Tampa Bay Football History Network - 1983 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1983 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Doug Williams and the Buccaneers found themselves involved in bitter contract negotiations for the five year starting quarterback over the winter. Williams felt that, after leading the team to the playoffs three of the past four seasons, he deserved to be paid on a par with other leading NFL quarterbacks. Not only was he the lowest paid starting QB in the NFL, there were a dozen backups that made more money. John McKay sided with Williams, and the Bucs did offer him a better contract, but the two sides were a couple of hundred thousand dollars apart and a deal was never reached.

In March, Doug Williams' wife Janice died of a brain tumor, just ten weeks after the birth of their daughter. Williams had enough of fighting with Buccaneers management, and when the Oklahoma Outlaws offered him the money he was asking for, the Doug Williams era was over in Tampa Bay. The Bucs made some last ditch attempts to sign him, but Williams was not listening. On August 8, his 28th birthday, Williams signed a five-year deal to play in the United States Football League. In a television interview, Williams said he "Wished that the Bucs would go 0-16." The Buccaneers management took a quite a bit of heat over the failure to sign Williams, who was 33-33-1 as the Bucs starting quarterback.

Tampa Bay traded the number one pick in the 1984 NFL draft to Cincinnati for quarterback Jack Thompson. "The Throwin' Samoan" had been Kenny Anderson's backup for the last several seasons with the Bengals. The team already did not have a number one pick this year because of the deal with Chicago for defensive end Booker Reese. Reese ended up starting only seven games over three seasons. The Bucs did draft Baylor center Randy Grimes with their second round draft choice.

The Buccaneers opened the season September 4 at home with journeyman Jerry Golsteyn starting at quarterback against Detroit. Golsteyn was 14 of 21 for 120 yards, and was sacked in the end zone for a safety, before being replaced by Jack Thompson. Each team was penalized ten times and the Bucs lost two fumbles to go with a Thompson interception. Lions defensive end William Gay had 5 1/2 quarterback sacks, as 62,154 watched Eddie Murray kick three field goals and Detroit won 11-0. John McKay commented, "The defense played like a good National Football League team. The offense played like Piskey High School. That's in West Virginia, I don't know how to spell it. Here's how you yell it 'Piskey, Piskey.'"

The Bucs lead 3-0 in the second quarter in Chicago, when Jim McMahon hit Walter Payton on a 73 yard pass play to give the Bears the lead. McMahon completed 16 of 24 pass for 286 yards with two interceptions, Payton picked up 115 yards in receiving, and Jerry Golsteyn was 22 of 42 for 277 yards and an INT. The game was decided in the fourth quarter, when Chicago defensive back Terry Schmidt returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown. The Bears had four sacks in a 17-10 final. Golsteyn said of the interception, "I was trying to throw it away. It was a costly lesson."

After the loss in Chicago, John McKay installed Jack Thompson as the starting QB. Speaking of Golsteyn, McKay commented, "Jerry's a nice kid. But so's my wife. And she's no quarterback." Next was a home game against Minnesota and Vikings place kicker Benny Ricardo booted four field goals. Midway through the fourth quarter, Jack Thompson (17 of 30 for 192 yards and 2 interceptions) connected on a 5 yard touchdown pass to James Wilder to put the Bucs in front. With just 28 seconds left on the clock, Ricardo hit a 38 yard field goal to send the game to overtime. After Bill Capece missed a 33 yard field goal in the extra period, Ricardo kicked a 42 yarder to win it for Minnesota. The game winner came 9:27 into overtime and the Vikings won 19-16.

When Cincinnati came to town, Jack Thompson played against his former team for the first time. The Bengals jumped to a 20-0 lead and held a 20-7 advantage at the half. Thompson (30 of 40 for 316 yards with 3 interceptions) passed for the first 300 yard game of his career and midway through the fourth quarter he hit Kevin House on a TD pass to pull the Bucs within six points. The rally fell short with the Bucs driving for the potential game winning score, when Thompson was picked off in the end zone on a fourth down pass. James Wilder had eleven receptions for 126 yards in the 23-17 defeat. John McKay said, "The defense didn't play especially well." On the offense, the coach added, "They almost bordered on pathetic."

