The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (often shortened as the Bucs) are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL) – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West. The team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team. The Bucs played their first season in the AFC West as part of the 1976 expansion plan. After the season, they switched conferences with the Seattle Seahawks and became part of the NFC. The club is currently owned by Malcolm Glazer. They play their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

The Buccaneers are the first post-merger expansion team to win a division title, win a playoff game, and to host and play in a conference championship game, this was accomplished during the 1979 season. They are also the first team since the merger to complete a winning season when starting 10 or more rookies, which happened in the 2010 season. In 1976, The Buccaneers lost their first 26 games. After a brief winning era in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the team suffered through 14 consecutive losing seasons. Then, for a 10-year period, they were consistent playoff contenders and won Super Bowl XXXVII at the end of the 2002 season.

Tampa Bay is a large, natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay.

"Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality. This misconception probably stems from the naming of several professional sports franchises (including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, and FC Tampa Bay) whose names represent the collective Tampa Bay Area, the hub of which is the city of Tampa, Florida.

Approximately 6,000 years ago, Tampa Bay formed as a brackish drowned river valley typeestuary with a wide mouth connecting it to the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to that time, it was a large fresh water lake, possibly fed by the Floridan Aquifer through natural springs. Though the exact process of the lake-to-bay transformation is not completely understood, the leading theory is that rising seas levels following the last ice age coupled with the formation of a massive sink hole near the current mouth of the bay created a connection between the lake and the gulf.

Mark Barron (born October 27, 1989) is an American football safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Alabama, was twice recognized as an All-American, and was a member of two BCS National Championship teams. He was drafted by the Buccaneers in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft with the 7th overall pick.

Barron was born in Mobile, Alabama. He attended St. Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile, where he played for the Episcopal Saints high school football team. He played multiple positions, including running back, wide receiver, and linebacker from 2004 through 2007. As a junior, Barron had 785 yards rushing as a junior on 78 carries and added 368 receiving yards on 23 catches, scoring a total of 12 touchdowns. As a senior, Barron was the MVP of the 2007 Class 5A state championship game after rushing for 1,094 yards on 122 carries with 15 touchdowns in his senior season. He was also named first-team Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State selection in Class 5A as a senior.

Dashon Hugh Goldson (born September 18, 1984) is an American football safety for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Dashon started playing football with the Tri-City Falcons which is a Pop Warner team in Harbor City, California. He played college football for the Washington Huskies.

Goldson played high school football at Narbonne High School in Harbor City where as a senior he totaled 130 tackles and six interceptions, with two returned for touchdowns.

Goldson played college football for the Washington Huskies where he played 43 games and recorded a total of 293 tackles, six interceptions, two forced fumbles and one sack. He graduated in June 2006 with a degree in American Ethnic Studies.

(* represents 2007 NFL Combine)

Goldson was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round (126th overall) in the 2007 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he played in ten games, recording 15 tackles as a backup to then-starting safety Mark Roman. In his second year with the 49ers, Goldson recorded 21 tackles as a backup.

Lovie Lee Smith (born (1958-05-08)May 8, 1958) is the head coach of the Chicago Bears professional football team of the NFL. Smith has been to the Super Bowl twice, as the defensive coordinator for the 2001 St. Louis Rams and as the head coach for the Chicago Bears in 2006.

Lovie Smith was born in Gladewater and raised in Big Sandy, Texas. He was named after his great aunt, Lavana. During Smith's high school career in Big Sandy, he earned all-state honors for three years as a defensive end and linebacker. His team won three consecutive state championships in 1973-75, including a 0–0 tie in 1974 versus Celina High School of legendary coach G. A. Moore. In 1975, Big Sandy had one of the most dominant seasons in high school football history, as the defense allowed only 15 points (11 shutouts) all season, while the offense, featuring eventual Miami Dolphins running back David Overstreet, scored a then-national record 824 points.

Smith played college football at University of Tulsa under head coach John Cooper. He was a two-time All-American at linebacker and safety. After graduation he immediately pursued a coaching career. He was hired as defensive coordinator at his hometown high school in 1980. A year later he left to coach at Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa. By 1983, he began coaching linebackers on the college level, first at his alma mater Tulsa (1983–86), and then at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1987), Arizona State University (1988–91), and the University of Kentucky (1992). He also served as defensive backs coach at the University of Tennessee (1993–94), and Ohio State University (1995).