5 Players You Forgot Suited Up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tim Brown played 16 seasons with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, earning nine Pro Bowl selections during that stretch. He began his NFL career primarily as a special teams player before becoming one of the best NFL receivers ever.

After those 16 years, Brown left the AFC West for the NFC South and suited up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although he appeared in 15 games for the Bucs, his time in Tampa is often forgotten.

But the Hall of Fame wideout isn’t the only one who made his name somewhere else but still donned a Tampa Bay uniform at one point. Here is a list of five players you may have forgotten who suited up for the Buccaneers.

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1 Tim Brown

Tim Brown’s one season with the Buccaneers is often forgotten by NFL fans

Tim Brown with the Buccaneers? Yes, it happened in 2004.

As mentioned above, Brown spent 16 years with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, earning nine Pro Bowl selections to help build his Pro Football Hall of Fame resume. While the Raiders made him the sixth overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, it took the Notre Dame alum several years to ease his way into NFL stardom as a wide receiver.

Brown spent the better part of his first four years in the NFL as a returner on special teams and caught just 98 passes during that stretch. But in 1993, he became a focal point in the passing game and began a string of nine straight seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards.

Brown’s best statistical season came in 1997 when he led the NFL in receptions (104) and recorded a career-high 1,408 receiving yards. It was the last of five straight Pro Bowl seasons and marked the only time he made an All-Pro team, earning Second-Team honors.

Oakland released Brown after the 2003 season, at which point he signed with the Buccaneers, who were coached by former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. With the Bucs, he appeared in 15 games, starting four. He caught 24 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown in his lone year in Tampa Bay and then retired.

2 Dallas Clark

After nine years with the Colts, tight end Dallas Clark played one season with the Bucs

The Indianapolis Colts selected Dallas Clark in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and he quickly gave quarterback Peyton Manning a receiving threat at the tight end position. He ultimately spent nine years with the Colts, earning Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors in 2009.

While Manning had standout wide receiver Reggie Wayne at his disposal, he turned to Clark often during the 2009 season. Clark, a 6-foot-3, 252-pounder out of Iowa, was an exceptional blocker, but he proved his worth as a receiver, catching 100 passes for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns that year.

Clark was a significant part of the Colts’ offense during his time in Indianapolis, catching 427 passes for 4,887 yards and 46 touchdowns, which is why he’s a member of the franchise’s Ring of Honor.

The Colts released Clark in March 2012, and he soon after inked a one-year deal with the Bucs. He played in all 16 games for Tampa in 2012 and finished with 47 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns.

Clark then played one season with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 before calling it a career.

3 Randall McDaniel

Randall McDaniel capped his Hall of Fame career with two seasons in Tampa

Randall McDaniel was the perfect blend of size and speed, and he proved to be one of the most durable offensive linemen during his playing days.

Selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, the Arizona State product started every game of his 14-year career but two. In 1989, he made the first of 12 straight Pro Bowls. He was also named a First-Team All-Pro seven times during that dozen-year stretch, including five straight years from 1992 to 1996.

McDaniel is a member of the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team and the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor.

After his 12 years in Minnesota, he joined the Buccaneers for the 2000 season, started all 16 games, and earned the last of his Pro Bowl selections. He also played the 2001 season in Tampa before hanging up his cleats.

McDaniel was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

4 Steve Young

Steve Young’s Hall of Fame career got off to a rocky start with two ugly seasons in Tampa

Steve Young had plenty of memorable moments as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, but his time with the Bucs is something he’d probably like to forget.

Before he became a three-time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP with the Niners, Young struggled mightily during his first two seasons in the NFL. After a stellar college career at BYU, Young signed with the USFL. The league was short-lived, and he eventually signed with the Buccaneers, who had selected him in the 1984 Supplemental Draft.

Young played the 1985 and 1986 seasons with the Buccaneers, starting 19 games, going 3-16 with 11 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions. With the Utah native struggling, Tampa Bay selected quarterback Vinny Testaverde with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft, making Young expendable.

Tampa ultimately traded Young to the 49ers in April 1987 as insurance behind Joe Montana. Although Young spent 13 seasons with the Niners, he was the backup for the first four, making just 10 starts during those years, going 7-3.

Young went on to win a pair of MVPs and three Super Bowls in San Francisco. He went 91-33 as a starter in San Francisco and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

5 Jim Zorn

Jim Zorn finished his 11-year NFL career by playing one game for the Buccaneers in 1987

Jim Zorn spent the first nine seasons of his 11-year NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks. Undrafted out of Cal Poly Ponoma in 1975, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys but failed to make the team. After sitting out a season, he signed with the expansion Seahawks in 1976 and remained with the team through 1984.

Zorn is fourth on Seattle’s all-time passing list with 20,112 yards, and his 107 career touchdown passes are also fourth in franchise history.

After Zorn was replaced by Dave Krieg in the mid-1980s, he had a backup QB role with the Green Bay Packers in 1985, and then played the 1986 season with the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

After getting released by Winnipeg, Zorn returned to the NFL with Tampa Bay for the 1987 season. He started one game for the Bucs and led the team to a 20-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. In that lone appearance, he completed 20 of 36 passes for 199 yards and was intercepted twice.

Zorn finished his career with a 44-62 regular-season record.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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