“They Got It Right”
February 26th, 2026
Buccaneers Ring of Honor QB Doug Williams.
Quick nugget here for old school Bucs fans or documentary viewers of all ages who watched Raise The Flags: 50 Years Of Buccaneers Football.
The Tampa Bay story of Bucs quarterback Doug Williams (1978-1982) — including his rise as a rookie, the death of his wife, dealing with racist fans, how teammates felt about him and his unfortunate exit from Tampa courtesy of then-owner Hugh Culverhouse — was a significant part of the documentary on Amazon Prime.
Sensitive subjects in Williams’ life were explored and, while watching it, Joe wondered how Williams felt about the presentation and accuracy.
Well, Joe got to ask Williams late last night in Indianapolis in a hotel lobby near the NFL Scouting Combine.
“They got it right. They really did,” Williams said of his portrayal. Joe pressed Williams on some details and Williams said he truly loved how his story was told. He praised Buccaners owner Ed Glazer for the project.
Joe thinks it’s very cool how Williams, a very straight shooter, feels about the documentary. What a travesty it would have been if a Buccaneers Ring of Honor member felt wronged.
February 26th, 2026 at 10:19 am
#12….He was my guy when I first became a Bucs fan. Happened to meet him out side their old headquarters shack one time when I happened to be driving by there on a vacation with my kids. Pulled over and talked to him for a few minutes and he autographed a Buccaneer magazine for me. I still have it. Took my kid to get a Cadillac Williams jersey and on the way back to the hotel made a wrong turn and there is Doug Williams getting out of his car. Good stuff and he’s a good guy. Glad he won a trophy elsewhere.
February 26th, 2026 at 10:27 am
I remember when Hugh Culverhouse offered Doug a piece of the “Tampasphere” project instead of pay. That project died on the vine and Doug left town. Very sad.Hugh did some greasy things, like what he did to Doug and Bo Jackson. …..no to mention having the university of Tampa kill its football program
February 26th, 2026 at 10:48 am
Joe… you the think the lost decade was bad… the Bo jackson debacle, taking Steve young over Reggie White and the trading Young for a 3, letting Doug walk, and winning the last game of the meaningless 88 season against detroit to miss out on drafting Derrick Thomas or Barry Sanders… man the 80’s were so so bad!
February 26th, 2026 at 10:58 am
Miken, I’m with you bro. But still loved the team and rooted for them every single Sunday, not expecting a win. SAD!
February 26th, 2026 at 11:00 am
Joe, you’ve probably covered this before, but who in your opinion is the Greatest Buccaneer of All Time?
I liked at the end of every episode where key people were asked. I thought Gronk’s answer was really interesting.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:08 am
Doug is one of my favorite Bucs of all time. I get a lot of love from other Bucs fans when I wear his creamsicle #12 to games.
@miken – you nailed it. You could’ve thrown in the Ray Perkins experiment too….19-41 record.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:10 am
Doug Williams was my hero growing up. He was so honest and humble.
Not only a great arm. A great leader. In the face of some very real challenges of the time. He was one of the few black QBs. He was viewed as a novelty.
I often wonder if Doug Williams would have won a SB in Tampa. I don’t think so. Culverhouse was not a great owner.
The Glazers are. Even though I am mad at them for not changing coaches this year.
I have put off watching the documentary. But knowing that they did Doug Williams right makes me now want to see it.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:22 am
Joe, you should do a whole section of the Culverhouse years. They were so bad! Being spoofed on Tampa morning show, PBA (not used to losing franchises), Bo Jackson, trying to get in (can’t remember famous guy’s) wife’s pants. The whole deal was incredibly bad.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:35 am
Bring back the 92 to 96 uniforms with orange pants and more detailed bucs logo. They were sooooo much better the the original throw backs.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:43 am
I was a fan of Doug Williams although a lot of people around me were not. He was fun to watch and no one who ever played for the Bucs played harder.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:58 am
I met Doug at the wrestling matches at Fort Hesterly Amory. He was with a bunch of other Buccaneers at the time. He was extremely nice and funny. I never thought to ask for an autograph because we were just living in the moment.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:59 am
He got to win his Superbowl with the Redskins. His first half of that game was the best Quarterback play I’ve ever seen in a Superbowl.
