Tampa Stadium
- David Hegler
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Tampa Stadium was shaped very much like its football team. While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started off poorly, they enjoyed a brief renaissance of good fortune before going back into the cellar before emerging like a butterfly out of a cocoon to dominate the NFL. Often referred to by ESPN's Chris Berman as "the Big Sombrero", Tampa Stadium was often the backdrop to the worst football imaginable, yet it still found a way to host two Super Bowls and Pro Bowl, providing lifelong memories for all involved.
The Conception
Tampa Bay, Florida was just a sleepy little town when George Halas visited on January 1, 1926. There in front of 10,000 eager paying customers at Plant Field, Red Grange led the barnstorming Chicago Bears to a resounding 17-3 win over the Tampa Cardinals, a team that had been hastily cobbled together by Jim Thorpe. The crowd was automatically enamored with the NFL after watching Grange gallop for a 60-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
With expansion in the air, by the mid-1960's, the Tampa Sports Authority grew fond of a spot that a decade earlier very nearly became the location for the Florida State Fair. It was a simple grassy field that sat next to Al Lopez Field, home of the Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League and Spring Training home of the Cincinnati Reds.
Initially built for the University of Tampa, the $14.1 million concrete, steel and aluminum structure did not yet have the wave-like shape that would one day make it famous. In fact, both ends were open, letting in winds on hot summer days. Tampa Stadium officially opened on November 4, 1967 when the University of Tennessee thumped the University of Tampa 38-0. It was a harbinger of things to come.
The Big Sombrero
The University of Tampa only played in the stadium for eight years, but even they helped the city realize its potential. Having gone 2-7 in 1967, the Spartans enjoyed winning seasons from 1968 through 1974. Their best year over that stretch was 1972. Led by future Ohio State coach Earle Bruce and future 49er receiver Freddie Solomon, the Spartans went 10-2 and beat Jack Lambert's Kent State 21-18 in the Tangerine Bowl. Despite their success, the Spartans football program folded after 1974. Although they left Tampa Stadium vacant, they had done their part in bringing the NFL's attention to Tampa Bay.
On August 10, 1968, a crowd of 42,000 flocked to watch the first NFL game at Tampa Stadium. Although it was a meaningless preseason game between the Washington Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons, the locals didn't care. They were just excited that the National Football League was beginning to view Tampa Bay as a big league city.
This was the first of 11 such contests that the NFL would hold at Tampa Stadium over the years. Since the Baltimore Colts trained nearby, they often played in those games. By the mid-1970's, the NFL decided to expand to Tampa Bay.
Before the Buccaneers were born in 1976, their home went through a major transformation. The most radical part of the renovation was that both ends were enclosed, thus fending off the breeze that could ward off the harsh Tampa Bay sun while adding a wave-like element to its appearance. In total, more than 27,000 seats were added to the stadium, boosting its capacity to 71, 908. It was one of the largest in the NFL.
The Buccaneers began their life as a franchise losing their first 26 games. during their winless inaugural season, they scored a total of just 14 offensive touchdowns. Still, the team fought hard and by 1979, they had built a surprise contender. Having drafted quarterback Doug Williams the year before and led by pass rushing extraordinaire Lee Roy Selmon, the Bucs made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game where they stumbled upon misfortune. Early in the game, Doug Williams tore his biceps and could only watch on the Tampa Stadium sidelines as his teammates lost to the Los Angeles Rams 9-0. To this day, it remains the only NFC Championship Game that Tampa Bay has ever hosted.
By the 1980's, the NFL had grown fond of Tampa Stadium and decided that the host of the 1977 Pro Bowl would also host Super Bowl XVIII. Although the Redskins were a juggernaut that no one thought could be beaten, the Los Angeles Raiders stunned the NFL by stomping all over Washington 38-9, the upset forever highlighted by Marcus Allen's circuitous 74-yard scamper into the end zone.
Earlier that year, Tampa Stadium became home to the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits. While t he Bandits never went far and would fold along with the rest of the league after 1985, Tamp Stadium did manage to host the 1984 USFL title game between the Philadelphia Stars and the Arizona Wranglers.
Hidden among the many football games that were played at Tampa Stadium was the "other" brand of football. Over the course of its lifetime, Tampa Stadium was home to the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Tampa Bay Mutiny.
Still, its main source of revenue and enjoyment was football. In preparation for the Super Bowl in January 1991, Tampa Stadium underwent its final major renovation, with an upgraded press box in the west grandstand and a large set of luxury box seats added in the east grandstand with a jumbotron being added as wells. Once again, the Super Bowl proved to be memorable as Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood missed the potential game-winning field goal wide right.
After Malcolm Glazer bought the Buccaneers in 1995, he had one of his investments, Houlihan's restaurant chain, purchase the naming rights for Tampa Stadium for $10 million. From then on, Tampa Stadium was known as Houlihan's Stadium. the following year, Glazer hired tony Dungy to lead his football team and the Buccaneers began to build an identity too big for their old home.
Adiós Sombrero
The end of old Tampa Stadium began when the Buccaneers played in their first playoff game since 1981. That afternoon, they held Barry Sanders to just 65 yards -after a season in which he had rushed for more than 2,000- and beat the Lions 20-10 to stamp their ticket to the 1997 Divisional Round in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The following fall, the University of South Florida played the final football game at Houlihan's Stadium, pasting Valparaiso 51-0. The following day, September 13, 1998, the Tampa Bay Bandits hosted the last sports event ever at the old stadium, beating the New York Metrostars 2-1 in front of 27,957, a far-cry from the stadiums final capacity of 74,301. Houlihan's Stadium was soon demolished.
Today, the Buccaneers still play right next to where old Tampa Stadium once stood, the memories both good and bad no far from their minds.
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