Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tease New Uniforms

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ social media accounts have been dropping subtle hints about a potential uniform change in recent weeks, leaving the eyes emoji on various concepts posted to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

A teaser video dropped on Wednesday morning makes it a little more obvious the Buccaneers are on the verge of updating their look after six seasons in their current set, however.

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— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) February 12, 2020

The video features an artist creating a collage from newspaper clippings with headlines that range from Tampa Bay getting a professional football franchise to the Buccaneers winning their first and only Super Bowl title to the unveiling of the current uniform set in 2014.

It ends with the artist spray painting the team’s secondary logo in red, bay orange and pewter on top of newspaper headlines such as “Uniform effort,” “A Bold New Era” and “Return To Glory,” among others.

For historical context, Tampa Bay’s original colors in 1976 were Florida orange and red and the team wore “creamsicle” uniforms that were associated with some of the worst teams in franchise history. The uniforms underwent a handful of small changes to the trim, numbest and shade of orange during their existence, but nothing significant occurred until a complete rebrand ahead of the 1997 season.

The Buccaneers replaced Bucco Bruce — a knife-wielding pirate with a feather in his cap — with Calico Jack’s version of the Jolly Roger displayed on a tattered flag held up by a sword. The team also introduced a new color scheme of red and pewter, with orange being relegated to the football in the primary logo.

While that look will forever be etched in Tampa Bay lore after a convincing win over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, the Buccaneers unveiled new uniforms in 2014 that featured a modernized logo set, oversized helmet decals, a unique number font and the return of orange as a tertiary color.

Fans have been clamoring for an update from the time those uniforms were introduced, especially since Tampa Bay hasn’t made the postseason since 2007. The all-red Color Rush alternates that essentially replaced the creamsicle throwbacks in the uniform rotation didn’t help, either.

The Buccaneers are now the fourth franchise to announce a uniform change this offseason, joining the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams. All four are expected to be unveiled before the NFL Draft in late April.

Photo via @Buccaneers on Twitter.