1981: Bucs Inflict First Home Loss of Season on Lions to Win NFC Central

The NFC Central title was on the line on December 20, 1981 as the Detroit Lions hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Pontiac Silverdome. For the Lions, under Head Coach Monte Clark, it was auspicious to be playing at home – they were undefeated there thus far in ’81 and had beaten the Vikings impressively by a 45-7 score the week before. But both teams were 8-7, highlighting the mediocrity of the division.

Detroit may have been unbeatable in the Silverdome but had been far less successful on the road, going 1-7 (including a loss at Tampa). Starting QB Gary Danielson went down for the year in the fourth game and, after backup Jeff Komlo proved inadequate, Eric Hipple, who had seen no action in his 1980 rookie season, took over and played surprisingly well. He had good receivers to throw to in wide receivers Freddie Scott and Leonard Thompson, as well as TE David Hill. But even more significant was RB Billy Sims, the star second-year player out of Oklahoma who was among the rushing leaders. The defense was best against the run and featured DT Doug English, DE Dave Pureifory, LB Ken Fantetti, and FS Jimmy Allen.


Head Coach John McKay’s Buccaneers had come out of nowhere to win the division in 1979, regressed in ’80, but were now contending again. They had won three of their last four and a big part of it had been the performance of QB Doug Williams, particularly when passing to deep-threat WR Kevin House (pictured at left). TE Jimmie Giles was also a Pro Bowl-quality player. The defense may not have been as formidable as in ’79, but it was still anchored by star DE Lee Roy Selmon (pictured at top) and the backfield was tough to pass against.

There was a big crowd of 80,444 on hand to see if the Lions could remain dominant at home and make it to the postseason. The Bucs scored first with a 40-yard field goal by Bill Capece in the opening period, but Detroit went ahead 7-3 thanks to a nine-yard touchdown run by Hipple in the second quarter.

It appeared that the Lions would add to the margin as they again drove deep into Tampa Bay territory, but Hipple’s pass intended for Scott was intercepted by safety Cedric Brown at the three yard line and returned to the 16. On the Bucs’ first play, Williams lofted a pass to House that resulted in an 84-yard touchdown. Rather than being ahead by seven to ten points, Detroit was down by 10-7 at halftime.

Eddie Murray tied the score for the Lions with a 47-yard field goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. But as the game entered the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay took command with 10 points in a span of 70 seconds.

First, Capece broke the tie with a field goal 12 seconds into the final period. The biggest play of the game came on the following Detroit possession. In a third-and-10 situation, Selmon hit Hipple from behind and forced a fumble that was recovered by NT David Logan, who gathered the ball in on one hop off the artificial surface and ran 21 yards for a touchdown. From 10-10, the Buccaneers now held a 20-10 lead.

Still, the Lions, urged on by the enthusiastic crowd, came back and drove to the Tampa Bay 13. But once again Hipple was intercepted by Brown, this time in the end zone. While Detroit managed to score once more with 1:21 remaining as Hipple connected with Thompson for an eight-yard TD, it was too late. The Bucs came away with a 20-17 win and the division title.

The Lions outgained Tampa Bay (340 yards to 276) and also had the edge in first downs (21 to 11). But they turned the ball over three times, to none suffered by the Bucs, and that was the key to the outcome.

Doug Williams completed just 8 of 19 passes for 172 yards, but that included the long touchdown pass and he tossed no interceptions. Kevin House caught only one pass, but it was for 84 yards and a TD. RB James Owens was the club’s leading rusher, with 61 yards on 17 carries, and also caught two passes for 49 yards that included Tampa Bay’s second-longest completion of the day, of 35 yards. Jimmie Giles caught two passes as well, totaling 19 yards.


Eric Hipple (pictured at right) was successful on 18 of 28 passes for 205 yards, but his one touchdown was offset by two costly interceptions. Billy Sims was held to 76 yards on 19 carries and caught three passes for 39 more. RB Dexter Bussey had a team-leading four catches out of the backfield for 32 yards, while Freddie Scott gained 56 yards on his three receptions.

The 9-7 Buccaneers traveled to Dallas for the Divisional playoff, and lost convincingly by a 38-0 score. Detroit’s 8-8 tally tied for second with Green Bay.

Doug Williams (pictured below) passed for a career-high 3563 yards and had 19 touchdown passes as opposed to 14 interceptions. His 7.6 yards per attempt ranked seventh in the league, as did his 3.0 percentage of interceptions.

Eric Hipple led the NFL in both yards per attempt (8.5, tied with Denver’s Craig Morton) and yards per completion (16.8). He threw for 2358 yards with 14 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. While he created some excitement early on, his nine-year career ended up being decidedly average.

Kevin House capped a breakout season with the long scoring catch against Detroit. Following a quiet rookie season in which he had one reception, House caught 56 passes for a career-high 1176 yards (21.0 avg.) and 9 TDs in ’81.

