Buccaneers Quarter Century Team: Quarterbacks and Running Backs

We kick off our quarter century team countdown with the backs.

The first 25 years of the 21st century contained the most successful seasons in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history – a tapestry being slowly untangled from the largely painful memories of the 1970s-90s and re-weaved into one of the more illustrious and respectable amongst the NFL at-large.

While there was still a great deal of agony, embarrassment, and general discontent from the mid-aughts through most of the 2010s, Bucs Nation has two Lombardi trophies and some all-time greats with which to revel.

Let’s do our best to pull from the history books of recent past and present to form an all-quarter-century roster to rival any other’s in the NFL.

We begin on offense with the quarterbacks and the running backs.

Quarterback

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1st team: Tom Brady

There’s no debate here: Tampa’s QB1 is the GOAT.

Plenty of skepticism accompanied Brady when he migrated south after 20 years and 6 championships in New England. Was he washed? Could he operate in a brand new environment without Bill Belichick’s steady, but unceasingly obstinate hand?

Well, Tampa’s first winning season in 10 years, its first playoff appearance in 13 years, and first Super Bowl win since 2002 decidedly answered those questions.

Brady played just three seasons (50 games) with the Bucs but cemented his legacy with 14,643 yards, 108 touchdown passes, and just 33 interceptions to go along with a refreshingly positive 32-18 record. He’s the team’s single-season leader in touchdown passes (43), yards (5,316), and game-winning drives (5, twice).

Brady’s helped spark a cultural rejuvenation that has transformed the Bucs into one of the most consistent franchises in the NFL within the last five years (sixth-best overall record, four straight division titles, and five straight playoff appearances). While that wasn’t solely the TB12 Method at work, it also wouldn’t have happened without his influence.

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2nd team: Baker Mayfield

We’re pulling from recent history once again, which does go to show how dismal Tampa’s QB situation has been for the better part of this millennium. That said, it’s impossible to deny Baker Mayfield’s accolades in his short time in the bay.

His resurgence has helped the Bucs pick up seamlessly from where the Brady era left off, as Mayfield has led a prolific offense each of the last two years (earning two offensive coordinators head coach promotions in the process). In just two years, Mayfield has totaled 8,544 yards and 69 touchdowns (the latter leads the NFL in that timeframe), as well as some barreling scrambles (541 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns).

Add in two Pro Bowl nods, and Mayfield gives the Bucs the swagger and ceiling they sorely lacked for many years.

Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Honorable Mention: Jameis Winston

“Winning” will never be the first word that comes to mind when waxing poetic about the Jameis “eat a W” era. “Wild” is a fair descriptor, probably not as much as “wrenching,” but still fair.

The former No. 1 overall pick is the team’s all-time passing leader (19,737 yards, 121 touchdown passes), whether we like it or not, and no one can question how hard the guy played for the team during his 5 years and 70 starts. There were some fun highlight-reel plays and genuine flashes of brilliance. However, the turnovers and numbskull decisions never went away (c’mon, his last pass as a Buccaneer was literally a game-ending pick six), and that’s held true every other place he’s been.

Still, you can’t call him a total failure, and I guess that’s something. Maybe.

(FWIW, I tried to use a better Flameis highlight than below but the NFL has a strangehold on Jameis clips apparently, and they block embeds from almost every platform.)

Running Back

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1st team: Doug Martin

While it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the man formerly known as Muscle Hamster, Doug Martin is undoubtedly the team’s best pure tailback of the last two-and-a-half decades.

Martin – who played 6 seasons and 68 games with Tampa – sits at 4th on the team’s all-time rushing list with 4,633 yards and third in rushing touchdowns with 26. His rookie season stoked major excitement in 2012 when he ran for over 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to a Pro Bowl nod, but two subsequent years plagued by injury stymied those hopes.

He burst back onto the scene in 2015 with another 1,400-yard year that earned him first-team All-Pro and another Pro Bowl appearance…and then the injuries tanked him again in 2016-17 before he played one last season with the Raiders.

He should’ve been more, but sadly that’s the theme for most of the team’s most prominent backs from this era.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

2nd team: Michael Pittman

Pittman served as a key accessory on the perfectly adequate offense that helped the franchise to its first Super Bowl victory in 2002. He wasn’t as dynamic as Warrick Dunn (who absolutely would’ve earned his place on this list if not for just three seasons in red and pewter in the 2000s), but he served as an excellent foil to the team’s other offensive weaponry at the time.

A honed dual-threat option, Pittman averaged a clean 4.2 yards per carry in 6 seasons for the Bucs, totaling 3,362 rushing yards (6th all-time in franchise history) to go along with 284 receptions for 2,361 yards (4th and 3rd all-time for the franchise, respectively). His 5,723 yards from scrimmage are 7th all-time in team history.

Pittman was never THE guy, but he was arguably the most consistent contributor Tampa has seen in the backfield thus far.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Honorable Mention: Cadillac Williams

Another forlorn Buccaneer who got his tantalizing potential undercut by injury, the Cadillac rolled onto the scene with an Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2005 before getting stripped for parts there soon after.

Nagging injuries dinged him his first two years before suffering a devastating patellar tendon rupture in 2007 – an injury which, at the time, was difficult to repair and even more difficult to rehab from. Williams fought back and returned to action the following year, 14 months post-injury, but once again endured the cruel hand of fate with a torn patellar tendon in his other knee.

Despite the adversity, the team stuck with him, and he became the first known NFL player to recover from such an injury in both knees. He nearly won Comeback Player of the Year if it wasn’t for another player coming back from a season-ending knee injury (Tom Brady), as Williams logged 1,040 total yards and 7 touchdowns.

Unfortunately, he was supplanted the following season by the more dynamic LeGarrette Blount, and that’s when his time in Tampa came to an end. While it wasn’t a ride off into the sunset, Williams played well in his limited opportunities, and he remained a fan favorite and inspiration as someone who refused to give up despite his body breaking down.

He finished fifth all-time in team rushing yards (3,677 yards) and 10th in yards from scrimmage (4,586).

Fullback

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1st team: Mike Alstott

There is, and never will be, another fullback like the A-Train.

An all-time franchise great and fan favorite, he loomed as the original One Who Knocks: a harbinger of gridiron doom and destruction who reaped the souls of hopeless defenders large and small for more than a decade in red and pewter.

Whether it was defiantly plundering Washington’s goal line or ruthlessly railroading the entire Cleveland defense twice over with extreme prejudice, Alstott holds the rare distinction of getting his highlight reel reposted on Instagram on any day of the week for no reason, yet every true fanatic will stop their scroll and gawk at his hard-nosed glory every single time. His medieval, pauldron-like shoulder pads, neckroll thicker than a rhinoceros hide, and thighs that could be mistaken as belonging to a minotaur all created a mythic aura not since replicated in any respectable fashion since he retired in 2007.

Alstott remains second place in total touchdowns (71, most among running backs), second in rushing yards (5,088), and fourth all-time in scrimmage yards (7,372) for the team. A six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, Alstott will maybe one day get his due and receive a serious discussion about his Hall of Fame legitimacy in a modern age of fullback play that is a far cry from his halcyon reign.

Until then, Bucs’ faithful, young and old, will continue to rep the iconic No. 40 and blow the whistle for the A-Train. Choo choo, and without further ado…here’s a highlight reel. Enjoy your Wednesday!

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Share some of your favorite memories in the chat, Bucs Nation! What stories and moments stand out to you all when thinking about the above-mentioned players?

Stay tuned for Thursday when we do wide receivers and tight ends.