On this day, January 16th, in 1995 Maclom Glazer bought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for $192 million after the previous owner, Hugh Culverhouse, had passed. At the time, the sale of the Bucs franchise was a league record.
He paid $192 million, a league record at that time. Current day, the Glazer family manages an organization worth almost $2 billion. Not a bad investment for such a short period of time.
After Malcom Glazer bought the franchise, its fortunes quickly changed after they brought on HOF coach Tony Dungy and drafted HOF’s DT Warren Sapp and OLB Derrick Brooks. In just Dungy’s second season they had a 10 win season, and then after an 11 win season in 1999 to clinch the Bucs divisional record since 1981.
When HOF Head Coach Jon Gruden took over coaching duties in the 2002 season, he took the organization to the promise land, in his first season, after so many years of waiting. Winning Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego against his former team, the Oakland Raiders.
The change in ownership obviously made all the difference for this Tampa Bay club. The change made the team profitable, produced Hall of Famer players / coaches, and brought the Lombardi trophy to the Bay.
As the Bucs open a new chapter under Head Coach Bruce Arians, maybe he can rub off some of that winning magic from years past in Buc history, and bring this team back to relevancy.
