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The Bucs Recognize The Dawsons
On this past Sunday, No- vember 15, 2015, Attorney Warren Hope Dawson and Mrs. Joan Dawson were in- vited to be Honorary Captains for the Buccaneers during the coin-toss at Raymond James Stadium at the beginning of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Dallas Cowboys football game.
That Invitation was a part of the Buccaneers’ 40th An- niversary Celebration during which the team is recognizing its Charter Members – those fans who have supported the team since the beginning in 1976.
It was in 1975 when The National Football League (NFL) decided to expand to two new cities. Those cities were: Tampa, Florida and Seattle, Washington. At that point in time Tampa badly needed a nationally recog- nized activity such as a NFL team. The team, which later became known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, began to play in 1976.
The original owner was a lawyer from Jacksonville, Florida named Hugh Cul- verhouse, and Mr. Culver- house became the successful bidder after a Contractor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Atty. Warren Hope Dawson participates in the coin toss with players of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, left, and Dallas Cowboys, right. He and Mrs. Joan Dawson were recognized last Sunday by the Bucs.
about where Tampa was lo- cated and what kind of town it was - potential players and As- sistant Coaches had similar questions. This was particu- larly true among Black players from colleges outside of the south and Assistant Coaches from California and elsewhere. They wanted to know how life would be for a Black player in Tampa, and whether there was a vibrant Black community here.
In this regard, Attorney and Mrs. Dawson played a significant role in welcoming some of the early Black players and in addressing their con- cerns about the town where they would be playing.
As original fans of the new NFL team, the Dawsons pur- chased a large batch of the ini- tial season tickets for themselves, their neighbors and friends. They also worked to reinforce community sup- port for the team when there was a parting of the ways be- tween the Buccaneers and Doug Williams, its starting quarterback at the time.
Regarding the recognition extended to the Dawsons this past Sunday, Attorney Daw- son indicated: “I am pleased that our contributions and support were not forgotten.”
could not put up the needed money when the call was orig- inally made to him.
Incidentally, the amount paid to the NFL for the Tampa team and the Seattle team was $16 Million. Some may recall that a cornerback who recently played only one year for the Buccaneers was paid $16 Mil- lion. Of course, that sum of money was different in 1975 than it is now.
At the time that Culver-
house launched the Tampa team he named an Advisory Board of Directors. The only Black person included in that group was Attorney Daw- son. Some 40 years later, Dawson remains a loyal Bucs fan.
There was a time, in those early days, when Tampa was not exactly a well-known city around the nation. It was not uncommon, when visiting other cities, to say “Tampa”
and then say “Florida” to make clear which town you were talking about. Indeed it is al- leged that Coach John McKay, when first ap- proached about signing as the first head coach for the new NFL team in Tampa, said: Tampa? Let me see now, ex- actly where is that? It’s in Florida sir. Oh, is that any- where near Miami?
Not only did the prospec- tive Head Coach wonder aloud
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