1976 Step Inn pub bombing, Background
After the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire of 1975, attacks on the British security forces decreased, but loyalist paramilitaries, fearing they were about to be sold out by the British government and forced into a united Ireland, stepped up their campaign of sectarian killings of innocent Catholic civilians.


1976 Step Inn pub bombing, Background
Some Glenanne gang attacks of this period were the 31 July 1975 Miami Showband killings (in which three members of the popular showband were killed, along with two of the gang members carrying out the attack who were killed by their own bomb while priming it), and the 4 January 1976 Reavey and O'Dowd killings, when gunmen killed three members of the Reavey family and three members of the O'Dowd family.


1976 Step Inn pub bombing, The bombing
Catholic civilians Elizabeth McDonald and Gerard McGleenon were killed  and about 15 - 20 were injured. Ten days before the bombing, the RUC asked the British Army to put James Mitchell's farmhouse (a farmhouse used by the Glenanne gang) under surveillance because they had intelligence that a bomb was being stored there. According to John Weir, the bomb was to be detonated at Renaghan's Bar across the border in Clontibret, County Monaghan.


1976 Step Inn pub bombing, The bombing
On 15 August, Weir scouted the route to the pub but was stopped by Gardaí, who told him they were mounting extra security due to a warning from the RUC. Weir told the rest of the gang and they decided to attack Keady instead. The British Army surveillance operation was ended and the bomb attack went ahead. Weir, Mitchell and the others (all alleged members of the Glenanne gang) involved were not arrested and were allowed to remain in the RUC.


1976 Step Inn pub bombing, Aftermath and discovery of collusion
Serving police officers later admitted involvement in the attack. Senior policemen knew about the planned attack but failed to prevent the bombing and covered up their knowledge during the subsequent police investigation. The families of Elizabeth McDonald and Gerard McGleenan, who were killed in the attack, are being supported in their inquiries by the Pat Finucane Centre while the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) investigations discovered that RUC Special Branch received reliable intelligence that UVF members had a bomb ready for use in County Armagh 10 days before the attack. They also reveal that the RUC failed to make any arrests despite knowing the names of several of those involved in the bombing – among them RUC officers, who were not questioned.


1976 Step Inn pub bombing, Aftermath and discovery of collusion
In 2015, Sinn Féin MLA Mickey Brady said the preliminary inquests into the killings of Elizabeth McDonald and Gerard McGleenan at the Step Inn  must not be delayed, given that HET described the RUC’s handling of the case as "catastrophic".


1976 Stevenage Borough Council election
The 1976 Stevenage Borough Council election took place on 6 May 1976. This was on the same day as other local elections. The entire council was up for election and the Labour Party retained control of the council.


1976 Stockholm Open
The 1976 Stockholm Open was a men's tennis tournament played on hard courts and part of the 1976 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix and took place at the Kungliga tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the eighth edition of the tournament and was held from 7 November through 13 November 1976. Mark Cox won the singles title.


1976 Stockholm Open, Finals, Doubles
Bob Hewitt /  Frew McMillan defeated  Tom Okker /  Marty Riessen, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4


1976 Stockholm Open – Doubles
Hewitt and McMillan successfully defended their title, defeating Tom Okker and Marty Riessen 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 in the final.


1976 Stockholm Open – Singles
Adriano Panatta was the defending champion, but did not participate this year.


1976 Stockholm Open – Singles
Mark Cox won the title, defeating Manuel Orantes 4–6, 7–5, 7–6 in the final.


1976 Stockholm municipal election
The Stockholm municipal election of 1976 was held on 19 September 1976 concurrently with the 1976 Swedish parliamentary election. This election used a party-list proportional representation system to allocate the 101 seats of the Stockholm city council (Stockholms stadsfullmäktige) amongst the various Swedish political parties. Voter turnout was 88.1%.


1976 Suisse Open Gstaad
The 1976 Suisse Open Gstaad was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Gstaad, Switzerland. It was the 31st edition of the tournament and was held from 4 July through 11 July 1976. The tournament was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. Raúl Ramírez won the singles title.


1976 Suisse Open Gstaad, Finals, Doubles
Jürgen Fassbender /  Hans-Jürgen Pohmann defeated  Paolo Bertolucci /  Adriano Panatta 7–5, 6–3, 6–3


1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1976), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad (French: Jeux de la XXIe Olympiade) and commonly known as Montréal 1976, were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam on May 12, 1970, over the bids of Moscow and Los Angeles. It was the first and, so far, only Summer Olympic Games to be held in Canada. Toronto hosted the 1976 Summer Paralympics the same year as the Montreal Olympics, which still remains the only Summer Paralympics to be held in Canada. Calgary and Vancouver later hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 and 2010, respectively.


