The 2021-2022 season begins tonight for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they take on the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium tonight. Let’s not kid ourselves, ladies and gentlemen. This season is not about making the playoffs. It is not about winning the NFC Championship. It is not even about winning the Super Bowl. This season is about doing something that has not been done since the 1971 Miami Dolphins. YES. It is about going undefeated. 20-0. It is about setting records on offense and defense. It is about putting the nation on notice as to who they are and what they represent.
Even with one Super Bowl under their belts. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a franchise, as a team, as a fan base was toiling in the hinterlands. Nobody paid attention to them. The franchise, owned by the Glazer family. Has placed A-1 type people in business administration positions. They toiled hard. Kept the team immersed and in the middle of all the NFL stands for. They have become known as efficient and effective. But unless the team wins on the football field. It is all for naught.
The same goes for the football administration side. GM Licht heads up a huge operation that consumes thousands of man-hours invested in scouting each year. On film and in person. It is behind the scenes, canvassing the country, out of the spotlight work. The hours are long and the pay is not. Yet they have turned up gem after gem after gem each draft. Yet unless the team wins. Those gems look like fake jewelry.
The fan base is one of the most ardent in the nation. But they were beginning to look at each season as a reason for anxiety. Despite the hype and the bluster, the team had not made the playoffs in over a decade. They had become doormats to the Falcons and the Saints in their own division. The least of the three teams in the state of Florida. That one magical season seemed so far away. After a period of time. Even reminiscing about something good becomes an exercise in torture.
Tonight’s game vs. the Dallas Cowboys isn’t about just winning the game. It is about finding their stride. Their rhythm. Their edge. Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliot, Amari Cooper are the opposition. Not the opponent. The opponent is their own state of mind. Being on from the moment of the coinflip. Pushing away all the nagging thoughts of doubts. They will have to do this for 17 games. So this is like a 17 round prizefight. One in which you must be ready to dominate and win every round.
The Buccaneers: the franchise, the football administration, the team, and its fans, are no longer toiling in the hinterlands. They are front and center. They are the center of every national sportscast conversation. They are the darlings of the print media. They are the dreadnaught team on every NFL fan’s mind. This is where it all starts.
LET’S GO BUCKS