On Sunday night the Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially teased the return of one of the greatest uniforms in NFL history.
The creamsicle jerseys are coming back this season.
For the first time since 2012, the Bucs will be rolling out their classic creamsicle uniforms. It's been something fans have been clamoring for, specifically during the last three years with Tom Brady. How cool would it have been to see Brady lead the Buccaneers in the creamsicles? It's the stuff that uniform dorks dreams are made of.
Brady is gone, so that opportunity has been squandered, but the throwbacks are still making a return.
We already knew that Bucco Bruce would be making a triumphant return, and this latest tease doesn't really give us any new information. It does seem to indicate that an announcement of when the throwbacks will be worn is nearing.
So let's take a stab at trying to predict which games the Buccaneers will wear their throwback uniforms, including a perfect dream scenario that won't happen but should.
Week 16: Buccaneers vs. Jaguars - 4:05pm on CBS
This feels like the game the NFL would allow the Bucs to wear their creamsicles. It's right before the holiday, so it effectively works as an advertisement to get some last-minute gift shopping done, but it also fits the growing anti-Bucs agenda everyone seems to have.
It's unlikely that the Bucs are going to be in contention at this point, so they wouldn't be wearing the uniforms in a meaningful game. It's also a game in the late afternoon against Jacksonville, who figures to be good but not enough for this to be the Jim Nantz-Tony Romo game that everyone is watching. That means the Bucs throwbacks would essentially get pushed to the back-burner.
If nothing else, it'll give folks a reason to watch late-season Buccaneers football -- which we're hopefully doing this year for reasons other than their uniform.
Week 2: Buccaneers vs. Bears - 1pm on FOX
How about a little NFC Central throwback to mix with the excitement of seeing the creamsicles return? So many battles between the Bucs and Bears happened with Bucco Bruce keeping close watch on Tampa Bay's helmets, and seeing him return for this game would truly be a blast from the past.
The question is how early will the NFL want the Bucs to wear their throwbacks?
Week 2 feels a bit early, almost like burning the card too soon when it might be best saved for later, but it's a killer matchup for the Bucs to roll out the creamsicles. It's not outside the realm of possibility that they'd wear the uniforms against the Bears as the throwbacks were donned for a game against the Packers back in 2009.
A hot, sunny September Sunday sounds like a perfect backdrop for the return of Bucco Bruce.
Week 7: Buccaneers vs. Falcons - 1pm on FOX
While there are some great possible matchups, it's likely that the Bucs will be wearing the creamsicle throwbacks against an NFC South opponent. The last two teams Tampa Bay wore its throwback uniform against were the Saints and Panthers, so rolling them out against Atlanta would be in line with that.
If that's the case, then the Falcons are a perfect matchup since they could also bring something to the uniform table as well.
Last season the Falcons wore their throwback helmets in Tampa Bay as part of the league's new tolerance for uniform combination teams are allowed to wear. If the Falcons bring their red throwbacks to Tampa Bay for the creamsicle game, that has a chance to be an incredible uniform matchup for the ages.
Week 3: Buccaneers vs. Eagles - 7:15pm on ABC
This is the dream matchup, one that we should be praying to the football gods we get to witness. Philadelphia Eagles are scheduled to wear their Kelly Green throwback uniforms this season, which creates the opportunity for one of the best uniform matchups ever.
Imagine the Bucs in their creamsicle uniforms lined up against the Kelly Green Eagles. The images taken from that game would belong in museums they'd look so beautiful. It also plays into the NFL honoring its own history, as the uniform matchup would be the exact same as it was when the Bucs won their first-ever playoff game back in 1979.
The thing working against this is that teams don't wear their throwback uniforms on the road. Even if that were an option, it's unlikely the Eagles would choose this game to wear them and not one back in Philly.
So as cool as the idea is, it's absolutely not going to happen.
Toss that rule out, though, and this would be an all-time uniform matchup -- on a nationally televised Monday Night Football game, no less.
Honorable Mention
Similar to the argument for the Eagles game, if the Tennessee Titans were on board with wearing their old Houston Oilers uniforms when they come to Tampa Bay in November...*chef's kiss*. The Titans are bringing back the old Oilers uniforms for a home game this year, though, so it's unlikely we'll see them for a road game too.
Just like the matchup against the Bears, it would be awesome to see the Bucs roll out the Bucco Bruce throwbacks during Week 6 against the Detroit Lions. It's a throwback to the old NFC Central days, and the Lions color scheme has barely changed. The Florida sun shining down on the mixture of creamsicles and blue and silver would be a sight to behold.