the tampa bay buccaneers played the patriots in the super bowl.
who did the tampa bay buccaneers play in the super bowl?
the patriots
the tampa bay buccaneers signed rice to a 5-year deal worth more than $30 million. he joined a defense that carried tampa bay to the playoffs the year before. his first season as a buccaneer, rice had 64 tackles and 11 sacks and the buccaneers made the playoffs, but fell to the philadelphia eagles, 31-9. after the loss, head coach tony dungy was fired. the buccaneers traded two 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks to the oakland raiders for jon gruden. gruden’s high-energy style and the addition of keenan mccardell and michael pittman to the offense helped the buccaneers reach the super bowl. they beat the oakland raiders 48-21 for the first super bowl victory in the tampa bay buccaneers' history. rice had 5 tackles and 2 sacks in the super bowl and 15.5 sacks on the season, including 11 sacks in a 5-game span. over the next 3 seasons, the buccaneers only had one with a winning record and lost the only playoff appearance they had. rice had impressive seasons, recording 15, 12, and 14 sacks. the 2006 season saw the buccaneers fall to 4-12 and rice only had 2 sacks in 8 games played. he finished the second half of the season on injured reserve and was released by the buccaneers before the start of the next season because of a failed physical.
simeon rice
the 2002 tampa bay buccaneers super bowl championship team reunited in attendance for the game. during halftime, a ceremony was held to honor the reunited 2002 super bowl team. more than 50 players and coaches from the 2002 super bowl team gathered to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the tampa bay buccaneers' first ever super bowl championship. among those who attended the reunion were former head coach jon gruden, former defensive coordinator monte kiffin, derrick brooks, john lynch, warren sapp, brad johnson, mike alstott, and keyshawn johnson. ronde barber was part of the 2002 super bowl team, but was playing on the field for tampa bay. josh freeman threw for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns. doug martin rushed for 128 yards and scored a rushing touchdown during the fourth quarter. martin broke cadillac william's rookie rushing yard record during the game. vicent jackson had 131 receiving yards. in the third quarter, mike williams caught a 1-yard pass from freeman. in the fourth quarter, jackson caught a 13-yard pass from freeman. the tampa bay defense held the eagles offense to only 29 total rushing yards. the tampa bay defense had 6 sacks throughout the game. lavonte david had a sack, daniel teo-nesheim had a sack, michael bennett had two sacks, and gerald mccoy had two as well. ronde barber led the team in tackles.
2012 tampa bay buccaneers season