1976 Summer Olympics
Twenty-nine countries, mostly African, boycotted the Montreal Games when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976 in defiance of the United Nations' calls for a sporting embargo. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals.


1976 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
The vote occurred at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, Netherlands on May 12, 1970. While Los Angeles and Moscow were viewed as the favourites, given that they represented the world's two main powers, many of the smaller countries supported Montreal as an underdog and as a relatively neutral site for the games. Los Angeles was eliminated after the first round, and Montreal won in the second round. Moscow would go on to host the 1980 Summer Olympics, and Los Angeles would host the 1984 Summer Olympics. One blank vote was cast in the second and final round.


1976 Summer Olympics, Host city selection
Toronto had made its third attempt for the Olympics, but failed to win the support of the Canadian Olympic Committee, who selected Montreal instead.


1976 Summer Olympics, Organization
Robert Bourassa, then the Premier of Quebec, asked Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to advise Canada's monarch Elizabeth II to attend the opening of the games. However, Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be with sovereigntists in the province, annoying Trudeau, who had already made arrangements. René Lévesque, the leader of the Parti Québécois at the time, sent his own letter to Buckingham Palace, asking the Queen to refuse her prime minister's request, but she did not oblige Lévesque as he was out of his jurisdiction in offering advice to the Sovereign.


1976 Summer Olympics, Organization
In 1976, Trudeau, succumbing to pressure from the People's Republic of China, issued an order barring Taiwan from participating as China in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, although it was technically a matter for the IOC. His action strained relations with the United States – from President Ford to future President Carter and the press. Trudeau's action was widely condemned as having brought shame on Canada for having succumbed to political pressure to keep the Chinese delegation from competing under its name.


1976 Summer Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
The Oxford Olympics Study estimates the outturn cost of the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics at USD 6.1 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 720% in real terms.


1976 Summer Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games.


1976 Summer Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost overrun for Montreal 1976 is the highest cost overrun on record for any Olympics. The cost and cost overrun for Montreal 1976 compares with costs of USD 4.6 billion and a cost overrun of 51% for Rio 2016 and USD 15 billion and 76% for London 2012. Average cost for the Summer Games from 1960 to 2016 is 5.2 billion 2015 US dollars, average cost overrun is 176%.


1976 Summer Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
Much of the cost overruns were caused by the Conseil des métiers de la construction union, whose leader was André "Dede" Desjardins, and who kept the construction site in "anarchic disorder" as part of a shakedown. French architect Roger Taillibert, who designed the Olympic stadium, recounted in his 2000 book Notre Cher Stade Olympique that he and Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau tried hard to buy off Desjardins, even taking him to a lunch at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton hotel in a vain attempt to end the "delays". Ultimately Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa made some sort of secret deal to buy off Desjardins, which finally allowed work to proceed. Taillibert wrote in Notre Cher Stade Olympique "If the Olympic Games took place, it was thanks to Dede Desjardins. What irony!"


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games was held at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec on Saturday, July 17, 1976, in front of an audience of some 73,000 in the stadium and an estimated half billion watching on television.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
Following an air show by the Canadian Forces Air Command's Snowbirds aerobatic flight demonstration squadron in the sunny skies above the stadium, the ceremony officially began at 3:00 pm with a trumpet fanfare and the arrival of Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada. The Queen was accompanied by Michael Morris, Lord Killanin, President of the International Olympic Committee, and was greeted to an orchestral rendition of 'O Canada', an arrangement that would be used for many years in schools across the country, as well as in the daily sign-off of TV broadcasts in the country.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The queen entered the Royal Box with her consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and her son, Prince Andrew. (Her daughter, Princess Anne, was an equestrian competitor for the team from Great Britain. Prince Philip was also president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) at the time of the 1976 Summer Olympics.)


