The international perception of Tampa Bay

Every summer, my family and I go on a vacation. Usually, our vacation is at an all-inclusive type resort somewhere in the Caribbean. This year we decided to change it up and head overseas. The two cities we selected were London and Dublin. At this point, you are probably wondering how the heck does this relate to Buccaneers football? I’m glad you asked.

During my time in these two countries, which has been about a week, my Buccaneers tattoo has caught the attention of some other tourists. On three different occasions other tourists, who weren’t from the United States, London, or Dublin, have started conversations amongst their group about the Buccaneers after seeing the tattoo.

As you can imagine, the conversations that were started weren’t positive, and the main topic from all three situations was in fact the suspension of Jameis Winston and his “troubles.” After the third separate occasion of people talking about Jameis Winston’s off the field struggles, my father turned to me and said, “It’s really a shame that when people from around the world think about the Buccaneers, the first thing that comes to mind is Jameis Winston and his past actions.”

Going off that quote from my father, I have noticed the same type of thing back in the States. The more and more people comment on the Buccaneers to me, the first thing out of their mouths is Jameis Winston and his suspension.

I think that this was an interesting story because the National Football League isn’t nearly as big in these two countries as it is in the United States. Yes, the National Football League has played games at Wembley Stadium, but still, a good majority of the people who live in Europe or other parts of the world, have probably never heard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With that being said, the ones that have, mostly have a negative view on Jameis Winston and I am at the point in my mind where I don’t know if that will ever change, no matter how many games he wins.