21. Buccaneers WR Kevin House – 1980-1986

By Mark Cook

The early Bucs weren’t known for their offensive prowess. Instead they were built on defense from the ground up. However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t talent on the offensive side of the ball. Kevin House was drafted in the second round by Tampa Bay in 1980 out of Southern Illinois, and quickly become one of quarterback Doug Williams’ favorite targets.

Bucs WR Kevin House

As a rookie, House had just 24 receptions, but for 554 yards, which equaled a whopping 22.1 yards per reception. House was the deep ball threat, and Williams wasn’t afraid to throw it up for the burner from Missouri. In his second year in the league, House had his best career season, catching 56 passes for 1,176 yards, along with nine touchdowns for Tampa Bay.

House went onto play seven seasons for the Bucs, finishing his career in Tampa Bay ranking 6th in team history with 286 receptions and totaling 4,928 (17.2 yard avg.) with 31 touchdown catches. House had 14, 100-yard receiving games, which is still second in team history, just one behind Mark Carrier.

Cook’s Take: “There wasn’t a lot to cheer for offensively back in the early days of Bucs’ history. Sure there was Ricky Bell and Jimmie Giles, but, for the most part, head coach John McKay and his staff played very conservative football – instead winning with a strong defense. But when the Bucs needed to move the football, and in big chunks of yardage, it was House who heard his number called in the huddle more often than not. I still remember the “do-or-die” final regular season game of the 1981 season, when the Bucs went into the Pontiac Silverdome to face the Lions. The winner would be the NFC Central champs and earn a playoff berth, while the loser would go home and watch the playoffs on television. Late in the second quarter, following a Cedric Brown interception of Lions’ quarterback Eric Hipple, Doug Williams looked deep and found House for an 84-yard bomb and the Bucs went on to claim their second playoff berth in three seasons. House may not have been DeSean Jackson fast, but for the early 80’s era of football he was pretty close.”

The Greatest All-Time Buccaneers 20-16 will be released tomorrow on PewterReport.com.