Most of the players that were signing autographs were seated in the main concourse. However, the star players got to sign autographs in style. They were located in the club-seating concourse, which is air-conditioned. I went to Warren Sapp's line (which also included Shelton Quarles and Roman Oben), which started in the B entrance of the Club seating lounge. It was very exciting as they had the Bucs' Super Bowl CD playing on all the televisions. I was able to get Warren to sign the Super Bowl XXXVII pre-view Sports Illustrated issue on which he shared the cover with Rich Gannon. He signed it "Warren Sapp #99, QB Killer." He seemed to be in a pretty good mood, but didn't seem very talkative with the fans. He spoke more to the people in his entourage. From what I observed in the line, he signed whatever people put in front of him, whether it was a helmet, a card or a magazine. It made the fans very happy. Jason was waiting in line to get his picture taken with the Lombardi Trophy. While he was waiting in line, Bay News 9 interviewed him. That evening, he was shown THREE times during the segment about FanFest. He thinks this is his big break and is talking about getting an agent. Fans will be able to download their pictures of the Lombardi Trophy by going to Buccaneers.com on June 17. After we finished with the autographs and picture, we went down on to the field to take in some of the activities there. Jason tried to make a field goal from about the 10-yard line. His two shots were both wide left into the stands. As the pictures prove, the ball was placed cleanly and the laces were out, Jason! After this there was a brief question and answer pep rally on the field in the South end zone. It was kicked off by the new Buccaneers cheerleading squad for 2003. There are a lot of different faces on this squad from the previous year, 19 of the 32 girls are rookies. After the cheerleaders did a routine or two, some of the assistant coaches fielded questions from the fans. The crowd roared when Monty Kiffin took the microphone. One of the fans asked where did he get his start in coaching. Monty replied very humbly "Bob Devaney gave me my first coaching opportunity as a defensive coordinator at the University of Nebraska." After Monty got the crowd pumped up, Gruden took the mic and the crowd went crazy. Gruden started off by saying, "You like being world champions?" "Do you think we can do it again?" "Is there any doubt whether or not we can do it again?" With each question the crowd got louder. He then answered a few questions from the fans and then ended the rally by saying, "I just want to say I love all you people for being here today. What we did as a football team, did with our fans, and we're going to do it again, Ladies and Gentlemen." They estimated that 45,000 Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans attended the event. Overall the whole event ran rather smoothly. All the Buccaneer players were in attendance except for Brad Johnson, Keyshawn Johnson, Simeon Rice and of course Michael Pittman. I had a great time and plan on attending again next year. FanFest was a Fan Success! If you are having problems viewing the Bay News 9 video clip you may not have Real Player installed on your computer. Just click on the icons below to download a free versions of Real Player.  |
FanFest Photos Cover Photo  Early Crowd  Ticket Windows  Sapp's Line  Warren Sapp  Sapp Autograph  Bay News 9 Video  Lombardi Trophy  Jason & Robert  Wide Left  Bucs Cheerleaders |
