1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

Prior to the season the Buccaneers were still unsure if the franchise would remain in the Tampa Bay area long-term. The new ownership family led by Malcolm Glazer and sons, which had purchased the team in January 1995, wanted a new stadium, new team logos/uniforms,^[1] and were open to relocation. Talks regarding funding for a new stadium to replace aging Tampa Stadium had stalled in the spring of 1996.^[2] Candidate cities for relocation included Cleveland,^[3][4] Los Angeles,^[5][6] or the nearby city of Orlando.^[7] On September 3, 1996, a ballot measure passed, which approved funding for a new stadium. The team was guaranteed to stay in Tampa, and the stadium would open in 1998.

Rule changes earlier in the decade brought about a salary cap, and a minimum spending cap forced Buccaneers to spend more on players. With the new ownership, tax disclosures showed the old Culverhouse regime was running a "for-profit" business in which players who were getting good were released before their contracts could get big, all the while claiming poor and trying to get some home games played in Orlando.

Despite having been 7–7 toward the end of 1995, the 1996 team went 0–5 before getting their first win over Tony Dungy's former team, the Minnesota Vikings. The 24–13 win over Minnesota started another streak few noted at the time, in which the team held opponents to 13 points or less in four consecutive games. Despite this, the Oakland Raiders came to Tampa Bay in Week Eleven facing a 1–8 Buccaneers team. Tampa Bay defeated Oakland 20–17 in overtime, which was the first of five wins over the next seven games.

The following week, Tampa Bay traveled to the west coast, where they historically had trouble winning. Playing an interconference game at San Diego, Tampa Bay quickly found themselves down 14–0. The morning of the game, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks were in their hotel room watching ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. Chris Berman referred to the game as the "Superchargers" versus the "Yucs"^[8][9] – a derogatory nickname that had stemmed from the Bucs' many years of futility. Sapp and Brooks finally took exception to the ridicule they were being subjected to. Tampa Bay would rally in the game with a 25–3 run and won by the score of 25–17. Tampa Bay would win two of the next three, including an emotional win over Chicago 34–19 in which the Bucs returned a punt for a touchdown.

Many fans took encouragement from the team going 5–2 in the final seven games, as well as the emergence of defensive tackle Warren Sapp who had nine sacks on the season, linebacker Derrick Brooks, and fullback Mike Alstott, who along with safety John Lynch and linebacker Hardy Nickerson, were forming the core of what would prove to be a dominant defense.

The offense struggled all season, and was not helped by an ill-advised holdout by running back Errict Rhett, who would have far fewer carries the following year.^[b][c]

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