Hugh Culverhouse and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: How a Skinflint Genius with a Losing Team Made the Modern NFL

From 1976 until 1994, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost far more games than they won. The Bucs’ status as a sporting punch line belied the fact that they were led by arguably the most important owner of that era. Known as the ＂Vice-Commissioner,＂ Hugh F. Culverhouse, Sr., wielded his financial acumen as a weapon, keeping other NFL owners in line through the economic downturn of the 1980s, two work stoppages, and a multimillion dollar lawsuit from a rival league. Culverhouse’s near-Dickensian frugality also led, directly and indirectly, to the Steve Young-Joe Montana quarterback controversy; Doug Williams’ triumph in Super Bowl XXII; and the largest fourth-quarter collapse in NFL history. Over two dozen interviews with Culverhouse’s allies and adversaries inform this thorough and balanced chronicle of the man and his team.

Denis M. Crawford is a freelance writer and corporate trainer in Boardman, Ohio. He is assistant editor for The Coffin Corner, a publication of the Professional Football Researchers Association and an historian for the website Bucpower.com. Crawford is an honorary member of the Bucs UK, the largest American football fan club in the United Kingdom and a 2010 inductee to the Bucs UK Hall of Fame.