TAMPA, Fla. — When you’ve been a longtime Buccaneers fan, you learn to deal with tough times.
“We know how to handle it...We’ve done it many years before, and we’ve come out on top,” Farris Roach said.
WATCH: Bucs fans brace for final weekend with playoffs and future on the line
Roach is part of the Leatherheads Tailgate crew along with Sgt. at Arms Allen Brown and Shawn Conner, known as Leatherhead. The group has followed the team through decades of highs and lows, and this season has tested that loyalty once again.
The Buccaneers opened the season with strong performances and high expectations, but struggled down the stretch. Costly losses and inconsistent play late in the year have left the team on the brink of elimination heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
During a conversation with the group, fans reflected on how optimism early in the season has faded.
“It’s been an up-and-down season. It’s been disappointing,” said Conner
Tampa Bay enters the weekend needing a win against Carolina and help from the New Orleans Saints, who must beat Atlanta, for the Buccaneers to earn a playoff berth.
“I’m really hoping that over the last few days they’ve found a way to remember what the team was in the beginning,” Brown said.
The late season collapse has also reignited criticism of head coach Todd Bowles. Frustrated fans have taken to social media calling for a coaching change, questioning leadership and consistency as losses have piled up.
This group of fans, however, says judgment should wait until the season is complete.
“If I step out of my optimistic shoes and I go, ok we lose this next game and we’ve lost seven out of eight, something like that. Would I fire him? I probably would,” Conner said.
“You do hear rumblings that he may have lost the locker room or things like that. That all comes from losing. That all goes away when you win. And if we do and I feel we will get into the playoffs, it will die down,” said Roach.
If the Buccaneers do reach the postseason, they would do so with a losing record. Still, they would host a playoff game, giving fans at least one more chance to see their team compete.
“Hashtag it’s a Bucs life, and that’s really the only way you can really explain it,” said Brown.
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