FAB 2. Wilder At The Center Of Bucs’ Wildest Game

James Wilder’s record-setting season in 1984 was almost even better for the Buccaneers running back. While he set an NFL record for most carries in a season with 407 that year, he nearly broke Eric Dickerson’s league record for most yards from scrimmage of 2,244 that was set that season.

Wilder needed 179 yards to break Dickerson’s record entering the season finale, which was at home against the New York Jets and their stingy defense led by defensive end Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko and Kyle Clifton. Gastineau recorded two sacks of Steve DeBerg that day to finish the season with 22 sacks, which was the most in a single season – an NFL record that stood for 17 years until Michael Strahan broke it in 2001.

Former Bucs RB James Wilder – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

But the Buccaneers, who entered the game with a 5-11 record, and their fans had a much different record in mind that day. The game was to be the final game for head coach John McKay and the team was highly motivated to send him out a winner. Tampa Bay also had the motivation to get Wilder the all-purpose record in the process.

Tampa Bay jumped out to 17-0 lead early and never looked back in a convincing 41-21 victory. But what transpired at the end of the game was unbelievable and very controversial. It was the wildest finish to any Buccaneers game in franchise history.

In an effort to get Wilder the record, the Bucs tried an onside kick to get the ball back for their offense despite leading by 27 points in the fourth quarter. While Tampa Bay fans cheered their team on, the New York players were visibly upset and were cursing McKay and his coaches. The Bucs attempted three onside kicks with the first two being called back due to penalties. The Jets recovered the final onside kick attempt, and McKay was desperate to get the ball back with Wilder gaining 163 yards at that point and needing 16 more yards to break Dickerson’s record.

According to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, the hometown crowd was chanting “Wilder! Wilder!” and the song “Born To Be Wild” blared over the sound system at Tampa Stadium.

New York drove down the Tampa Bay 9-yard line after Ken O’Brien hit Wesley Walker with two completions. The signal came in from Bucs defensive coordinator Wayne Fontes to let the Jets score. After Johnny Hector ran up the middle he was tackled at the 2-yard line, according to an account published by the New York Times, and was tackled by Tampa Bay safety Mark Cotney, who immediately slapped his helmet and shook his head in disbelief.

According to the New York Times, “Cotney said later that the Buccaneer defensive coordinator, Wayne Fontes, a likely successor to McKay, had screamed at him from the sidelines, ‘What are you doing?’”

Former Bucs head coach John McKay and DC Wayne Fontes – Photo by: Getty Images

On the next play, Hector ran off right tackle and scored as the Bucs stood there and made no attempt to tackle him. The New York Times wrote that linebacker Keith Browner threw up his hands and backpedaled away from him. Several Bucs defenders were upset as 56 seconds remained in the game.

No footage of the Bucs vs. Jets game is available on the Internet, so I reached out to Paul Stewart of BucPower.com, which has the most comprehensive history of the Buccaneers, for some help. Stewart’s BucPower.com site is definitely worth you’re time if you’ve never been there and I encourage you to visit.

Stewart said the Bucs vs. Jets game is “one the Holy Grail games not available on video/DVD,” but he did have a clip of Hector’s touchdown that Tampa Bay’s defense allowed him to score. You can view that clip by clicking here.

The Buccaneers don’t even have any photos from that game in their archives.

The Jets defense had been keying on Wilder all game, holding him to 103 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns – yet his longest run was only 11 yards. Knowing that Wilder was going to get the ball, the Jets defense stiffened, holding him to zero yards in three carries before timed expired. Wilder fell 16 yards short of breaking Dickerson’s record.

Former Raiders running back Marcus Allen would break the record the following year with 2,314 all-purpose yards. Former Titans running back Chris Johnson is the current record holder with 2,509 yards during the 2009 season.

At the conclusion of the Bucs vs. Jets game, backup quarterback Pat Ryan and assistant coach Mike Faulkiner approached McKay on the field and cussed him out. After the game McKay defended his decision to let Hector score, saying “Believe me, if I didn’t do it this way, I would have been lynched. I’m not too popular around here, anyway.”

After the game Tampa Bay inside linebacker Scot Brantley discussed letting Hector score.

“At first we considered having everyone blitz and leaving someone free for a touchdown pass,” Brantley said. “But that was changed because that might embarrass somebody. So we decided just to play it soft. Fontes said to make it look inconspicuous.”

According to the New York Times, Jets head coach Joe Walton was incensed after the game.

“I think it was a total embarrassment for the National Football League,” Walton said, noting that McKay didn’t come over to shake hands after the game. “Every league I’ve ever been in, the winning coach comes over to the losing coach. Is this some new league he’s in? We try to keep the league as competitive as we can, as forthright as we can, as classy as we can.”

NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle fined McKay an undisclosed sum between $5,000 and $10,000, which was the largest of its kind back in the 1980s for damaging “the integrity of the game.”

Former Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse – Photo by: Getty Images

According to NFL spokesman Joe Browne said the fine was the first of its kind, “It’s believed to be the largest for this type of thing. I don’t know if there is any precedent for this type of action where a team allows another club to score. I don’t recollect any fine for this type of offense.”

It is believed that Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse paid the fine for McKay.

Jets cornerback Russell Carter said the defense took some satisfaction in the fact that Wilder didn’t set the record against New York in the game’s final minute.

“They thought we’d just lie down and let him get the record,” Carter said. “But we didn’t, and I guess that gives us a little satisfaction.”

True satisfaction would come a year later when the Bucs traveled to New York for a rematch with the Jets. The Bucs started the first season with Leeman Bennett as the head coach a dismal 0-9 before shutting out the St. Louis Cardinals 16-0 to claim Tampa Bay’s first win of the season.

But the excitement would be short-lived as the Jets sought revenge for the season-ending loss a year earlier, and the embarrassing ending to that game. Despite jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Jets would score 31 unanswered points to crush the Bucs, 62-28. The 62 points allowed would become a dubious Tampa Bay record that still stands today.

Although Wilder would score twice in that game from short range, the Jets defense zeroed in on him all game and held him to 13 yards on 14 carries. Wilder’s longest run was eight yards. That meant he produced just five yards on the remaining 13 carries, in addition to catching just one pass for 10 yards.

For the Jets it was a fitting end to a two-year saga with the Buccaneers in which they were a part of one of the most questionable moments in NFL history.

“I actually played in a game where the coaching staff told me to let the opposing running back score, so that James Wilder could get the ball in the final seconds and break the record,” said former Bucs defensive back Beasley Reece, who had a career in sports broadcasting following his NFL career. “That’s so against what you’re taught, but that’s the kind of things that happened with the Buccaneers!”