| 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Hugh Culverhouse |
| Head coach | John McKay |
| Home field | Tampa Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 0–14 |
| Division place | 5th AFC West |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | None |
| Team MVP | Dave Pear |
The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's first season in the National Football League (NFL). The Buccaneers played their home games at Tampa Stadium and their inaugural head coach was John McKay. The Buccaneers gained infamy as the first team to play an entire 14-game season without winning or tying a single game (including five games where they never even scored). It remains one of only four winless seasons since the merger. The Buccaneers did not score until their third game and did not score a touchdown until their fourth. They lost by more than a touchdown eleven times. Colorful, maverick former USC coach McKay, whose wisecracking remarks occasionally agitated fans and the league, led the team. The only bright spot was future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Lee Roy Selmon, who made his rookie debut in an injury-plagued season.
The expansion draft was largely made up of aging veterans, giving the Buccaneers little basis for success. The lack of medical information provided on players in the expansion draft contributed heavily to the team's problems, as they finished the season with 17 players on injured reserve. They were last in the league in points scored, touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns.[1] After a 19-point fourth-quarter performance brought them within striking distance of a victory in week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs, they were blown out of every game the rest of the season.[2] Subsequent expansion teams were given a more generous allotment of draft picks and expansion draft opportunities, in part to avoid a repeat of the Buccaneers' difficulties.[3]
This was the only season in which the Buccaneers were not members of the NFC. Instead, they played in the AFC's West Division, after which they switched conferences with their expansion brethren, the Seattle Seahawks, who took their spot in the AFC West per the NFL's plan to have the two teams play all of the other teams in their first two seasons. From 1977 to 2001, the Buccaneers represented the NFC Central, which was otherwise filled with teams from the Great Lakes region (Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings). Since 2002, both teams have played in the NFC, with the Buccaneers in the South and the Seahawks in the West.