It seems the Kleenex box in the Team Glazer luxury suite might need a refill.
No, the flu bug hasn’t hit and Team Glazer is not crying about the painful loss to the Commanders in January to end last season.
Per co-owner Joel Glazer speaking yesterday at the NFL owners meetings, ownership gets overwhelmed at times seeing how special plays and winning football makes Bucs fans happy and brings a community together.
> “I will sit there, family members will sit there, on certain gameday when you see great things happen. And you know, you get almost teary-eyed because you just see how happy it makes everybody,” Glazer said.
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> “And the Buccaneers are such an important part of the community. So, being able to be a part of it, being able to be involved, being able to help led the team and guide it, it’s an honor. It’s a special responsibility. And it’s just so meaningful to us.”
Joe weeps nearly weekly in happiness that The Lost Decade of Buccaneers football appears farther and farther in the rear view mirror.
And Joe is glad Team Glazer realizes the Bucs are more than just a game for legions of fans, especially those that pay more than they can afford to attend games.
Joe followed up to ask Joel Glazer about the what might have been the tear-jerker moment of last season: Mike Evans hitting the 1,000-yard mark on the final play of the regular season to tie Jerry Rice’s record of 11 consecutive seasons of 1,000-yards or more.
> “Teary-eyed. Even talking about it I’m getting teary-eyed,” Glazer said. (He did appear to come close to choking up.)
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> “Just to see the reaction — the crowd and the fans for a player — it just spoke volumes about Mike and how people feel about him, but \[also\] the connection between our fans and our team, our players. And that’s what it’s all about. You have to have the connection. Because you’re not always going to win a Super Bowl; you’re going to have ups and downs throughout a season. But when the fans appreciate the players and the players appreciate the fans, and as an organization we all work together. That’s the way it should be.”
A sound point in there from Glazer about connecting with fans. It’s why Joe lobbies so hard on these pages for Team Glazer to open more training camp practices to the unwashed masses (aka those without season tickets) and/or to increase attendance capacity at camp.
Tremendous connections are made by those who attend summer practices because they feel like they were part of the team’s development process and get up very close to players.
Regardless, Joe hopes Team Glazer gets a tear-jerker 2025 season from Bucky Irving, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and more. The Bucs have a shot at something very special this year.