Giles has 4 TDs in a game, 4 Pro Bowls, and most TD receptions in franchise history It will be announced the morning of July 13th, 2011 that Jimmy Giles will Join fellow teammate Lee Roy Selmon and Head Coach John McKay as the newest Ring of Honor inductee to have his name and number placed on the 300 section of Raymond James Stadium.
In honor of that decision, we at Bucstop.com are proud to present a tribute video for Jimmy Giles. Comprised mostly of his 1979 Touchdowns, the video shows the magic that was the 1979 season which now has three members dedicated on the walls of Raymond James. The induction could be the Houston Texans or New Orleans Saints home games, based on my knowledge of some unrelated key events taking place on those two dates.
Jimmy Giles went to little known Alcorn State, a primarilly black University named in honor of its states governor James L Alcorn in Mississippi during 1871. Donald Driver and Steve McNair would also become Braves during their college careers. Giles was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1977, but the Oilers had their sights on Texas running back Earl Campbell. Problem is, the Bucs owned the no.1 pick overall in the 1978 draft. But the Bucs had already spent their no.1 pick in 1977 on running back Ricky Bell, so taking anyone other than Campbell would be a waste of a premium draft pick. The Oilers gave the Bucs Giles and 4 other picks. The highest of which, no.17, would be the highest drafted African American Quarterback ever in history, who too came from a small black college of Grambling State.
During the 1978 season while battling for a .500 record, Doug Williams had his jaw broken playing in game 10 at the Los Angeles Rams. Williams would miss all the rest of the games that year except the season finale in which head coach John McKay wanted him to get a little action before they broke for offseason. The next year, the Bucs would finish not only 4 games above .500, but 10 points away from going to the Super Bowl in only their fourth year of existence. Just two years before the Bucs were 0-26 and the Butt of Johnny Carson late night jokes nationwide.
Giles and Williams helped change that perception of the team. The Bucs could always play defense, but now the offense had a big play identity with the Williams to Giles connection. Tampa Bay would reach the playoffs three times in the four years from ’79-82, and Giles caught more TD passes than anyone still to this day. After Williams left the Bucs in a contract dispute, he caught passes from Jerry Goldstein, Jack Thompson, Steve DeBerg and Steve Young before being released in a cost cutting move in 1986 that saw the Bucs let go of Ron Springs and Kevin House. Giles landed in Detroit and Philadelphia before retiring as the only Bucs player to score 4 touchdowns in any one game, which he did at Miami in 1985.
Giles will be remembered forever now that his name and number 88 will mark the concourse in Raymond James.
Watch the Bucs Video in your own browser here…
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
