Happy 15th Birthday JoeBucsFan.com
August 7th, 2023
Fifteen years ago today, Joe fired up this website and never turned back. About 52,000 Bucs posts have been typed, the results of obsessing 24/7 about all things Buccaneers.
It all started with a laptop and a dream.
As the Chucky era marched on, Joe became so incredibly bored by the stale, traditional media in the Tampa Bay area. It was years into the new century and Bucs coverage was stuck in the 1980s. Boring!!!
But in some corners of the Internet, coverage of sports teams was fun, you know, like sports are supposed to be.
So Joe hatched a plan to cover the Bucs in a way that would entertain and interest Joe, something very different.
A defunct NBA site called JoeNetsFan.com was the inspiration for the name and the spirit, but Joe decided to bring a different angle, the whole third-person “Joe” thing.
Joe pounded away for months on these pages writing passionately for almost nobody — and no money. Traffic grew slowly while Joe endured endless personal attacks, the result of rattling the cages of Bucs fans, the Bucs franchise, and Joe’s media brethren.
Hell, Joe had an army of “haters” before anyone used the term “haters.”
But Joe pressed on because this site was rooted in a love for the Bucs (and always will be). Joe was having fun and fans were buying into Joe’s unique brand of journalism that continues to be like no other.
The Day 1 approach here has not changed; Joe writes about Bucs-related subjects that interest Joe without any agenda. Joe doesn’t tell fans how to love their team, and Joe expects the same courtesy.
Thankfully, Bucs fans bought in. JoeBucsFan.com traffic grew consistently, and the site is now the only destination for legions of Bucs fans. Anyone who wants to research their favorite Bucs site on SimilarWeb.com can quickly conclude that JoeBucsFan.com is the dominant force in the market — by a mile.
Two million pages viewed per month on JoeBucsFan.com is commonplace (server-based data). And the legions of beloved podcast listeners are in a category all their own.
Joe appreciates the thousands of devoted daily readers here, along with the many thousands of occasional readers. And Joe has a special thank you to the statistically insignificant percentage of fans and haters that ever type a comment. You all have a place in Joe’s heart.
The ride has been wild. A book could be written about the bizarre Bucs sh*t Joe has experienced and can’t type on these pages.
Joe also appreciates the great local business owners who support JoeBucsFan.com year-round. Unlike the Buccaneers organization and other local media outlets, Joe does not price gouge and views advertisers as true partners and friends.
As always, Joe’s primary birthday wish is for quality football to continue in Tampa. Another NFC South title would be a beautiful thing.
Joe loves playing cheerleader versus dissecting miserable seasons like the Bucs delivered during The Lost Decade (2009-2018). What a relief the past few seasons have been. Winning is good for Joe’s mental health and bank account.
A hearty thank you from JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters to all the Bucs fans out there who have allowed Joe to realize this dream — even the avowed Joe haters, bitter media types and sour Bucs employees.
As a birthday treat, Joe will get back to work serving Bucs fans 24/7. It’s a privilege.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:07 am
Thank you! Keep up the good work! GO BUCS!!!!
August 7th, 2023 at 1:29 am
Congratulations.
You “Joes” do a great job !
August 7th, 2023 at 1:35 am
Thanks Joe appreciate your hard work–both of you and appreciate Ira too and definitely Sean Sullivan at Bill Currie Ford. I love your podcasts(Ira/sage) and Sean’s podcast especially at draft time. Your training camp cliff notes are great. You make it easy to be a Buc fan as you do an in depth of all the players.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:56 am
Wow! my entire 20s gone in a flash of an eye (35 now). Feels like yesterday with that 9-3 monday night panthers game that changed history.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:01 am
Congrats Joe!
I think you have, at the very least got the local media to think about how they choose to report on our beloved Bucs. Although the official Bucs site is still a joke.
Since the passing of Tom McEwen we in Tampa have had a lot of subpar reporting on our Bucs and the local “journalist” club has been less than responsible in their reporting of many things Bucs. Yes I am aware that they wish they could muzzle you.
Go Bucs!
August 7th, 2023 at 2:34 am
Respect
August 7th, 2023 at 3:03 am
Congratulations on another awesome year!
