Many of my friends and acquaintances know how much I love baseball, auto racing and hockey. But not very many know that I was a musician at one time. No, not a full-time musician, but a pretty decent one nonetheless.
In the fall of 1979 I began what would become an incomplete bachelor's degree quest at the University of Tampa. I was a trumpet player in the concert band and eventually added jazz band to my schedule as well. A number of my band mates at UT, I found out, were members of the marching band for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team. I know what you're saying. A marching band for an NFL team? Well, yes. They were one of only three teams who had marching bands. The others being the Washington Commandos and the Baltimore Colts. Other teams, the Kansas City Chiefs for one, had bands who played one the sidelines but did not march on the field.
My Bucs Band career unofficially began in the fall of 1980. It was shortly after I attended a Rams-Buccaneers game on the Monday night of week 2 of that season. The ticket which I purchased from a scalper got me a seat right near the band. I knew some of the members and I watched them as they performed and seemed to have a great deal of fun. I wanted in. So I inquired as to how I might be able to make this happen. My bandmates told me when the next auditions would be and I made plans to participate at that time.
I was warmly greeted into the Bucs Band in the spring of 1981. My first gig with the band would be during the band's annual weekend at Disney World. I was kinda nervous going into it, but my bandmates made me feel at home. I made the drive north on I-75 towards the Magic Kingdom. For those of you "youngsters", Disney World at that time had but one exit in each direction to take you to the park. Even then, after taking the exit you drove past countless orange groves and undeveloped land which made one wonder whatever would they do with this seemingly vast wasteland of nothingness. Currently, I believe that there are 4-6 exits in each direction off of the interstate which will take you to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot (which was still 18 months from opening), Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and all of the hotels and vast array of Disney properties which now exist. We played in an area at what is now known as Disney Springs. But the biggest thrill of the weekend was playing in the Main Street Parade on Saturday afternoon. After that show they shuffled us off to a "backstage" area, like all acts normally would. This put us into an area where the general public never gets to go. All around we were surrounded by cast members who are moving themselves from one area to another. Some in full costume others in partial costume. Let me tell you, it's more than a little disconcerting to see Chip AND Dale strolling around holding their little chipmunk heads under their little chipmunk arms. Come to think of it THIS may have been the beginning of my interest in being a mascot which topped out when I was T.C. Bear with the Minnesota Twins some 19 years into the future.
Being in the band was fun. We wore these bright, nearly fluorescent orange uniforms made from approximately 124% polyester. The shirts had ruffed sleeves much like Jerry Seinfeld's pirate shirt. The collars were pointed and extended out to our shoulders. We supplied our own white pants and white shoes. The uniform also included a red sash which went around our waists and then the sash had the picture of the team logo, which was a character named "Bucco Bruce". Bruce was inspired by actor Errol Flynn as he starred in two films, "The Last Of The Buccaneers" and "Captain Blood". His likeness was joked about by other teams and even our own fans, especially when the team was not playing well, which was more often than not. The knife in Bruce's teeth would sometimes be drawn as though it had been transplanted from his mouth to being inserted through his ear. But his likeness stuck around and was used for over 20 seasons. There was even a stylish red hat which reminded me of the character Huggy Bear from the tv show "Starsky & Hutch", but I don't remember ever wearing it for any performances.
The band was popular. Very popular. We would perform at the weekly pep rally at Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg on Thursday nights. We would play a few tunes and the cheerleaders, the Swash-buc-lers, would perform as well. There was even a mascot known as the Baaad Buc, who was sponsored by WDAE radio. The cheerleaders would sign autographs and so did some band members. I will never forget the first time I had a young man ask me to sign his Gameday program. I was stunned, first of all, then flipped to the band photo near the back of the issue. It was my first autograph in a "fan" setting.
I had a number of other memorable moments while donning the most outrageous outfits in music since the fall of the last days of disco. My very first regular season home game was on September 5, 1981. We opened the season, because if the high temperatures in Tampa, on a Saturday night. The opponent? The Minnesota Vikings. MY Minnesota Vikings. As was the regular schedule we were due to perform three songs on the field after the game was over and the fans were exiting the stadium. So we had ourselves positioned just behind the out-of-bounds line behind the end zone. The end zone which the Vikings were driving toward with under two minutes to go in the 4th, trailing 14-13. I was going to see my team win a game, literally, a stone’s throw away from me. But attempting to get into better field position for the potential game-winning field goal Viking QB Steve Dils attempted a screen pass on third down. His pass was picked off by Neal Colzie along the sideline, only 30 yards directly in front of me and proceeded to hightail it 82 yards in the other direction to make the score 21-13. The temptation to drop my horn and chase Colzie down myself was immense, but I resisted it and my bandmates, who knew of my allegiance, let me know about it.
