13
www.championshipringclub.com CHAMPIONSHIP RING THE STORY OF 2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
| Date post: | 25-Jul-2016 |
| Category: |
Documents |
| Upload: | championshipringclub |
| View: | 215 times |
| Download: | 0 times |
www.championshipringclub.com
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF 2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football
Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference
(NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL)
champion for the 2002 season. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders by the score of
48–21, tied with Super Bowl XXXV for the seventh largest Super Bowl margin of victory,
and winning their first ever Super Bowl.
www.championshipringclub.com
2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF
BUCCANEERSTAMPA BAY
The game, played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego,
California, was the sixth Super Bowl to be held a week after the conference
championship games (XVII, XXV, XXVIII, XXXIV, and XXXVI). It was also the last
Super Bowl to have been played in the month of January. Super Bowl XXXVI was the
first to be played in February, due to the NFL postponing games for a week after the
September 11 attacks. Starting with Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, the Super Bowl has
been permanently played in February. This was the last Super Bowl until Super Bowl
50 to take place in California.
www.championshipringclub.com
2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF
BUCCANEERSTAMPA BAY
It was the first time and last until Super Bowl XLVIII in Super Bowl history that the
league's number top-ranked offense (Raiders) was pitted against the league's number
one-ranked defense (Buccaneers). However, the game is sometimes referred to as
the "Gruden Bowl", because the primary storyline surrounding the game revolved
around Jon Gruden. Super Bowl XXXVII is also referred to as the "Pirate Bowl" due to
both teams' pirate-themed names.[6] Gruden was the Raiders' head coach from 1998
to 2001, and then became the Buccaneers coach in 2002.
www.championshipringclub.com
2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF
BUCCANEERSTAMPA BAY
Tampa Bay, "Gruden's new team", entered their first Super Bowl in team history after
posting a 12–4 regular season record. Oakland, "Gruden's old team", advanced to their
fifth Super Bowl after posting an 11–5 regular-season record. This was also the first
Super Bowl to feature two former division rivals, as the Buccaneers and Raiders both
played in the AFC West in 1976.
www.championshipringclub.com
2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF
BUCCANEERSTAMPA BAY
The Raiders came into the game as four-point favorites. However, aided with
Gruden's prior knowledge of his old team, the Tampa Bay defense dominated the
contest. Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon threw a Super Bowl record five
interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. The Buccaneers also
sacked Gannon five times, and scored 34 consecutive points to build a 34–3 lead
late in the third quarter. Tampa Bay safety Dexter Jackson, who had two of those
interceptions and returned them for 34 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.
Jackson became only the second safety and third defensive back to ever be named
Super Bowl MVP.
www.championshipringclub.com
2003 SUPER BOWL XXXVII
CHAMPIONSHIP RING
THE STORY OF
BUCCANEERSTAMPA BAY
