1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

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The 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season continued their season-long losing streak of 1976. They began play with a somewhat-improved lineup that included a running back (Anthony Davis) playing as a rookie for the third time, in his third different league, and a free-agent linebacker from Miami (Cecil Johnson) who chose the Bucs over three other teams so that he "wouldn't have a long, sad ride home" if he didn't make the squad.^[1] Their first victory as a franchise came in week 13, 33-14 over the New Orleans Saints. Over 10,000 celebrating fans greeted the team on their return from New Orleans.^[2] The win ended a 26 game losing streak which, as of 2009^[update], remains a record in the modern NFL. They scored only six touchdowns and were shut out six times during the season, which also remains an NFL record.

[edit] Offseason

[edit] NFL Draft

• Charley Hannah played defensive end in college, but was converted to offensive guard in the pros.

The Buccaneers traded away all of their picks from rounds 4-7. The 4th-rounder went to the Cincinnati Bengals for running back Charlie Davis. The 5th was traded to the Miami Dolphins for linebacker Ray Nettles. Their 7th was traded to the New York Jets for linebacker Richard Wood. They had extra picks in the 6th and 9th rounds, from the Oakland Raiders in return for safety Cedric Brown. Both of the Bucs' 6th-round picks were in turn traded to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Gary Huff. Finally, they received an additional 10th-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in return for guard John Miller.^[3]

[edit] Regular season

The Buccaneers joined the NFL as members of the AFC West in 1976. The following year, they were moved to the NFC Central, 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 teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

1977 saw the Buccaneers defense beginning to gel, allowing only one 100-yard rusher (Walter Payton) in the 14 games.^[4] Unfortunately, the offense did not have the level of talent that the defense did, and the lack of offensive production was such that they were shut out six times over the season. Quarterbacks Mike Boryla and Gary Huff having been injured in preseason, the team opened the season with third-string quarterback Randy Hedberg.^[5] "We couldn't score against a strong wind", McKay said after one loss. After yet another shutout dropped the team to 0-26, McKay exclaimed, "I may quarterback the team myself."^[6] Opponents, fearful of the humiliation of being the first team to lose to Tampa Bay, played the Bucs extra hard. Said New York Giants coach John McVay following a victory, "In 25 years of coaching I've never had as much pressure on me as I did this week". T-shirts depicting a sinking pirate ship with the inscription "Go for O" became popular in the Tampa area. The season's first victory, and the franchise's first overall, did not come until week 13 on the road against the New Orleans Saints. Said Saints head coach Hank Stram following the loss, "What a nightmare. It was the worst experience of my coaching career. We're all ashamed for our people, for our fans, for our organization". He was fired the next week. The Buccaneers followed this the next week with their first home victory, 17-7 over the St. Louis Cardinals. Cardinals coach Don Coryell was also fired following the loss. The two-game winning streak ended the Buccaneers' losing streak at 0-26.^[7][8][9]

[edit] Schedule

[edit] Division standings

[edit] 1977 Roster

^[10][11][12]

[edit] Awards and honors

• Lee Roy Selmon, All-Pro selection

[edit] References

• Buccaneers on Pro Football Reference