Dancing Kickoff Team
January 6th, 2017
Kickoff team wasn’t quite good enough to do away with cheerleaders.
Joe was going to include this in the “Morning After” column, but typing till dawn Monday it totally slipped Joe’s mind.
Joe didn’t think it was worthy of a standalone story until Joe noted a video below on Alterraun Verner’s Instagram page.
The crowd at Sunday’s Bucs game wasn’t to boisterous. Not sure if folks were still nursing their heads from New Year’s Eve or whether it was the somewhat lackluster game. Anyway, the crowd wasn’t into it.
Until late.
When Mike Evans caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, to take a 17-10 lead with just over three minutes left, the crowed freaked out, yes, but quickly calmed down.
That was until the Bucs kickoff team took the field. And as they were standing around waiting for the FOX TV commercial break, the kickoff team all of a sudden busted out dancing. The entire team thumped to the music of “House Of Pain.”
The home crowd quickly reacted and began roaring. It was a cool scene.
It sort of took Joe back to when glory days Bucs defense had an opponent pinned in their territory and just before the snap, especially on third downs, Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice would bounce to the beat of the music blaring over the loudspeakers.
It was cool then and it was way cool Sunday. Been a long time since Joe saw so much enthusiasm from a Bucs team on the field.
Finally, football in Tampa Bay was alive again.
January 6th, 2017 at 6:00 am
Very cool indeed joe!
January 6th, 2017 at 6:36 am
They started doing this a few weeks ago joe. And yeah its hella cool and always gets me juiced at the games.
January 6th, 2017 at 7:41 am
Smart!! Channel the celebration from the previous score into the next special teams play. I love it.
I wonder if the NFL will eventually crack down on this as “choreographed” or some other such BS?
January 6th, 2017 at 7:59 am
This reminds me , on the field goal tried , their was some sort horn or something blown , during the tv boardcast it was brought up as well and I believe the refs stopped the kick , I might be wrong , but anyone know what that was , I wasn’t at the game and just want to know how loud it was and what it was , would be pretty cool to get something going against the other team during 3rd downs and FG tries, so the crowd is doing our part atleast
January 6th, 2017 at 8:18 am
While I was at the game watching this, I turned to the guy standing next me and said that Roberto better boot the kickoff through the back of the end zone. Instead his kickoff only went a yard or two deep and was returned. Can you imagine what the story would be if the coverage team gave up a late game KO return for a TD after they spent the last minute of the TV time out jumping around instead of saving their energy for the full speed sprint down the field.
January 6th, 2017 at 8:38 am
That girl’s a cutie. #NotFair
January 6th, 2017 at 8:58 am
Being at the game Joe that really got me fired up, not because they were jumping around, but cause they were jumping around in a game that meant nothing and it showed, if for a brief moment, they were playing for the right reason, the love of the game.
January 6th, 2017 at 9:58 am
@Sunny
I was at the game and that obnoxious noise sounded like microphone feedback from somewhere. He missed the kick, so I am all for the new strategy….New England style. LOL
January 6th, 2017 at 10:32 am
I was THERE. I saw it and I jumped around too along with 1000’s of Bucs fans.
Joe it was a cool sight to see and long overdue.
It was actually quite awesome.
January 6th, 2017 at 10:37 am
Sunny…in the rules it says fans are not allowed to bring noise makers to NFL games. I guess some get by. I heard the horn only once and it wasn’t that loud.
I bang two beer bottles together sometimes, or bang on the seat in front of me as hard as I can. Hurts my hand after awhile, but it’s for a good cause.
January 6th, 2017 at 10:39 am
I can almost see myself in the video…lol cool.
January 6th, 2017 at 11:13 am
I did read the next day how the Panthers were complaining about the video screens confusing the kicker…I love it..
January 6th, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Yesss thank you Joe. I commented about this earlier; this was my favorite moment this football season. The Bucs realized that being a Buc can be fun again, and everyone in the stadium went a little nuts.
Thank you for posting this!
January 6th, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Cool.
The crowd reacted like crazy and when the Stinking Panthers offense took the field, it was the loudest the crowd was all game.
January 6th, 2017 at 1:08 pm
I was there for the game, that was hands down the wildest moment. Had a blast, cool seeing those guys have fun out there with the crowd
January 6th, 2017 at 1:20 pm
@Sunny
I was at the game and I know what you were talking about. From the 3rd deck though it sounded to me almost like it was a microphone feedback loop.
Idk though, very odd
January 6th, 2017 at 1:22 pm
Also, I think the major reason the crowd was down is that the game was essentially meaningless with no playoff implications. I certainly was as loud as I could be but it was much more forced than in the past and it was due to the reason mentioned above
January 7th, 2017 at 7:25 am
I was there and it was definitely a great thing. What were we fans thinking? It was a ho-hum game and we finally felt like the offense took a step to win the game. And there were about 4 minutes left; the crowd was fairly subdued all day, more than likely due to the Bucs play, a fairly meaningless game, etc, and not the night before. So when I saw the Bucs dancing after the TD and before kickoff, I started feeling…”Hey, stop them one more time, and we are 9-7 going to into the offseason. Feels good!” Of course, the noise didn’t stop the Panthers from going down the field at ease and getting a TD. However, I think it made the difference on the last few plays, including the two-point conversion attempt.
January 9th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Being at the game…I thought it was a special moment…UNSCRPIRTED and a lot of fun….one of a few memorable moments at RayJay in quite some time