Buccaneers' Super Bowl Banner Celebration Was ... Kind Of Lame
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waited a long time to win their second Super Bowl. They actually waited a long time just to win a single playoff game after winning that first Super Bowl way back in the 2002 season.
But Tom Brady arrived, the team won a playoff game and then went ahead and won three more en route to winning a Super Bowl. So you might think that the organization would throw out all the stops for the banner ceremony on national TV on Thursday night for the 2021 season opener.
Instead ... the Bucs blasted a DJ Kool song from 1996, shot off some fireworks, and unveiled perhaps the tiniest Super Bowl "banner" in the history of football and fabric.
Look at this thing:
Normally teams like to show off their championship banners. The Bucs appear intent on hiding theirs.
The lack of punch brought about some jokes and bewilderment on the internet:
The banner wasn't the only thing that was lame. The entire production, such as it was, didn't really do much for anybody. Some lights were hung in one end of the stadium to celebrate the two Super Bowl titles, a bunch of people waved a big flag on the field, DJ Kool announced his intention to clear his throat, and then some giant replica Lombardi Trophies were taken down.
There wasn't a whole lot going on.
Once again, the tweeters weighed in:
Technically, not "everyone" was underwhelmed by the proceedings. Dick Vitale sure loved it:
Good for Dickie V, anyway.
The good news for the Bucs? They still have Brady. So they probably won't have to wait two decades for their next ceremony. Brady's been a part of some good ones over the course of his career -- Ozzy Osbourne! Technology! Franchise legends -- and T-Pain! Big productions! It's not rocket science.
Maybe the Bucs will dial the effort level up to 3 out of 10 if they bring home a third Lombardi Trophy.
