It’s fitting that JoeBucsFan.com columnist/podcaster Ira Kaufman will walk into the Raymond James Stadium press box tomorrow for the Bucs-Browns game wearing a media badge and carrying a laptop.

Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of Kaufman launching his illustrious career in sports media.

Kaufman clocked in on the Manhattan sports desk of United Press International at 6 p.m. on Sept. 20, 1976. His daily shift ended at 1:30 a.m. — followed by a vodka tonic at a bar across the street.

Starting pay was $140 a week — enough to afford an occasional wee hours western omelet (post-vodka) and train fare back home to Brooklyn.

By 1978, Kaufman was routinely covering the NFL and his big break came immediately following that ’78 season. Kaufman was named New York Giants beat writer for UPI, replacing Greg Aiello, who later became the longtime chief NFL spokesperson.

“I was 24 years old; that was a big thing for me,” Kaufman says. “My boss was very tough, and if I didn’t know what I was doing, he would have yanked me in a heartbeat. There were other talented young guys very hungry for that Giants beat.”

It was a different era of NFL coverage, Kaufman explained.

“For a Giants home game, the visiting team’s public relations director would come personally to Giants headquarters on a Wednesday afternoon and field questions from reporters about his team. That went on all across the league,” Kaufman said.

In those days, the NFL offseason was not the daily, year-round news beast it is today. So that freed Kaufman to be part of coverage teams for the New York Rangers and New York Knicks, and for baseball.

“I did it all back then,” Kaufman said. “Tuesday I’m at a Mets game. Thursday I’m at the Rangers, Saturday I’m at a college game. Weeks-long trips to cover spring training. “

Kaufman also was a popular NFL voice during the infancy of sports talk radio. He was a regular guest talking Giants and NFL in the early 1980s with Art Rust, Jr. on WABC radio in New York. (WFAN radio didn’t launch the all-sports format until 1987).

In January of 1985, Kaufman gave up the Giants beat and transferred to Tampa with UPI to cover the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“What a time to come to Tampa,” Kaufman said. “Lee Roy Selmon had just retired, same with [former head coach] John McKay. The Bucs went 2-14 in ’85 and in ’86.”

Dual Threat

Covering two football teams at the same time? Kaufman is among the dying breed of NFL writers who simultaneously covered the USFL.

“I was covering the Orlando Renegades with Lee Corso as head coach, and the Tampa Bay Bandits with Steve Spurrier,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman typing away at his Radio Row seat at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Ray Perkins arriving to coach the Bucs in 1987 was a memorable moment for Kaufman. Perkins was New York head coach when Kaufman started on the Giants beat. The hard-nosed coach was known for being gruff and guarded with media, but Kaufman says while the two “tangled” in New York, the professional relationship was sound and Kaufman was proud of it.

Their reunion stood out, per Kaufman: “Perkins arrived in Tampa, saw me and said, ‘Ira, what are you doing here? I said, ‘I’m asking you the same question.'”

In 1990, Kaufman left UPI for The Tampa Tribune where he continued on the Bucs beat.

The Tribune shuttered operations in 2016, and Kaufman joined JoeBucsFan.com full-time a handful of weeks later.

National Stage

Kaufman’s national personality was forged during the NFL Network “Top 10” series that launched in 2007.

Regularly on camera in the NFL Films-produced documentary series, Kaufman weighed in for years during themed shows like Top-10 “Gutsiest Peformances” and Top 10 “Revenge Games,” etc.

“I got a lot of colorful analogies and one-liners in and the producers seemed to like that,” Kaufman said. “I remember one show; I think it was Top-10 NFL villains and they had Warren Sapp at No. 10. I said, ‘Number 10? Who’s ahead of him, Attila the Hun?’ That went over well. Being a part of that show was a great way to share knowledge and have fun at the same time.”

Kaufman’s national brand also blossomed as a weekly guest with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on his popular SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio show. Kaufman has appeared weekly with Russo during football season since 2008 or 2009, he said. His current time slot is Wednesdays at 5 p.m.

When Kaufman entered the podcast realm in 2016, his Ira Kaufman Podcast exploded. By 2017, it was a regular on the Google Play national top-50 podcast charts (all genres) alongside noted political podcasts, crime series, and more (see Tweets below) through the 2019 season.

What Next?

Kaufman says he has no plans to retire, though in recent years he’s stepped down from various television and online video gigs, and has slightly cut his JoeBucsFan.com column schedule.

Kaufman and Derrick Brooks co-hosted Tampa Two for several years.

Various rumors of Kaufman’s retirement (mostly started by Kaufman) are fictional. While Kaufman could become a free agent in February 2027, it’s expected that JoeBucsFan.com will meet his contract demands.

Kaufman also will remain as a Pro Football Hall of Fame selector. He said on his podcast that he expects to be named to a Hall contributor or coach committee.

A local Tampa Bay icon, Kaufman routinely volunteers to speak to community groups, Rotary clubs, sports organizations, etc., and he looks forward to continuing that.

Strong Memories

Reflecting recently on his storied career, Kaufman had many fond memories, including long chats early in his career with ESPN personality Chris Berman about the sports media industry and its future, and with the late Bill Mazer as he prepped for his iconic Sports Extra show on New York television.

“Eye-opening,” per Kaufman, was watching Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor practice as a Giants rookie in 1981. Kaufman considers it a pleasure of his career to have been a daily witness to Taylor’s early years with the Giants.

Kaufman also remembers working both Bucs 1979 playoff games for UPI, and the historic “Catch” game between the 49ers and Cowboys in the 1981 postseason.

Favorite players to cover? Kaufman named former Bucs offensive tackles Donald Penn and Demar Dotson.

“You need a guy to go to after a loss,” said Kaufman, who claims to bond annually with offensive linemen. “I will always treasure their availability when tough questions needed to be asked. They never shied away.”

Favorite coaches to cover? Jon Gruden and Bruce Arians.

“Gruden would always talk to me 1-on-1 and I’d get him on the phone when he coached the Bucs,” Kaufman said. “There were many nights when I’d call Gruden from the media trailer and tell him I’d be in his office in 3 minutes with questions. He’d say, ‘What?!?’ But he was great about talking off the record so you could really understand the team and report most effectively for the fans.

“Arians was another guy I could talk to off to the side. That’s what you want coming off the practice field: good information.”

Sunday will be a special day for Kaufman. The Buccaneers have something planned to honor Kaufman’s anniversary at the game, though the team is keeping it secret.

If you see Kaufman in the parking lot, feel free to give him a high-five and/or hand him a hot dog from your tailgate. He’ll accept either one.

Kaufman loves interacting with fans and is just a regular guy going to work.

Year 51, here he comes.

Currently No. 11. Ira was No. 5 earlier this week. That’s better than George Stephanopoulos, Nancy Grace and the Barstool Sports gang. https://t.co/bzDakUGNl4

— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) May 10, 2018

Sage Ira Kaufman @IKaufman76 knocks ex-nemesis Nancy Grace off the Google Play Top-50 national podcast charts today, but a new target appears., Dr. Phil. … Yes, Ira plays in big company. Full screen shot tells the story. New Ira Kaufman Podcast today at https://t.co/uyGzTXFlyr pic.twitter.com/L8FVCx73bu

— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) July 10, 2019