August 7th, 2023 at 4:00 am
My go to site for Bucs news. Keep it up. Rah!
August 7th, 2023 at 4:41 am
Happy Birthday Joe! It was your days on the Mad Dogs show that turned me on to this little piece of the Inter Web some years ago. Starving for Bucs news in Fin County, I have been reading (& listening) every morning for at least 2/3 of that 10 years!!
August 7th, 2023 at 4:42 am
Happy Birthday Joe!
August 7th, 2023 at 5:48 am
Nice work guys! A special part of many of our lives!
August 7th, 2023 at 6:32 am
Happy birthday, Joe, let’s win another Super Bowl celebrate.
August 7th, 2023 at 6:35 am
Happy Birthday Joebucsfan! Thank you for being here from Chicago! May you roll on for many many years to come!
August 7th, 2023 at 6:42 am
Congratulations Joe, I am very thankful to have been reading your stories on this great site for most of that 15 years. I was an Army Company Commander stationed in Germany at the time and needed an escape for a few minutes every day. I would spend the 10 or so minutes I would have for lunch quietly in my office hoping to eat and read one or two stories about our beloved Bucs. You helped keep me connected to the game better than any other site (and still do), but being half way around the world you tend to feel like you’re missing out on everything. I think you even came to Wembley stadium in England in 2009 to see the Bucs Patriots game a short flight away from Germany I tried to make it, but no such luck. It has been a great experience so far and here’s hoping for another great 15 years. I think you should bring back the buy Joe a beer option for your next Birthday 😎🍺.
August 7th, 2023 at 6:51 am
Time Flies By.
Congrats Joes!
Thanks for the memories
August 7th, 2023 at 6:51 am
I’ve always taken pride in being statistically insignificant. Happy Birthday Joe. Are you going to have a quinceanera?
August 7th, 2023 at 6:52 am
Happy Birthday Joes!
RastaMon … Wow. Serious name from the past. Thank you. — Joe
August 7th, 2023 at 6:54 am
Been here since Rachel Watson was an actual cheerleader. Happy Birthday Joes!
August 7th, 2023 at 6:57 am
Happy Birthday JBF!
I discovered your little project a couple years in and have been an addicted daily visitor ever since.
August 7th, 2023 at 6:57 am
“Joe has a special thank you to the statistically insignificant percentage of fans and haters that ever type a comment. You all have a place in Joe’s heart.”
.
.
Awww, shucks!
Even Tmax? Happy Birthday!
August 7th, 2023 at 6:58 am
Great work Joe! Happy Anniversary!
August 7th, 2023 at 7:07 am
Happy birthday, JBF. Thank you for being my first stop for Bucs news. Though we may not always agree, you are the most reliable and u to date source of Bucs news on the internet.
August 7th, 2023 at 7:12 am
Happy Birthday Joes! Best Bucs site out there!!
August 7th, 2023 at 7:18 am
Happy birthday! And thank you Joe for keeping us informed and the site going all these years!
August 7th, 2023 at 7:23 am
Congratulations for another year! Happy birthday to all there in the headquarter and thanks for the great work.
August 7th, 2023 at 7:32 am
Congratulations Joes!!!
Sports fandom is all about being right and you give us opportunities to express our deep knowledge of the game, our players and our team!! Go Bucs!!
August 7th, 2023 at 7:35 am
Thanks Joes!
August 7th, 2023 at 7:37 am
Great job Joe. I still remember when everyone thought Raheem Morris and Schiano were good hires….
August 7th, 2023 at 7:39 am
Happy Birthday!! Every Morning starts with coffee and Joe Bucs Fan. Never miss an article. Reader response, eh, not so much.
August 7th, 2023 at 7:49 am
Happy Birthday Joe. Your hard work coverage of our Bucs reaches far beyond Tampa.
August 7th, 2023 at 7:52 am
Happy birthday fellas, you 3 are the best
August 7th, 2023 at 7:59 am
Happy Birthday Big Dawg(s)!! Thanks for your hard work, I know i’m not the only one that leaves your page open and refreshes the tab throughout the day!
August 7th, 2023 at 8:00 am
Keep Rockn it! Thanks Joe
August 7th, 2023 at 8:05 am
I remember when this site started. Great work and HBD Joe(s).