In 1981 the Bucs were in the hunt for a playoff spot. On the final Sunday of the season they were playing on the road against the Detroit Lions. The band had a prior commitment for that afternoon as we were giving a holiday concert at the Bayfront Center Theatre in St. Petersburg. We knew that if the team won they would make the playoffs. This meant that we would hustle ourselves to be at team headquarters, known as One Buccaneer Place, after the team landed at nearby Tampa International Airport. When we did stage concerts we did not wear our usual marching uniforms. We wore simple white polo shirts with the band's logo on the breast pocket. Viewing the game would not be as easy as it is today. Keep in mind this is 1981. Cell phones had not yet been invented. But a number of band members had portable black & white battery-powered televisions with a 5" screen on them. That's right, a tv with a screen smaller than the one on many new cars' dashboards and it was black & white. Some of you younger readers may never have seen a black and white tv picture anywhere other than a museum or the History Channel. The audience couldn't see the tvs on the floor on stage but we were keeping track as the clock wound down with the team leading the Motor City Kitties 20-17. When the game ended we all knew that would need to get back across the bay and head over to Buc Place before the team arrived. After they did there were a bunch of us who got there and made our way through the crowd that was forming to meet the team. It would be the second postseason appearance in the team’s sixth season and the crowd was hyped. My boldest memory is being on the back of the flatbed trailer with a bunch of other band members, and some of the players, holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and my horn in the other and playing all or part of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" over and over and over again as the temperature after the sunset dipped to the mid 30s. Sometimes nights in central Florida in December aren’t all that balmy. We partied late into the night and the following week in the first round of the playoffs the Bucs were eviscerated by the Dallas Cowboys 38-0.
Other memorable moments include the afternoon when we were in marching formation and we were playing the Theme From New York, New York. This would normally have been okay, except we were attempting to do this while playing from memory without sheet music and remembering all of the correct steps to take in formation on the field. Only one week earlier we'd performed the same routine flawlessly but it was to the tune of the Sam & Dave hit "Soul Man". At one point I found myself seconds away from colliding with two drummers who were approaching me from the opposite direction. One of those drummers was my great friend Rick Mayer, who was he person who designed the marching formations we were using at that exact moment. This was not how it was drawn up, trust me. The video from the press box view was like watching a Keystone Cops film.
When Washington played the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII, Tampa's first time hosting the event, the Buc Band agreed to be the band for the Raiders as Washington was bringing their own band to the game. In the pregame band members and their guests participated in the national anthem by holding the huge flag on the field while the song was performed by Barry Manilow. We played touchdown songs quite a few times as the Raiders scored often on the way to a 38-9 victory.
I also got greetings from ESPN's Chris Berman on December 13, 1981 while we were waiting along the sidelines to hit the field for our postgame show. I had met Chris at a spring training in Clearwater some 10 months earlier. He's got a great memory. The band was impressed that we knew one another. But the coolest may have been an event which occurred on October 6, 1985.
The band had a tradition where during the game four of the trumpeters would leave the stands and head down to the field. Once they got there they would stand shoulder to shoulder in one corner of the area directly in front of the crowd and play six notes which signal fans to yell "Charge!" at their completion. They would play this three times in succession and then move down the sideline until they'd made a complete circuit of outer edge of the field. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do this once during my 4 seasons as a trumpet player. (My final two seasons I was in the french horn section). On the day I was chosen to be one of the "fantastic four" we were playing the Bears.
The four of us hit the field and we played our way around the field, only playing while the Bucs were on offense. The Bucs' sideline was first as we moved counter-clockwise around the floor of Tampa Stadium. We made the turn and headed behind the area behind the Bears' bench. I was the furthest to the right as the four of us watched the action on the field during a short period just prior to our next mini performance.While watching the game, a glance to my right left a short gap between myself and one of the Bears players. With helmet under his arm and intensity in his eyes the player glanced to his left and we each acknowledged one another with a "Hey, man. How ya doin'?" We each nodded and then went back to what we were doing. The player? #34, Walter Payton.
We finished our rounds and headed back up into the stands to join the rest of the band. The rest of the game was a bit of a blur as I tried to process what had just happened to me. I had spoken to Walter Payton DURING a game on the sideline. While the number of people who have done this is quite extensive, I never thought that I would be on it.
