Buccaneers

The NFL wanted a second Florida franchise in the mid-1970s, and Tampa put in the money to get one. The club came into being on 24 April 1974 and joined the league two years later as an expansion side, taking the field for the first time in 1976.

Recovery took the better part of two decades. Between 1983 and 1996 the Buccaneers had fourteen consecutive losing seasons. The turnaround, when it came, was thorough: under Jon Gruden the club beat the Oakland Raiders 48–21 in Super Bowl XXXVII, becoming the first post-merger expansion team to win the title. Nearly two decades later, with Tom Brady at quarterback and Bruce Arians coaching, they beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9 in Super Bowl LV — played at Raymond James Stadium, making Tampa Bay the first team to win football's biggest game on its own ground. Brady was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Two Super Bowl appearances, two wins; only the Baltimore Ravens can also say that.

The defensive sides of those two eras left their own mark. Lee Roy Selmon anchored the line in the lean years and became the franchise's first Hall of Famer, while Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks powered the defence that carried the 2002 team to its title.

Games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, billed as the Battle of Florida, and against the New Orleans Saints carry the sharpest edge for a franchise whose story began with a team that had to lose 26 games before it won one.