August 7th, 2023 at 8:11 am
Happy birthday Joes. I appreciate all you guys do to keep us informed. You keep me informed with all things Bucs, and you do it with quick informative articles that have honest opinions. Joes you are the reason I can stay informed about all things Bucs since I moved to East Tennessee a couple years ago. Thanks and congratulations, how about 15 more.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:20 am
Congrats! I can’t remember when I found you guys but it’s been at least like 10 years it seems.
I’m curious – did both Joe(s) start this together and did you both quit your jobs or were you balancing this with a regular job at first until you had enough traffic to go all in? And when/how did you get access to be a media member?
August 7th, 2023 at 8:20 am
This is the first page I open in the morning.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:20 am
Fifteen years and going strong!
Thanks Joe(s) for all you do.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:28 am
Thank you all for the kind words. Very much appreciate the thoughts. Really, without readers like you, this site wouldn’t exist.
Sean G:
It always makes Joe proud when he learns from service members that this site helps keep them keep connected with home. Thanks for sharing, and more importantly thanks for your service!
August 7th, 2023 at 8:35 am
Lord:
Balanced for a few years. Since about the start of the Dirk Koetter regime became full-time. The Joes have worked in local media since last century.
Thanks for the kind words! 👍
August 7th, 2023 at 8:44 am
Thank YOU! JBF is my go-to place for beloved Buccaneer coverage for this Tampa native living in Atlanta (not too many Bucs fans around here). Love your work. 👊🏽
August 7th, 2023 at 8:47 am
Happy Birthday, JBF. Great job on this unique site, Joes. It truly is the best source of all things Bucs, and I’m a daily reader. I mean, you got us fans through the agony of the off-season, and now it’s time for real, possibly meaningless, football just a few days away. Thank you, sirs.
GOBUCS!!!
August 7th, 2023 at 8:47 am
That’s awesome Joe(s) and definitely inspiring!
My dream has been to get a creative career going in music to escape the regular 9-5 job, and this year will be the first time I start pushing seriously as a solo artist/content creator to do it, starting with my first solo song release next month. I was in a band for years but never really took the internet/social media/marketing/etc too seriously (or was willing to do the work).
It’s awesome to read about stories like JBF that started from nothing and created such an large awesome community without any massive connections or anything.
Hopefully the Bucs can surprise this year and give you guys even more growth. Go JBF!
August 7th, 2023 at 8:50 am
And it is a pleasure and an honor to read your articles multiple times a day. Here in North Carolina where I now live I try my best to share this amazing web-site with Buc fans up here that detest the Stinking Panthers as much as I do. Can you believe it, I run into Buc fans all over the place up here. I have gotten into some verbal scuffles with Panther fans, they hate Tampa Bay. Once again gentlemen good solid work in an industry full of mediocre work from the sports press. Here’s to another 15 years! GO BUC’S and JoeBucsFan, congrats.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:51 am
Happy Birthday JOE BUCS FAN, being the number one Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan in the world ( that would be me) from the very first time I heard you guys speak on the big dog show on WDA radio station in 2014 I felt in love with your show.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:52 am
Crazy ! Time flies I found this site cuz this guy on madden told me about it 13 or 14 yrs ago lol been hooked ever since. What’s crazy is during the lost decade the coverage on jbf made me forget the team was losing
August 7th, 2023 at 8:56 am
I say it every year but I’ve been visiting JBF since within that first year, close to the end of the 2008 season. Congratulations Joe!
August 7th, 2023 at 8:59 am
Joe, this is stunning to me! I thought this was your full time gig long before Dirk Koetter. It’s stunning because you never once had a subscription and I know other Bucs sites tried this. I would have gladly paid a small subscription fee and I still would.
August 7th, 2023 at 8:59 am
Yep. The very best Bucs site in the world. I have learned so much from the Joes and members. Happy B-day!!!
August 7th, 2023 at 9:15 am
Lord:
Much easier to find a side hustle these days while chasing your dream. 🙂
August 7th, 2023 at 9:26 am
Always entertaining distraction from everyday tasks…
Best wishes for continued success!
