Forty years ago this November, in 1976, the 0-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the 4-4 Denver Broncos on the road. At the time—and no, this isn’t a typo—the Bucs and Broncos were both members of the AFC West, because the NFL had decided that for the 1976 and 1977 seasons, the expansion Bucs would play at least one game against every team in the league. Therefore, in 1976, they played an AFC-only schedule as members of the AFC West, then in 1977, jumped divisions to a play an NFC-only slate as members of the NFC Central. (They also played the Seattle Seahawks, the league’s other expansion franchise, both years).
When the Bucs left their team owner in the Mile High parking lot
