The 2002 Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reuniting on the weekend of Dec. 8-9, and if they wanted to they could just about stage a reenactment of the greatest game in franchise history.
The quarterback who threw two touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXXVII will be there, as will the wide receiver who caught them both. The Super Bowl MVP will be on hand, and so will the other Buccaneer defensive back who picked off two passes on that glorious evening. The team's leading rusher, top sack artist, most feared hitter, most inspirational postseason figure, dead-eye kicker, defensive MVP, emotional leader and all five men who protected the quarterback…all of them will reunite not only with each other on Saturday evening but with the Buccaneer faithful on Sunday afternoon.
More than 50 former players and coaches from the team that beat Oakland, 48-21, in Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003 are returning to their football home for a 10-year reunion. That team will be honored with a halftime ceremony during the December 9 game against the team they beat to get into the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles. Buccaneer fans sharing in the moment will recognize nearly every key figure from that team, and many, many more.
Head Coach Jon Gruden will be there, as will LB Derrick Brooks, S John Lynch, DT Warren Sapp, QB Brad Johnson, DT Simeon Rice FB Mike Alstott, WR Keenan McCardell and Super Bowl MVP S Dexter Jackson, just to name a few. The only player on that 2002 team still playing in the NFL, Ronde Barber, will obviously make an appearance, as will LB Shelton Quarles, who is now the team's coordinator of Pro Scouting.
Lynch will come down from the FOX broadcast booth, where he will be describing the game action as a color analyst. Sapp, who is now a studio analyst for the NFL Network, has also found a way to make the trip, as has WR Keyshawn Johnson, who does the same thing for ESPN. There are, of course, others who are unavailable due to football commitments with other teams, such as Defensive Backs Coach Mike Tomlin, now the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nevertheless, the expected turnout for the championship reunion is almost unbelievably strong. Without further ado, here is the entire list of confirmed attendees at the Super Bowl team reunion on December 9, as of Thursday (updated with the announcements of Keyshawn Johnson and Monte Kiffin's attendance and still subject to addition or change):
Players
|
FB Mike Alstott |
CB Ronde Barber |
WR Reggie Barlow |
|
FB Darian Barnes |
LS Ryan Benjamin |
LB Derrick Brooks |
|
T Lomas Brown |
C Jeff Christy |
G Cosey Coleman |
|
FB Jameel Cook |
DT Chartric Darby |
TE Rickey Dudley |
|
LB Jack Golden |
T Dan Goodspeed |
K Martin Gramatica |
|
T Cornell Green |
DT Buck Gurley |
S John Howell |
|
CB Corey Ivy |
S Dexter Jackson |
G Kerry Jenkins |
|
QB Brad Johnson |
WR Joe Jurevicius |
CB Brian Kelly |
|
QB Shaun King |
S John Lynch |
WR Keenan McCardell |
|
DT Anthony McFarland |
LB Ryan Nece |
T Roman Oben |
|
WR Onome Ojo |
S Jermaine Phillips |
RB Michael Pittman |
|
LB Shelton Quarles |
DE Simeon Rice |
DT Warren Sapp |
|
LB Alshermond Singleton |
CB Dwight Smith |
LB Justin Smith |
|
RB Travis Stephens |
T Kenyatta Walker |
DE Ron Warner |
|
TE Daniel Wilcox |
WR Karl Williams |
DE Ellis Wyms |
|
TE Todd Yoder |
WR Keyshawn Johnson |
|
Coaches
- Assistant to Head Coach/Football Operations Mark Arteaga
- Head Coach Jon Gruden
- Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin
- Wide Receivers Coach Richard Mann
- Quarterbacks Coach Stan Parrish
- Tight Ends Coach Art Valero