August 7th, 2023 at 9:41 am
Agree or disagree i love to read it..LOL happy-b-day
August 7th, 2023 at 9:45 am
Rarely miss a day on this site. Always up-to-date on Bucs goings on. Love it Joe. Great work! Here’s to at least another 15 years.
August 7th, 2023 at 9:47 am
Awesome.
Congrats guys… Keep it going.
Go Bucs!
August 7th, 2023 at 9:52 am
Happy Birthday, JBF! Thanks for all you guys do!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:00 am
Impressive. You guys stuck to your guns, did it “your way,” and deserve to reap the benefits!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:03 am
The Bucs might be hot garbage but the Joe’s deliver caviar quality Buc’s coverage.
August 7th, 2023 at 10:06 am
Happy birthday
August 7th, 2023 at 10:27 am
Thank you!!!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:31 am
Happy Birthday Joes, I wanted to get Kay Adms to spank you guys for your birthday but she was busy. Oh well, I got you the same thing I got you last year… nothing! Happy birthday anyway!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:34 am
Congrats Joes & Ira! Cheers to the best website & podcast in Bucs history! No one else comes close!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:34 am
Happy birthday Joe!
I think I’ve been coming to this site for 14 of those 15 years now!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:52 am
Happy Birthday Joes! You are the best. I’m here everyday. Thank you Steve, Lee, and Ira……..
August 7th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Congrats on 15 years!!!! This is my go to site for Buccaneers football news. Keep up the great work.
August 7th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Happy B day Joe’s. Found you guy’s thru Atlbucfans fan group (hall of fame buc fan) in Alpharetta Ga, not long after you started! Thank you again for the years of Bucs fun and entertainment!
August 7th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Happy Birthday, Joe! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to bringing us the best Bucs coverage in all the interwebs.
August 7th, 2023 at 11:02 am
… … I’ve been reading this site for so long that I know which Joe is writing the articles.
If you’re really dialed in, you’d probably nail it two-thirds of the time. Not nearly as easy as you think. –Joe
August 7th, 2023 at 11:03 am
Thank you, Joe(s)! I would love to read the “bizarre” stories that you have accumulated over the years. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding the Bucs, such as the unraveling of Josh Freeman, JR “Easy Money” Sweezy, the MRSA fiasco, etc. Any plans to publish a tell-all memoir?
August 7th, 2023 at 11:13 am
A memoir is possible. Some day.
Everything about Freeman that Joe has heard revolves around, well, prescriptions, though Joe has a source who swears on a stack of bibles the Freeman story revolves around something much different and the same guy claims he saw it. Sweezy, everything Joe has heard you have heard: He blew his back out pumping weights after signing with the Bucs.
MRSA? What’s to know? Locker rooms from time to time get infected.
Thanks for the kind words!
August 7th, 2023 at 11:18 am
Then Joe would destory the very foundation of which this site is built on.
Sort of like KISS unmasking themselves. Or Mr. Wrestling No. 2. Or the Unknown Comic.
August 7th, 2023 at 11:19 am
Thanks all for the compliments. Joe appreciates each and every reader! 🙂
August 7th, 2023 at 11:25 am
Worth celebrating, been riding with JBF for some time now and unfortunately it is a daily addiction, especially since I left Florida 6 years ago
August 7th, 2023 at 11:31 am
“Much easier to find a side hustle these days while chasing your dream. 🙂”
That’s kind of the plan. I’m making kid cheerleader mixed tapes for $$ on the side for example lol, and learning to DJ for extra gig $$ on top of the passion project(s).
August 7th, 2023 at 11:34 am
Thank you Joe(s) & Ira!
Hope is not a strategy. I Hope JBF scores a Pulitzer!
August 7th, 2023 at 11:44 am
Thank you for your dedication and commitment to the legion of Bucs fans out here, Joe. joebucsfan.com has helped me through a divorce, the loss of several loved ones, and has inspired me to step away from the norm and really go after my dreams. It sounds cliche, but it’s very true. I’m now on my way to becoming a full time voiceover artists. That’s due (in no small part) to what you and this site represents. Thanks, again. As the late, great Eddie Kendricks once sang, “Keep on truckin’, baby”.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
JBF…always the bomb!
