The reason for all the Bucs’ failures over the past decade or so has just dawned on me. Think back to when the Bucs were a dynasty... they had a few rough years after winning the Superbowl, but also won the division a couple of times. The all the sudden, BOOM. Endless & spectacular ineptitude.
Is it just a conincidence that the NFL started their trips to London around that same time (2007)? I’ve been following some of the Bucs’ social media and I just couldn’t ignore how much the Bucs are celebrating this game. I know it is mandatory that we play there this year, but it wasn’t mandatory in 2009 or 2011. And we seem to have built up quite a following in England. We already know about Manchester United and how much the Glazers love going to England. The mascot, the team name, it all just fits.
So my theory is this (keep in mind that the games are more easily influenced than ever and the rules have been changed to allow more and more subjective officiating since about 2007): The NFL is making a concerted effort to keep the Bucs irrelevant until the Bucs agreement with the TSA (Tampa Sports Authority) runs out and the Glazers are happily letting it happen. I mean, that would explain some of the head scratching moves this team has made over the past decade, would it not?
As I see it, the Glazers will try to get the taxpayers to agree to some lopsided, over-the-top, sweetheart deal for a new stadium, and when Tampa votes against it (and we SHOULD vote against it, but that’s a whole other story) they will fly across the pond and the NFL’s first international team will be born. The new CBA is due to be worked out around that same time, don’t be surprised if the NFL adds stipulations about players playing internationally. And don’t be surprised if an entire new division is created (NFL international) and is formed by clubs from Japan, Mexico, and Canada in addition to the UK.
Just remember: The Bucs get hosed out of games all the time and get hosed out of playoff berths too. The Lions game in 2010 comes to mind. The phantom OPI call in that game would have changed NFL history as the Bucs would have clinched a playoff berth over the eventual SB Champion Packers with that additional win. Instead we got a letter of apology. Last year we got the Jameis suspension dropped on us, not before the draft, but in the middle of training camp, even after Goodell was pressed early on in the offseason by members of the Tampa media, about the timelieness of the investigation. This year we got a stretch of away games that is so brutal, the guy that supposedly engineered the thing publicly apologized to us. I mean, you cant make this stuff up. The league is making it as hard as possible for us to have even a slight chance, and then when we do look like we are about to defy all odds they drop a phantom OPI call on us, or a phantom roughing the passer, or say we didn’t recover a forced fumble that we clearly recovered, or call holding on the OL because we just passed for a huge game changing TD. Don’t be surprised if all the BS suddenly ends once the Bucs are called the London Buccaneers and JBF is calling Jameis “England’s QB”... It will look similar to what happened with the Rams, or what we are about too see with the Raiders next year.