February 26th, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Great guy. Humble and classy. Culverhouse did him wrong. Miss the days when he used to throw beautiful long passes to Kevin House and TDs to Jimmie Giles.
February 26th, 2026 at 12:36 pm
The ‘79 season was electric. Williams had grit and possibly the best arm in the league.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:21 pm
Not really appreciated until after he left.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:52 pm
Man that’s why we should draft Drew Allar in the 3rd round if he’s they’re this offense is set up perfectly for a young quarterback to sit behind Baker for a year or two if we get to a NFC Championship.
February 26th, 2026 at 1:53 pm
The 1981 Doug Williams to Kevin House was really something. I will never forget Andy Hardy interviewing Williams following the season finale victory over Detroit to win the division which featured a Williams to House TD bomb. Hardy asks why do opposing defenses keep getting burned when they know this play is going to happen.
Doug’s response: well Andy you know it is going to happen but you don’t know WHEN it’s going to happen.
Special moment.
February 26th, 2026 at 2:21 pm
How different this team would have been, had the Southern Owner been, um, more evolved. Doug Williams was the reason I was a Bucs fan, more than Selmon or Batman or any of the studs on defense. I had tears in my eyes when he led the Redskins to the Super Bowl victory.
Bucs record with Doug was .500.
Without him until Dungy, it was like .230 or worse.
Leader. Winner. Teammate. Awesome dude.
He needs to be back in One Buc Palace.
February 26th, 2026 at 2:38 pm
My favorite QB of all Time! He threw such a Beautiful Ball! It’s a shame, the way He was treated!!!! So Glad that He won Super Bowl!! Go Bucs!!
February 26th, 2026 at 3:01 pm
When I played Senior American City League baseball in Tampa, we had a charity all star softball game with the Bucs versus coaches. I was just a kid. There were Swash-buclers and everything! I remember that Doug hit the softball way, way out of the park every time he batted. Super fella. i still have his cherished autograph.
February 26th, 2026 at 4:09 pm
Letting Doug walk was the biggest blunder in franchise history… Over a small sum (200k). The Doug Williams curse was brutal. Changed the course of this team. Culverhouse would have made many more millions signing Doug. Then could have drafted Reggie White in usfl supplemental. Who knows, maybe they would not have screwed up the Bo Jackson thing though they may not have had a chance to draft Bo if Doug was resigned.
Doug is one of my all time favorites. Had a chance to meet him in Louisiana at Landon Collins high school. He was there on a recruiting trip. He was great to speak with.
February 26th, 2026 at 4:42 pm
Culverhouse has to be one of the worst owners in the history of the four major professional sports. We had other awful owners too – Vince “do you know who I am” Naimoli and Art Williams.
February 26th, 2026 at 4:43 pm
Most of us old timers remember Culverhouses refusal to pay Doug Williams. And actually, it was not that much. Even lower than many of the good QB’s were making at that time. Doug wanted to stay in Tampa. But off he went. Who knows what might have happenned had he stayed. Because he sure threw passes of beauty. That Culvrhouse screwup set a bad curse amongst us. Some players did not want to come here. One of our all time low moments as Buic fans.
February 26th, 2026 at 5:00 pm
Lets not forget how wrong he did Bo. We got lucky to have had the players of the 79 season. McKays doing. Mr. C. was a cheap bastered that did not want to pay or we would have won it shortly after. For God sake the workout room was outside in the 70s. The teams facility was a small building at the airport. Lol!!! The plane they flew was so old that players were scared to fly. Kinda reminds me of the movie slapshots of how cheap they were.
February 26th, 2026 at 5:45 pm
Great posts guys! proud of you guys!!!