August 7th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
15 years of great content from Josh Freeman to Tom Brady.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Happy Birthday, Joe. This website is the single greatest thing to happen to my Buccaneers fandom.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Don’t always agree with everything here Joe. But yours is by far the Best of’em all. At least you let us have our say. Happy B-Day and many more!!
August 7th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
Midnight:
That’s incredibly humbling to learn, thank you.
Joe knows the Bucs are a distraction for many fans.
Joe always tries to consider the mindset of someone chained to a desk in an office job, brain almost numb to the repetitive, boring tasks someone has to do each day, every day. And give those folks something fun to read.
Humbled to learn Joe helped you get through some tough times.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
I’m sure you guys are fed up with me, but Happy anniversary!
August 7th, 2023 at 1:07 pm
Congrats on a job well done. JBF is a go to site for me….usually check it 4 or 5 times a day. Sports without screaming blowhards is really appreciated. Love Ira too.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:26 pm
Congrats Joe. You are the Best.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
I used to read all the Bucs sites but now almost exclusively come here. In my opinion JBF feels uncompromised and not driven by motivated sources. Calling out the team for not having public practices is a great example of this. There’s nothing to gain from it, you won’t get more access and you’ll only annoy the powerful. But that’s a sign of integrity. Maybe Todd Bowles wouldn’t have felt the courage to publicly agree had JBF not been so vocal about this.
I started reading JBF at the end of the Raheem era, which is when I became a devoted Bucs fan. Being out-of-state, all of my Bucs coverage had to come online through my own searches or on Twitter. Now all these years later, I check JBF every day and only peruse the other sites if they have truly interesting content. Not to say the other outlets don’t have things to offer, but JBF is the best.
Thanks for all you do, thanks for hosting Ira, thanks for not banning my comments when I’ve probably overstepped, and here’s to another 15+ years.
Go Bucs
August 7th, 2023 at 3:23 pm
Cheers Joe! To 15 more!!!
August 7th, 2023 at 3:27 pm
Love the site. I especially enjoy your comments on some of our posts. Happy Birthday.
August 7th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
I still hate the third-person style, but otherwise this a great site and I love reading here nearly every day.
August 7th, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Ha! Rachel Watson is a more realistic prize!
August 7th, 2023 at 4:34 pm
You guys deserve every success. Thank you for what you do.
August 7th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
HBD
August 7th, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Congrats Joe!
I love the ‘blog’ style of posts where you have some attitude and give opinions on stuff, not just boring ‘it could go either way’. I often disagree with you on things, but I love that you guys explain your takes over times, so even if I do disagree, I at least know you’re not doing boring hot takes with nothing behind it.
In the old days there was a site called RedTideNews, which was my favorite by a mile, but it was more parody than anything – mainly I liked how much they hated on stupid Kurt Warner, that cheating hack. But they were dead by 2002, and it was a long stretch anything something equally entertaining came along, and you do it by reporting real news, which is a lot harder. So, that’s a compliment, a high one by my standards.
Can’t wait until you’re franchising out Joe sites to other cities. If other teams had coverage like this I’d keep up with more teams, instead it’s just those garbage national sites doing local coverage, which is always awful.
August 7th, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Joe, what kind of music are you gonna put out? What instrument(s) do you play? Good luck with the song release, we’d love to hear it!
August 7th, 2023 at 5:48 pm
Happy Birthday to the best site around! I don’t comment often but read every word, every day, many times a day! My only complaint is that you are sometimes slow out of the blocks on breaking news. Joe is not in a race to win on breaking news. Joe prefers to not write something half-assed and rushed. When Joe goes to a restaurant, Joe doesn’t want second-rate, stale food if a solid meal can be had with more time. –Joe
I can live with that as I know you will catch up, often times with a different angle on whatever the news is. Congrats on a great site. Love the diversity of opinions – even by some posters that I would otherwise blast past.🤪Keep up the good work Joes and make your million dollars! Best to you all.
August 7th, 2023 at 9:10 pm
No, thank you, Nicholas!
August 7th, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Joe doesn’t play any instrument or write songs. The commenter “Lord Cornelius” apparently is.
August 7th, 2023 at 11:53 pm
Thank all of you for the kind words. This site would not exist if not for readers like you.
Saluto!