In less than a week, the NFL crowns the 2021 Super Bowl champion in a city that has hosted four previous championships — Tampa, Florida. Before the next chapter is written for this storied game, let’s dive back into history and look back at the previous Super Bowls Tampa Bay hosted.
How many Super Bowls have been played in Tampa?
Super Bowl LV will make the fifth time the city has hosted the NFL’s biggest game. Spanning two stadiums throughout five different decades, Tampa Bay is one of four cities to host the Super Bowl more than four times. The others being Miami metropolitan area (11), New Orleans (10), and the Los Angeles metropolitan area (7).
Though, this game features something no other Super Bowl can claim. Along with hosting the Super Bowl in 2021, Tampa Bay will also be a home game as the Buccaneers are the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl at home.
How did Tampa Bay get to host the Super Bowl?
One of the reasons it is so rare is the timing of when the location is chosen. Sure, a team might be good from then to when it is played, but the NFL changes every week. Let alone five years.
Tampa was among a group of potential host sites for Super Bowl LV that was announced on May 19th, 2015. During this round of voting, Super Bowls LIII and LIV were selected. What was not known at the time was a third host city was selected, the 2021 Super Bowl.
Tampa was not even the winning city that would host the 2021 Super Bowl. Originally, Los Angeles was awarded the game. However, due to delays in the construction of SoFi Stadium, authorities were concerned it would not be finished in time. So, on May 23rd, 2017, NFL owners voted unanimously, with the Rams’ approval, to move Super Bowl LV to Tampa. The Rams and the city of Los Angeles/Inglewood will host the 2022 Super Bowl.
The history of Super Bowls played in Tampa
There is no question the 2021 Super Bowl will be an incredible event. The old legend hosting the player who could very well be on his way to chase him down as the best ever to play.
While as excited as we are to get to kickoff, we can’t forget about the memorable Super Bowls hosted in Tampa in years past, as each game was a fitting end to a fantastic season.
1984 — Super Bowl XVIII — Washington (formerly known as the) Redskins 9 vs. Los Angeles Raiders 38
1984 was the first time the city of Tampa hosted the Super Bowl.
Washington came in looking as if they were an even better team than they were in 1983 when they beat the Miami Dolphins to capture Super Bowl XVII. Led by NFL MVP QB Joe Theismann, Washington came into the game with a 14-2 record with the NFL record for points scored at the time (541). Combined with John Riggins and “The Hogs,” Washington was the favorite.
The Raiders made it to their fourth Super Bowl in team history after posting a 12–4 regular season record led by QB Jim Plunkett and RB Marcus Allen.
The Raiders would go on to dominate Washington by a score of 38-9 behind the MVP performance of Marcus Allen. He ended the day with 22 touches, 209 total yards, and 2 touchdowns. To this day, it remains the most points scored by an AFC team in the Super Bowl. It was also the last victory by the AFC until John Elway and the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, ending nearly 14 years of NFC dominance.
1991 — Super Bowl XXV — Buffalo Bills 19 vs. New York Giants 20
While this was the second Super Bowl hosted in Tampa, it also might be the most memorable for a myriad of reasons.
The Bills and their explosive offense were making their first Super Bowl appearance after finishing the regular season with a 13–3 record and leading the league in total points scored with 428. The Giants also had a 13-3 record but played a ball-control offense and scored a league-low 211 points.
Global events shaped this Super Bowl
What makes this game so different is the climate this was played in, as January 1991 was smack in the middle of The Gulf War. This was the game where Whitney Houston set the standard to which all other Star-Spangled Banner performances are judged against.
Another instance of why this game was different was the halftime performance, or the lack thereof. While those in attendance were treated to a performance headlined by New Kids on the Block, the nation didn’t see this. Instead, the ABC Network televised a special ABC News report anchored by Peter Jennings on the war’s progress before airing the halftime show on tape delay.
As for the game, one play defines this game and arguably the entire career of Jim Kelly and a Bills team who could never win the big game.
With eight seconds left on the clock, the game rested on the foot of Bills’ kicker, Scott Norwood. Norwood attempted a 47-yard game-winning field goal from the right hash, and well, you know the rest. His kick went wide right. A two-word sentence that still sends shivers up the backs of Bills fans to this day.
True as of this moment, it is the only potential Super Bowl-winning field goal attempt in which the kicker’s team would lose if they missed. The miss in Tampa started a streak of four straight years of Super Bowl losses for Kelly and the Bills.
2001 — Super Bowl XXXV — Baltimore Ravens 34 vs. New York Giants 7
For the third time, Tampa would play host to the Super Bowl, just as it will in 2021.
For those of us 90s kids, this game had it all in terms of performances — and looks like one of my Spotify playlists. The Backstreet Boys sang the national anthem, and the halftime show featured Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige, Aerosmith, and NSYNC. There was also a game played too.
Both the Ravens and Giants came into the game with 12-4 records. Baltimore made it to the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team.
A new era in Tampa football history started in 2001
One of the reasons Tampa hosted Super Bowl XXXV was due to their new stadium. This was the first Super Bowl being played at Raymond James Stadium.
As for the play on the field, it was one-sided. Baltimore held the Giants to only 152 yards of offense, the third-lowest in the Super Bowl era. All 16 of the Giants’ possessions ended with punts or interceptions, all except for the last one, which ended when time expired in the game. Their only touchdown came on a 97-yard kick return for a score in the third quarter.
Ray Lewis won Super Bowl MVP with 3 solo tackles, 2 assists, and blocked 4 passes. Baltimore became the third Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl and the second in four years. It was the first championship for the city of Baltimore since 1971 with the Colts and Johnny Unitas. The Ravens became the fourth professional team to win a championship while representing the city.
2009 — Super Bowl XLIII — Pittsburgh Steelers 27 vs. Arizona Cardinals 23
Until the 2021 Super bowl kicks off, this is the last time Tampa hosted the Super Bowl. Of all the Super Bowls hosted by Tampa, this is my favorite.
This game saw two of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history happen. The first was Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison’s Super Bowl-record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown at the end of the first half. The second came on the final drive of the game for the Steelers.
After blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Steelers got the ball back with 2:37 remaining. They needed a touchdown to win their second Super Bowl in four years. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated a 78-yard drive that was capped off by one of the greatest throws the game has ever seen. Roethlisberger somehow found WR Santonio Holmes on a six-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left on the clock.
Holmes, who caught 9 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, including 4 receptions for 73 yards on that final game-winning drive, was named Super Bowl MVP. He became the sixth wide receiver to win the award, half of whom are Steelers (Lynn Swann and Hines Ward).
As a franchise, the Steelers became the first organization to win six Lombardi Trophies. It was also the first game that two QBs who previously started for a Super Bowl-winning team (Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner) faced off since Plunkett and Theismann right here when Tampa hosted Super Bowl XVIII.