Billy Sims placed third among NFL rushers with 1437 yards on 296 carries (4.9 avg.) that included 13 touchdowns.

Cedric Brown ended up with nine interceptions, tying him for third in the NFL with Detroit’s Jimmy Allen, among others. In nine seasons, all spent with Tampa Bay, he intercepted 29 passes to rank third in franchise history to date. Few were bigger than the two against the Lions.

1986: Lee Roy Selmon Announces Retirement

It was not a surprise on April 23, 1986 when star DE Lee Roy Selmon announced his retirement. He had not appeared in a game since the Pro Bowl following the ’84 season where he suffered a herniated disk in his back. Selmon was forced to sit out all of 1985, hoping that surgery would not be necessary and that he would be able to return to action. But once he received word that even with surgery there was no certainty of playing again, he made the decision to retire. At the press conference, he said “I’m just thankful I was able to play ten years.”

It had actually been just nine years encompassing 121 regular season games, but a great nine years. Selmon’s retirement marked a significant milestone in Buccaneers history. He was the first player ever drafted by Tampa Bay with the initial overall pick as an expansion team in 1976 (the other new team that year, the Seattle Seahawks, lost a coin toss to the Bucs and chose second). His college credentials at Oklahoma were outstanding, where he had won both the Outland and Lombardi trophies for his play on the line. Head Coach John McKay was looking to emphasize defense in the new team’s first draft, and going with the best defensive player available made sense. In the second round, Tampa Bay picked Selmon’s older brother (by 11 months), Dewey, a defensive tackle (he was moved to linebacker in his second pro season); the two had played together in high school and college, and would now have the opportunity to do so again in the NFL.

The Buccaneers got off to a rough start, even for an expansion team, losing all 14 games in ’76 and the first 26 altogether before finally winning the last two contests of the 1977 season. The defense was the league’s worst in ’76, not helped by Selmon missing half of the campaign due to a knee injury.

The team began to improve in 1977, and Selmon was a key contributor. When they won their first game, at New Orleans, Selmon had three sacks (not yet an official statistic) and 12 tackles. The big breakthrough came in 1979, however, as Tampa Bay went 10-6 and advanced all the way to the NFC Championship game.

The overall performance of the defense was significant to the club’s success in ’79, and not surprisingly, Selmon led the way. Playing at right defensive end in a 3-4 alignment, he recorded 11 sacks (unofficially). He also had 117 tackles and forced three fumbles (with two recoveries, one for a touchdown). For his efforts, Selmon was a consensus first team All-Pro selection, went to the Pro Bowl for the first of six consecutive years, and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

Brother Dewey was part of an outstanding group of linebackers that included Richard Wood at the other inside spot and David Lewis and Cecil Johnson on the outside. The secondary was the most effective in the league and consisted of cornerbacks Jeris White and Mike Washington and safeties Mark Cotney and Cedric Brown. The other two starting defensive linemen, nose tackle Randy Crowder and left end Wally Chambers, rounded out the solid unit that ranked first overall in the NFL – they gave up the fewest points (237), total yards (3949), and passing yards (2076).

The Buccaneers failed to sustain the success of 1979 – they sank back to 5-10-1 in ’80 and made it to the postseason just twice more during Selmon’s career.

The 6’3”, 250-pounder was often double- and triple-teamed by opposing offenses, yet his speed, strength, and agility made him an impact player in any event. In 1980, with offenses concentrated on stopping him, Selmon was credited with 72 quarterback “hurries” to go along with nine sacks. In all, he was credited with 78.5 sacks and 380 “hurries” over the course of his career.

Selmon received first or second team All-Pro recognition in five of his nine seasons, and was an All-NFC choice (first or second team) after seven of them. It was hardly surprising that the Buccaneers retired his number 63; he also became the first inductee into the team’s Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium in 2009. Selmon was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

Brother Dewey also played well for Tampa Bay (he was named team MVP in 1978) until a thigh injury suffered in training camp knocked him out for the 1981 season; he was traded to San Diego, where he played one year in ’82 prior to retiring.

Pleasant and soft-spoken off the field, Selmon was a terror on it. As Coach McKay put it at the time of Selmon’s selection to the Hall of Fame, “He was almost unblockable. I can’t imagine anyone being better. He was the heart of our team. At a time when we were pretty fair, he was what made us pretty fair.” Doug Williams, the club’s quarterback during much of Selmon’s career, added, “If he had been in a four-man front, they would have banned Lee Roy from the game.”

Maybe the most telling tribute came from an opposing offensive tackle, Ted Albrecht of the Bears, who once told an assistant coach at halftime of a game against the Bucs, “There are four things in the world I don’t want to do under any circumstance. Number one, I don’t want to milk a cobra. Number two, I don’t want to be buried at sea. Number three, I don’t want to get hit in the head with a hockey puck. And number four, I don’t want to play the second half against Lee Roy Selmon.”