Next up was a blowout at Green Bay. The Bucs allowed 35 points in the second quarter and at halftime the Packers had an NFL record 49 points. Green Bay scored seven touchdowns, had 519 total yards and Jan Stenerud kicked seven extra points. Phillip Epps had a 90 yard punt return in the game, which established the record for the longest punt return against the Bucs. Green Bay rolled 55-14 and the 41 point margin was the second worst defeat in Bucs history. Linebacker Richard Wood, an original Buccaneer, compared the team to the one that lost 26 straight games. "We are grown men now, but we are reverting back to those years. That's very wrong." John McKay had no desire to speak with the media and his response to a question from a Milwaukee reporter was "Get the hell away from me before I punch you in the mouth."

After the debacle in Green Bay, the Bucs made another trip to Dallas. Jack Thompson hooked up with Jimmie Giles on an 80 yard touchdown pass and the visitors lead late in the fourth quarter. Running back Tim Newsome caught a 52 yard pass for a Cowboy TD with 47 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, Rafael Septien missed a 43 yard field goal, however, Tampa Bay was penalized for roughing the kicker. Several plays later, Septien kicked a 36 yard field goal to win the game 27-24.

Next up was St. Louis. Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax (17 of 22 for 166 yards and an interception) threw for three touchdowns, with tight end Doug Marsh catching two TD passes. Jack Thompson (20 of 30 for 212 yards and a pair of INTs) also threw three TD passes, however, he was sacked three times. St. Louis won with the Bucs scoring with a second left in the game to make the final score 34-27.

Jeremiah Castile returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown and the Bucs took a 14-0 lead after one quarter against New Orleans. James Wilder ran for a pair of first half scores and the Bucs lead at the break 21-10. The Saints would come back by recovering a fumble in the end zone for a TD and returning a Jack Thompson (16 of 34 for 124 yards with 3 picks) interception for another score. Kenny Stabler (12 of 29 for 94 yards) was intercepted four times, but he did throw two touchdown passes. Lee Roy Selmon had a big day with three quarterback sacks, twelve tackles and two forced fumbles. The Saints defense recorded seven quarterback sacks in the victory. After the 24-21 loss, the Bucs went on the road for three games. John McKay commented, "It will be good to go on the road. I think the fans have seen enough of us."

The ninth consecutive defeat came at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on October 30. James Wilder set an NFL record for rushing attempts with 42 and most total attempts from scrimmage at 48. Bill Capece booted a team record four field goals and the Bucs lead 12-0 going into the fourth quarter. While the Steelers committed seven turnovers, a touchdown run by Frank Pollard, with just 31 seconds left in the game, gave Pittsburgh a 17-12 victory.

The Bucs traveled to Minnesota and posted the first victory of the season 17- 12. Lee Roy Selmon forced a fumble, which David Logan returned 54 yards for the first Tampa Bay touchdown. A team record 75 yard touchdown run by James Wilder proved to be the winning score. Wilder had a huge game and rushed for a team record 219 yards on 31 carries. He had 179 second half yards, which are the most rushing yards for a Buccaneer in a half. His 239 total yards also set a team record. Wilder said of the record setting performance, "You carry the ball that many times and something's eventually going to happen."

James Wilder had become the bulk of the Bucs offense, but his season would come to an end at a cold Cleveland Stadium. The Buc back caught a short fourth quarter pass from Jack Thompson and took a helmet in the ribs from Chip Davis. Wilder called the hit from the Browns linebacker "A very cheap shot." Kevin House did catch 110 yards in passes, however, the Bucs were shutout 10-0 in each half. Fullback Mike Pruitt scored on two short touchdown runs, and Bill Capece missed two short field goals, in a 20-0 Browns victory. John McKay remarked, "We didn't play well and deserved to get beat by a big score. There is nothing more to say."

