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It’s the one game I can never wait for, the return of the Bucs Orange Uniforms, and the best ones; Orange Tops and White Pants. Synonymous for the early Bucs who actually were winners more than losers, the team would eventually play more games in white tops, or the Sam Wyche era White tops and orange pants, but those were more of a burned yellow. This is Florida Orange, the exact color of the 1976 Bucs and same color they wore in 1981 when the Bucs returned to the playoffs to win a division championship following a disapointing 1980 season that saw them go 5-10-1.
The 1981 Bucs went 9-7, but the key win for the team was a shootout with the Atlanta Falcons in week 14 that went back and forth but ended up in the Bucs favor with a 24-23 win on the back of Kevin House with his 71 yard Touchdown bomb from Doug Williams with less than 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter. It set up a week 16 showdown in the Silverdome with the red hot Detroit Lions who had not lost a single game at home in the ’81 season. The Bucs came to play, and though appeared ready to go down 14-3, an interception and another long bomb to Kevin House made it 10-7 Bucs. Later in the game, Lee Roy Selmon stripped the ball and David Logan picked it up and ran it back for a TD.
Both of those players will be looking down at halftime Sunday as Jimmie Giles is inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor, the 3rd such induction following Lee Roy and Head Coach John McKay. Giles was a 4 time pro-bowler, and holds the record for the ONLY Buc to have 4 touchdowns in one game: 4 against the Marino led Dolphins in 1985. Bucs lost that game 41-38 though they were heavy underdogs to Shula’s Boys.
When the Glazers purchased the Bucs, they couldn’t put those Orange uniforms to rest quick enough. I personally never thought we would ever see them again. But the team released Orange clothing products, and they did very well in market tests. Turns out it todays Bucs fans have been so long removed from the uniforms, that they don’t identify with losing, rather engage in the whole ‘Retro’ fashion that is always in.
The Bucs wore the Orange Tops and white pants at home, back then there were rules that the first few Bucs games had to be night games, but they were not covered by network, and thus the videos from these games have been lost. Eventually after McKay left as coach, the Bucs started to wear white tops and white pants, basically the away uniform, at home early in the season. This became the more dominant uniform combination that Bucs fans would see at Tampa Stadium. In 1992, Sam Wyche became Bucs coach, and the team made its first major uniform design change, with Orange Pants and white tops, similar to the Washington Redskins. The Bucco Bruce logo on the helmet was also enlarged a bit. During the 1994 throwback games, the Bucs wore their white on white uniforms and smaller logo.
1997 marked the departure of the Orange, as the uniform was sent off a pirate ship in the Tampa Bay, made to ‘walk the plank’ in a mock fashion. This will be the 3rd return, in 2009 the Bucs won their first game of the year and first of Raheem Morris’ tenure over the Packers, and last year the Bucs narrowly lost in the final minutes to Atlanta.
The 1981 Bucs featured a rookie running back who may make the Ring himself one day, James Wilder, and first round draft pick, Hugh Green. Both should be in attendance at the game Sunday.
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