Life hasn't been easy for Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the years, as the franchise toiled away in relative obscurity for most of the last decade. Raymond James Stadium was routinely filled with opposing team colors and there was a bit of an identity crisis among fans thanks to routinely being tossed to the side.
That doesn't mean the team hasn't had its fair share of fans, specifically famous ones. It seems every other team trotted out celebrity fans for its games while the Bucs never really seemed to enjoy that sort of attention.
Tom Brady's arrival changed that, but there has been a long string of famous Buccaneers fans who have proudly supported the team over the years, and one of them was on hand to help hype fans up ahead of Monday's Wild Card game against the Eagles.
Ric Flair fired the cannons before Buccaneers Wild Card game
Folks watching at home might have noticed that the ESPN broadcast cut away from their picks segment to include a special guest picker. Ric Flair was on the pirate ship with Robert Griffin III and Melissa Beisner-Buck to finish things off with his pick, and you don't have to guess hard about who he took.
Flair went right from picking the Bucs on national television to firing the cannons for all of the fans packing Raymond James Stadium.
LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/MUilRz6SFe
— ★★★★★ (@TSV__1) January 16, 2024
As if having Nature Boy fire the cannons wasn't already setting the mood right, the Bucs brought back the playoffs 'Red Out'. As Flair hyped up the crowd, the stadium lights went red and everyone in the building lost their minds.
#Nature Boy Ric Flair firing up this crowd!#Bucs #Eagles #PHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/tTcQbdLPpj
— rock riley (@realrockriley) January 16, 2024
Oh yeah, that's the good stuff. Or should we say Woooooo!
It might have seemed random to fans watching at home, but Flair has been backing the Bucs for years now. He lives in the Tampa area and the arrival of Brady brought shone a light on fans like Flair. He might be a bit of a bandwagon guy, but the fact that he's still going out of his way to support the Bucs even after Brady is gone should be worth a few extra credit points.