When the Buccaneers hosted Chicago, just 36,816 fans braved the rainy conditions at Tampa Stadium. Matt Suhey (112 yards) and Walter Payton (106 yards) lead a Bears ground attack which totaled 273 yards. Payton ran for two scores and passed O.J. Simpson to move into third place in career rushing. The Chicago defense recorded five sacks, intercepted two passes, returned a fumble for a touchdown and held the Bucs to 132 net yards. John McKay said after the 27-0 defeat "Based on today, none of our players are going to the Hall of Fame. But then again, neither am I."

On November 27, the Houston Oilers were scheduled to play the Bucs at Tampa Stadium with both teams having horrible seasons. For the longest time it looked like the game would feature winless teams, as the Bucs took ten weeks to win their first game and the Oilers did not win until week eleven. With the Super Bowl coming to town in January the game between two 1-11 teams became known as the Repus Bowl, which was Super spelled backwards. Earl Campbell scored a pair of TDs for the visitors, but Jack Thompson threw four touchdown passes for the Buccaneers. Kevin House caught a pair of TD passes, and Jim O'Bradovich and fullback Adger Armstrong caught one each, in a 33-24 victory. A frustrated John McKay told reporters, "The better team won so you can knock off the manure you've been putting in the paper about whatever kind of bowl it was supposed to be."

The 49ers used the ground attack, and five rushing touchdowns, for the next game in San Francisco. Joe Montana (21 of 31 for 227 passing yards) ran for a touchdown, Roger Craig ran for three TDs and Wendel Tyler rushed for 102 yards. Jack Thompson (25 of 46 for 337 yards with 2 interceptions) did throw three touchdowns, including a 74 yarder to Kevin House (6 receptions for 156 yards), in a 35-21 Buccaneers defeat.

On December 12, the Bucs hosted the Packers on a Monday Night and 50,763 came out to watch the 2-12 Buccaneers. Midway through the fourth quarter, Jack Thompson connected with Adger Armstrong for the game's lone touchdown and a 9-6 Tampa Bay lead. Jan Stenerud kicked a 23 yard field goal, with 28 seconds left in regulation, to send the game to overtime. Green Bay went on to win it at the 5:07 mark of the extra period on a 23 yard field goal. Stenerud, who surpassed George Blanda for most career field goals that night, accounted for all the Packers scoring in a 12-9 Green Bay victory. After the game, John McKay was upset with place kicker Bill Capece, who missed an extra point and a 35 yard field goal in the third quarter. "Capece is kaput. There will be no more field goals kicked by the Bucs this year, no matter what the score is," McKay promised. "I'm tired of being crucified." The Bucs would not appear on Monday Night Football for another fifteen years. Coincidentally, it was Howard Cossell's last MNF broadcast.

David Warnke, who played for Augsburg College, was brought in to take over the kicking duties, but McKay was true to his word and the Bucs did not attempt a field goal in the season finale at Detroit. Warnke had some miserable kickoffs and missed an extra point, so offensive guard George Yarno got into the act. When the Bucs scored a late touchdown, Yarno kicked the final extra point of the season. Jack Thompson (28 of 42) threw for three touchdowns and amassed his highest total passing yards (373) in a Bucs uniform. Kevin House caught caught eight passes for 136 yards. This is the only game in Tampa Bay history that they were not penalized. The Bucs lost to the Lions 23-20 and finished the year 2-14.

Tampa Bay finished last in the division and the fourteen defeats equaled the record set by the first Buccaneers team. They played a team record three overtime games, losing all three. The Bucs ran the ball for team record lows in rushing yards (987), average rushing yards per game (61.7) and average per carry (2.3). They also fumbled a team record 39 times. While Jack Thompson had career highs in virtually every statistical category, it did not equate into victories. One of the few bright spots during the season was rookie punter Frank Garcia, who came over from the USFL, leading the NFC in punting with a 42.2 average on 95 punts. The Bucs also established a team record with 42 quarterback sacks. Lee Roy Selmon and Hugh Green were again elected as Pro Bowl starters and the area media voted Green the Bucs' Most Valuable Player.

A high point for the franchise came on January 22, as Tampa Stadium hosted its first Super Bowl. The Los Angeles Raiders handled the Washington Redskins 38-9 in front of 72,920 fans. Marcus Allen rushed for a Super Bowl record 191 yards and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XVIII.

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