark Cotney, Lee Roy Selmon, Richard Wood and Steve Reese.

"They're going to win one, I really feel good about it," said Steve Reese, a linebacker for the Buccaneers' 1976 team, who now coaches high school football in Stone Mountain, Georgia. "I don't want to see them go through what we went through."

But the winner for best 1976 Bucs story today is, again, Pat Toomay.

One of his favourite moments was the team plane arriving home at 4 a.m. after a 49-16 loss at Oakland in Week 12.

Team officials promoted ticket sales for the inaugural season with the slogan: "Bucs Fever. Catch It."

"We start to file off the plane and there's three fans at the foot of the stairs, and they're totally wasted," he said, again erupting in laughter.

"As we come down the stairs, two of them unfurl this gigantic banner of the Bucs logo, and the most inebriated of the three steps in front of the other two and he starts the chant: 'What have we got?' And all three in unison say: 'Bucs fever!' I thought I was going to cry."

The "Bucs Fever" promotion was much better than the other disease-related slogans they pitched, including:

"Bucs Lepercy. Leaving it all out on the field!"

"Bucs Spastic Colon. Give a shit!"

"Bucs Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. We need your support!"

"Bucs Herpes. We're with you forever!"

(yes, I know none of these clips are of the 1976 Bucs, but as long as we're talking about the old days, you might as well remember some of the good times too.)