February 26th, 2026 at 6:54 pm
“Great, I’m always banking on you folks remembering how bad the former Hugh was that you forgive how the current Hugh, the GLAZERhouse version, is doing. Maybe we get credit for reparations. After all, why else did we keep this clown but get rid of everyone else!” – Hugh
February 26th, 2026 at 6:56 pm
I love how many have personal stories of encounters with the best QB ever drafted by the Bucs and a very underrated QB in lore. He was so much more than the first black QB to win a Super Bowl. Wish I’d have met him like many of you did. Good on ya.
Love Doug Williams
February 26th, 2026 at 7:25 pm
I was one of the luckiest teenagers in Tampa Bay. From 1980 -to early 1983 I worked for The Hall of Fame Inn right next door to One Buc Place. We would house the Bucs every Spring Training back when there were two a days. I was in Banquet setup and set up all the meeting rooms and helped the meals breakfast/lunch/ dinner. I was around these idols and too this skinny teenager they looked like Gladiators.
I would stand on the second story balcony and look over the fence to watch practice. Doug would put so much pace on his throws; the sound of the smack in the hands could be heard 100 yards away. Giles had a set of Bear paws on him. The ball would disappear in his hands.
Still some of my fondest memories as a kid growing up here in Tampa. I agree with all the acolytes for Doug Williams, truly a class act!
February 26th, 2026 at 8:33 pm
loved reading the comments. no compliment any of us can give is enough.
when he won that super bowl with the redskins that was us to me, just wearing a different uniform.
until doug, the black qb was not wanted, nowhere to be found. thank god for john mckay, who found a way for doug. culverhouse tried to stop doug imo, but former mckay assistant joe gibbs knew how to play that pitiful owner
doug changed the game more than any player in nfl history imo.
February 26th, 2026 at 11:33 pm
Watched the Amazon doc. Since Ed Glazer was a producer on the project, it never showed the Glazers in any negative light, which is unfortunate. If the CITS didn’t pass, this team was Baltimore bound. They never cared about the Tampa Bay area, and still don’t.
February 27th, 2026 at 2:23 am
I watched the first episode and I have not continued because the last several weeks of the NFL season were so damn disappointing it was hard to watch something celebrating their history at that moment. I’ll finish it soon.
February 27th, 2026 at 3:00 am
After watching the YT clips of Dougie with Jimmie Giles and Brad J with Chucky……………….all I can think of is……………………
Wait for 2028. Not 3rd and 28.
It won’t be Bowles fault but the Bucs might have trouble winning 7 games the next two seasons, and the math works with fewer wins in 2027 than 2026.
But it is certainly not Bowles fault.
February 27th, 2026 at 5:55 am
My earliest memories of being a Buc fan was meeting Doug Williams at Tampa Bay Mall for a meet and great. He gave everyone an autographed picture. I was in awe. He was my football hero. My mom threw it out with a bunch of my toys while I was away in the Army. I will never let her live that down. LOL.
February 27th, 2026 at 6:58 am
Always felt we screwed up big time not getting Doug signed. I was at every game he played at the Sombrero and any racist fan where I was sitting would have had a fight on his hands. Not just from this fan but from several. That is not how we roll in Tampa. Not saying it did not happen… there always seems to be a low life or two unfortunately. He got a Lombardi and a SB MVP anyway and I am glad for him.
Go Bucs!
February 27th, 2026 at 10:12 pm
Great to see the organization showing love to Doug. He was the beginning of the Franchise successful seasons
March 1st, 2026 at 4:45 pm
I stopped watching the NFL completely because of what they did to Doug. Even at 19 I knew why it happened. Lost all interest. Never stopped being a Bucs fan though. Seeing Warren Sapp in the playoffs then Mike Alstott brought me back watching games again. Unlike all these Baker fans who jumped ship when he got dumped I remained a Bucs fan even though they did Sapp kind of dirty. No player is bigger than the Bucs