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When they reapportioned the NFL in 2002, parsing the league into eight pie pieces as the key element in realignment, observers perused the quartet of franchises in the NFC South and summarily declared the division the Tampa Bay Bucs' uncontested fiefdom.
It was, the pundits insisted, a division featuring one powerhouse and three paupers, one in which the Bucs would forever be supreme. To the eyes of most beholders, the NFC South was the equivalent of an antebellum mansion relocated into a trailer park. It was alleged to be, at least on paper, one team's treasure trove nestled in the middle of three landfills.
OK, so credit the experts for getting it half-right, with the Bucs winning the NFC South by three games, the second widest margin in any division, and then proceeding to secure the franchise's first Super Bowl championship under the wily stewardship of Jon Gruden. But what was supposed to have been a stroll along the beach for the Bucs, expected to run roughshod over their NFC South brethren, was more a swim through a shark tank....
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It was, the pundits insisted, a division featuring one powerhouse and three paupers, one in which the Bucs would forever be supreme. To the eyes of most beholders, the NFC South was the equivalent of an antebellum mansion relocated into a trailer park. It was alleged to be, at least on paper, one team's treasure trove nestled in the middle of three landfills.
OK, so credit the experts for getting it half-right, with the Bucs winning the NFC South by three games, the second widest margin in any division, and then proceeding to secure the franchise's first Super Bowl championship under the wily stewardship of Jon Gruden. But what was supposed to have been a stroll along the beach for the Bucs, expected to run roughshod over their NFC South brethren, was more a swim through a shark tank....
more
