Brother From Another Mother

If you were to call Malcolm Glazer the father of our team, then Manchester United would be our adopted brother. Around 2005, Glazer won the gamble for the club at around $1.47 billion dollars. Since then, he’s pooled money to both the Buccaneers and the Manchester United, financing their activities. So, in the grand scheme of things, one has to wonder… is Papa Glazer not allowing the Bucs enough milk from the financial teet?

While some of you may see little importance to this, I believe that it’s just as pertinent. Think about it, in many cases, a team is as good as the depth of its pockets. The New York Yankees should be considered a prime example. Look at the New England Patriots, owned by Robert Kraft (no, not the Cheese company). His company, The Kraft Group, is a company that has its fingers in the business: paper, packaging, and sports. The Patriots are the prime recipients of the sports end. To boot, Kraft is on the board of directors for Viacom and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that the Pats have a nice flow of income for their franchise. And of course, throw in all the endorsements they get for being winners. There ya go.

So going back to the Glazer Family, is it possible that the presence of another major sports team is miring Bucs attempts to build a strong football foundation? Okay, let’s look at the Glazer effect on the Buccaneers Organization. Starting from the beginning…

Before Glazer Acquisition                                    W            L            T

1995         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         7         9         0

Around this time, the Buccaneers were spiraling into bankruptcy. The bids were thrown as to who would take the reigns to (formerly) creamsickle pirates. Glazer buys the team for $192 million. Vikings Defensive coordinator Tony Dungy is hired as the new head coach.

After Glazer                                              W         L         T

1996         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         6         10         0

1997         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         10         6         0

Let’s just take into account that most rookie head coaches taking control of a new team usually doesn’t spell Superbowl (or playoffs for that matter) during their first season. I would reason that because this is a transitional phase, it takes a good season to get a real foothold on the team. In the 1997 season, the Bucs replace the orange and white with red and pewter. Oh, and they also make it to the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Okay, so there’s the short history lesson, there. Clearly, there was an apparent improvement. That’s not to say the Glazer acquisition is solely responsible for the upswing in success. The implementation of the new defense, the combination of the strong players, helped bring those much-needed W’s.

Fast forward to 2005, when Glazer won the bid for Manchester United. Since the acquisition took place in the midst of 2005, I would say that the effects weren’t really felt at the time. Heck, we even made it to the playoffs that year.

Buccaneers Record                                                W            L            T

2005         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         11         5         0        

2006         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         4         12         0        

2007         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         9         7         0        

2008         NFL         Tampa Bay Buccaneers         9         7         0

As you can tell, our numbers haven't exactly been shooting stars. Since then, the players we’ve drafted are as follows. I’ve eliminated those who are no longer present on our roster.

2006 Draft

Davin Joseph OG

Jeremy Trueblood OT

Maurice Stovall WR

2007 Draft

Gaines Adams DE

Aaron Sears OT

Sabby Piscitelli SS

Quincy Black LB

Tanard Jackson FS

2008 Draft

Aqib Talib CB

Jeremy Zuttah OG

Josh Johnson QB

Geno Hayes

2009 Draft

Josh Freeman QB

Roy Miller DT

Kyle Moore DE

Sammie Stroughter WR

Out of all those, only two seem to be the superstars on our team. Granted, some of the others are still coming into their own while others seem to be teetering off into the phantom zone. Again, this isn’t so much of a Glazer situation. This was more of a decision based upon the Gruden/ Allen tandem. Still, this does speak of our limitations when it came to signing free agents. We’ve been known to be quite stringent when it came to bringing in a free agent. So what then, is this apparent leash on the Glazer’s wallet preventing us from making the right moves?

As it stands, the Buccaneers organization as a whole seems to be going through some tough times. There’s no conclusive evidence that the Manchester United is responsible for our current woes. It’s enough to say that we have a rookie (I repeat, rookie) coach who is both inexperienced and young. We have a team that was picked apart, piece by piece, in the off season. We also happen to have one of the toughest if not the toughest schedules in the league. Who knows, maybe these are all pieces to the big puzzle that’s plaguing our team. Still, you have to wonder about our brother from another mother...

- Zeke

Statistics on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seasons taken from Pro-Football-Reference.com

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/tam/