1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
Owner	Hugh Culverhouse
General manager	Rich McKay
Head coach	Sam Wyche
Home field	Tampa Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	MLB Hardy Nickerson
AP All-Pros	MLB Hardy Nickerson
Team MVP	MLB Hardy Nickerson

The 1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Buccaneers wore the initial Mr. C on the right side of the sleeve ends of the jerseys in honor of their owner Hugh Culverhouse who was battling cancer who then died after the 1993 season.

1993 was mostly seen as a rebuilding year for coach Sam Wyche who moved on without Vinny Testaverde and went with young quarterback Craig Erickson, another University of Miami alumnus who won a national championship as their quarterback. He had a solid 3,054 passing yards. The Buccaneers lost five of their first six games on the way to a 5–11 season.

The 1993 Buccaneers have the distinction of being the only team in NFL history to have played eleven games against teams that would go on to make the playoffs; the Buccaneers were 3–8 in these games.

In his first season with the team, Hardy Nickerson set a NFL record with 214 tackles.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1993 NFL draft

Prior to the season they drafted John Lynch who would become one of the most popular players of all time in Tampa.

Pick	Round	Player	Position	School
6	Round 1	Eric Curry	Defensive End	Alabama
34	Round 2	Demetrius DuBose	Linebacker	Notre Dame
60	Round 3	Lamar Thomas	Wide Receiver	Miami
82	Round 3	John Lynch	Defensive Back	Stanford
91	Round 4	Rudy Harris	Running Back	Clemson
104	Round 4	Horace Copeland	Wide Receiver	Miami
145	Round 6	Chidi Ahanotu	Defensive Tackle	California
176	Round 7	Tyree Davis	Wide Receiver	Central Arkansas
220	Round 8	Darrick Branch	Wide Receiver	Hawaii
224	Round 8	Daron Alcorn	Kicker	Akron

Daron Alcorn was the last player selected in the draft, commonly referred to as "Mr. Irrelevant".

Personnel

Staff

1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff
Front office Owner – Hugh Culverhouse President – Gay Culverhouse Vice president of football administration – Rich McKay Director of player personnel – Jerry Angelo Director of college scouting – Tim Ruskell Head coaches Head coach/director of football operations – Sam Wyche Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running backs – Willie Peete Wide receivers – Harold Jackson Offensive line – Bob Wylie Offensive assistant – Jeff FitzGerald			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Floyd Peters Defensive line – Eddie Khayat Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive backs – Steve Shafer Defensive assistant – Jeff FitzGerald Special teams coaches Special teams/tight ends – George Stewart Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Brad Roll

Roster

1993 Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Craig Erickson 13 Mark Vlasic 11 Casey Weldon Running backs (RB) 34 Reggie Cobb 43 Rudy Harris FB 33 Mazio Royster 45 Vernon Turner 46 Vince Workman Wide receivers (WR) 89 Shawn Collins 88 Horace Copeland 85 Courtney Hawkins PR 87 Lamar Thomas 84 Charles Wilson KR Tight ends (TE) 86 Tyji Armstrong 82 Ron Hall 83 Dave Moore

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Scott Dill T 74 Paul Gruber T 79 Sean Love G 61 Tony Mayberry C 70 Charles McRae G 66 Bruce Reimers G 67 Mike Sullivan G 72 Rob Taylor T Defensive linemen (DL) 90 Chidi Ahanotu DE/DT 75 Eric Curry DE 71 Santana Dotson DT 91 Rhett Hall DT 92 Shawn Price DE 98 Ray Seals DE 77 Mark Wheeler DT 96 Bernard Wilson DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Darrick Brownlow MLB 50 Reggie Burnette OLB 93 Demetrius DuBose OLB 56 Hardy Nickerson MLB 51 Broderick Thomas OLB 59 Jimmy Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 44 Darren Anderson CB 28 Curtis Buckley CB/S 27 Barney Bussey LB/S 23 Marty Carter SS 20 Jerry Gray FS 24 Roger Jones CB 41 Joe King FS 47 John Lynch SS 21 Milton Mack CB 35 Martin Mayhew CB 36 Markus Paul SS 29 Ricky Reynolds CB Special teams 53 Ed Brady LS  5 Michael Husted K  4 Dan Stryzinski P

Practice squad 81 Tyree Davis WR (IR) Reserve 73 Theo Adams T (IR) 62 Ian Beckles G (IR) 25 Tony Covington SS (IR) 80 Lawrence Dawsey WR (IR) 26 Rogerick Green CB (IR) 37 Anthony McDowell FB (IR) 31 Darryl Pollard CB/S (IR) 64 Tim Ryan G (IR) 94 Rick Trumbull T (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 10 reserve

Regular season

Schedule

Regular season
Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance	Record
1	September 5	Kansas City Chiefs	L 27–3	Tampa Stadium	63,378*	0–1
2	September 12	at New York Giants	L 23–7	Giants Stadium	75,891	0–2
3	Bye
4	September 26	at Chicago Bears	L 47–17	Soldier Field	58,329	0–3
5	October 3	Detroit Lions	W 27–10	Tampa Stadium	40,794*	1–3
6	October 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 15–0	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	54,215	1–4
7	Bye
8	October 24	Green Bay Packers	L 37–14	Tampa Stadium	47,354*	1–5
9	October 31	at Atlanta Falcons	W 31–24	Georgia Dome	50,647	2–5
10	November 7	at Detroit Lions	L 23–0	Pontiac Silverdome	65,295	2–6
11	November 14	San Francisco 49ers	L 45–21	Tampa Stadium	43,835*	2–7
12	November 21	Minnesota Vikings	W 23–10	Tampa Stadium	40,848*	3–7
13	November 28	at Green Bay Packers	L 13–10	Lambeau Field	56,995	3–8
14	December 5	Washington Redskins	L 23–17	Tampa Stadium	49,035*	3–9
15	December 12	Chicago Bears	W 13–10	Tampa Stadium	56,667*	4–9
16	December 19	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 27–20	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	40,532	4–10
17	December 26	at Denver Broncos	W 17–10	Mile High Stadium	73,434	5–10
18	January 2	San Diego Chargers	L 32–17	Tampa Stadium	35,587*	5–11
Notes: Division opponents are in bold text
* = blacked out locally

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(3) Detroit Lions	10	6	0	.625	298	292	W2
(5) Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	277	290	W3
(6) Green Bay Packers	9	7	0	.563	340	282	L1
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	234	230	L4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	237	376	L1