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The 'Tampa Bay Bandits' was a franchise in the United States Football League and competed in all three of the seasons of that league's existence: 1983, 1984, and 1985. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium. They were coached by former University of Florida Heisman Trophy winner and National Football League punter and quarterback, Steve Spurrier.
The team was owned in part by Hollywood mainstay Burt Reynolds, at that time one of the most popular motion picture actors in the world; the team's majority owner was Canadian businessman John Bassett. On the field, the Bandits were far more successful than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFL team that Spurrier had once quarterbacked, and with whom they shared their stadium. In addition, their memorabilia outsold that of the Buccaneers in the Tampa Bay area during the time of the team's existence, no doubt helped by the seasons of 2-14, 6-10 and 2-14 suffered by the Bucs from 1983-85, the beginning of a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more losses. The 1987 Buccaneers featured no fewer than ''seventeen'' former Bandits on their roster.
With a large, enthusiastic fan base and a dynamix young coach with a high-powered offence ("Bandit Ball"), the Bandits seemed to be one of the USFL teams that would have had a realistic chance for long-term success if the league overall had been more soundly and realistically managed.

Contents

Prominent Tampa Bay Bandits

Single Season Leaders

Season-By-Season

External links

Prominent Tampa Bay Bandits

★ Lex Luger

★ Nate Newton

★ John Reaves

★ Gary Anderson

★ Ron Simmons

★ Eric "ET" Trivillian

Single Season Leaders

Rushing Yards: 1206 (1985), Gary Anderson (running back)
Receiving Yards: 1146 (1983), Danny Buggs
Passing Yards: 4183 (1985), John Reaves

Season-By-Season

|-
|1983 || 11 || 7 || 0 || 3rd Central || --
|-
|1984 || 14 || 4 || 0 || 2nd EC Southern || Lost Quarterfinal (Birmingham)
|-
|1985 || 10 || 8 || 0 || 5th EC || Lost Quarterfinal (Oakland)
|-
!Totals || 35 || 21 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)

External links

★ http://www.tampabaybandits.info

★ "USFL Site" Tampa Bay Bandits page

★ http://www.remembertheusfl.8m.com/teams/tampa.html