Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers to return creamsicle colorway in 2023

Published Feb. 28, 2022 7:59 p.m. ET

While star quarterback Tom Brady seems set on retirement, another stalwart Tampa Bay Buccaneer will make a triumphant return to Raymond James Stadium in 2023: "Bucco Bruce"

The dagger-clenching pirate is featured on the fan-favorite, light-orange jerseys, which will return in two years as the team's throwback uniforms — the jerseys are unavailable in 2022 due to global supply shortages.

"It’s very important to our fan base, as well as the Glazer family and our entire organization," Buccaneers CEO Brian Ford said. "We love to kind of reminisce and play some ’70s and ’80s music and bring out the big pom-poms and the creamsicle."

Tampa Bay played its inaugural NFL season in 1976, donning the flamboyant jerseys despite an abysmal on-field performance. The Bucs lost their first 26 games as a franchise and made just three playoff appearances in 20 years of cream-colored calamity.

A switch to pewter helmets occurred in 1997 and brought immediate success — the Bucs made four consecutive playoff appearances at the turn of the millennium and won their only pre-Brady Super Bowl in 2002. The creamsicle jerseys carved out a cult following among Bucs fans, however, possibly motivated by a series of unpopular, new age jerseys in the mid-2000s.

The original jerseys returned annually from 2009 to 2012 for Tampa's "Throwback Games," resembling the ‘80s iteration with red and white stripes on the sleeve.

However, a 2013 helmet rule mandating that teams can only use one helmet color forced the Bucs to shelve the creamsicle throwbacks in favor of their pewter helmets. The helmet rule will no longer be in effect starting in 2022, allowing for the Bucs and many other teams to produce more authentic throwback threads.

An official design has not been announced and the jerseys — sorry Brady fans — will likely not be on sale until the start of the 2023 season.