Lavonte David teases ‘surprise’ Buccaneers throwback uniforms, which can only mean one thing

Bucco Bruce is making a return to Tampa Bay this season, but the throwback day scheduled for October 15th might not look the way we’re all expecting.

At least, that’s what Lavonte David teased while talking to the media at Bucs minicamp this week.

David mentioned that he’d already gotten a glimpse at the throwbacks the Bucs will be wearing this season. In what felt like a throwaway line, David noted that they look nothing like the ones the team wore the last time the team.

Say what?

“I love it. I love it,” David said at Bucs minicamp this week. “I got a little glimpse of them. They’re not like the ones I wore in 2012 at all… You should be in for a surprise. They’re really nice and I definitely like the way they look.”

It’s been over a decade since the Bucs wore throwbacks, but there was a stretch in the late 2000s/early-2010s where they brought back the creamsicle uniforms. With the annoucement that the team was once again donning throwbacks for a game against the Lions, everyone assumed the creamsicles would be returning.

While the Bucs are clearly holding their cards close, David’s comment potentially gives away an awesome plot twist.

What will Buccaneers throwback uniforms look like in 2023?

The creamsicles are synonymous with the Buccaneers and throwbacks in general. After being laughed at for years, the orange uniforms have become a fan favorite not just among Bucs fans but all NFL fans who appreciate a good throwback uniform.

It’s not the only throwback the Bucs have ever worn, though.

David’s comment that these new throwbacks look nothing like the 2012 creamsicles could mean that the Bucs are bringing back the mid-90s white Bucco Bruce uniforms.

This subversion of expectations would fit right in for a franchise that has recently zigged when everyone expected them to zag. It could end up being representative of this upcoming season and beyond.

Think about it: the Bucs wore the white Bucco Bruce jerseys as the team’s last uniform set before switching to its modern look In 1997. It was also the uniform worn by Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Derrick Brooks, and others who would turn the Bucs into one of the best defenses of all-time and eventual Super Bowl winners.

We rightfully associate those guys with the uniforms that were introduced in 1997 and were worn during the 2002 Super Bowl run. No one is playing highlights of the greatest defense of all time and showing Bucco Bruce, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an underrated and important part of that team’s identity.

Tampa Bay’s best stretch in franchise history was preceded by the Bucs wearing the white Bucco Bruce uniforms. Using those as the throwbacks worn this season could be a way to channel that mid-90s revving of the engines before the Bucs blew the doors off the hinges the rest of the decade.

Part of the sales pitch for the throwback game is how the Bucs will be honoring the team’s history. Everything at Raymond James Stadium is apparently going to lean into turning back the clocks, but no one has specifically said to which era.

We’ve seen the creamsicles before, and they no doubt remain one of the coolest throwbacks in existence. But the Bucs wearing white throwbacks is not only an interesting twist but a way to honor the origins of the greatest era fans in Tampa Bay have ever experienced.