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
She joined a number of Canadian and Olympic dignitaries, including: Jules Léger, Governor General of Canada, and his wife, Gabrielle; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and wife, Margaret; Robert Bourassa, Premier of the Province of Quebec; Roger Rousseau, chief of the Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee (COJO); Sheila Dunlop, Lady Killanin, wife of the IOC President; Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, and his wife, Marie-Claire.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The parade of athletes began moments later with the arrival of the Greek team, and concluded with the entrance of the Canadian team. All other teams entered the stadium according to French alphabetical order. The ceremony was marked by the adorning of Israel's flag with a black mourning ribbon, in memory of the eleven athletes and coaches killed by Palestinian terrorists at the previous Summer Olympic Games in Munich four years earlier. Although most would eventually boycott the Games in the days to follow, a number of African delegations did march in the parade. Much of the music performed for the parade was arranged by Vic Vogel and was inspired by late Quebec composer André Mathieu.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
Immediately following the parade, a troupe of 80 women dancers dressed in white (representing the 80th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games) performed a brief dance in the outline of the Olympic rings. Following that came the official speeches, first by Roger Rousseau, head of the Montreal Olympic organizing committee, and Lord Killanin. Her Majesty was then invited to proclaim the Games open, which she did, first in French, then in English.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
Accompanied by the Olympic Hymn, the Olympic flag was carried into the stadium and hoisted at the west end of the stadium. The flag was carried by eight men and hoisted by four women, representing the ten provinces and two territories (at the time) of Canada. As the flag was hoisted, an all-male choir performed an a cappella version of the Olympic Hymn.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
Once the flag was unfurled, a troupe of Bavarian dancers representing Munich, host of the previous Summer Olympics, entered the stadium with the Antwerp flag. Following a brief dance, that flag was then passed from the Mayor of Munich to the IOC President and then to the Mayor of Montreal. Next came a presentation of traditional Québécois folk dancers. The two troupes merged in dance together to the strains of "Vive le Compagnie" and exited the stadium with the Antwerp Flag, which would be displayed at Montreal City Hall until the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Three cannons were then fired, as the 80-member troupe of female dancers unfolded special crates that released doves and ribbons in the five Olympic colours.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
Another trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Olympic Flame. The torch was carried by 15-year-olds Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, chosen as representatives of the unity within Canada's linguistic heritage. This would also be the first time two people would light the Olympic flame, and Henderson would become only the second woman to do the honours. The duo would make a lap of the stadium and then climbed a staircase on a special dais at the center of the stadium to set the Olympic flame alight in a temporary white aluminum cauldron. The flame was later transported to a more permanent cauldron just outside the running track to burn throughout the duration of the Games. A choir then performed the Olympic Cantata as onlookers admired the Olympic flame.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The "Youth of Canada" took to the track to perform a colourful choreographed segment with flags, ribbons and a variety of rhythmic gymnast performers. The flag bearers of each team then circled around the speaker's dais as Pierre St-Jean recited the Athletes' Oath and Maurice Forget recited the Judges' Oath, in English and in French, with right hand over the heart and the Canadian flag clutched in the left. Finally, a choral performance of "O Canada" in both French and English marked the close of the opening ceremony, as the announcers concluded with a declaration of 'Vive les Jeux de Montreal! Long Live the Montreal Games'.


1976 Summer Olympics, Opening ceremony
The Montreal ceremony would be the last of its kind, as future Olympic ceremonies, beginning with the 1980 Moscow Games, would become more focused on theatrical, cultural and artistic presentations and less on formality and protocol.


1976 Summer Olympics, Sports
There was a desire by the IOC's program commission to reduce the number of competitors and a number of recommendations were put to the IOC's executive board on February 23, 1973, which were all accepted. Rowing was the only sport where the number of competitors was increased, and women were admitted for the first time in Olympic history. The 1976 Summer Olympic programme featured 196 events with 198 medal ceremonies in the following 21 sports:


1976 Summer Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
Four nations made their first Summer Olympic appearance in Montreal: Andorra (which had its overall Olympic debut a few months before in Innsbruck Winter Olympics), Antigua and Barbuda (as Antigua), Cayman Islands, and Papua New Guinea.


1976 Summer Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of athletes from each nation that competed at the Games.


1976 Summer Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
^ WD: Athletes from Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia competed on July 18–20 before these nations withdrew from the Games.^ Note: Athletes from Guyana, Mali and Swaziland also took part in the Opening Ceremony, but later joined the Congolese-led boycott and withdrew from all competitions.


1976 Summer Olympics, Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1976 Games. Canada placed 27th with only 11 medals in total, none of them being gold. Canada remains the only host nation of a Summer Olympics that did not win at least one gold medal in its own games. It also did not win any gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. However, Canada went on to win the most gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.


1976 Summer Olympics, Medal count
The Games were dominated by the Soviet Bloc, with the USSR and its satellites occupying seven out of top ten places in the medal standings.


1976 Summer Olympics, Non-participating National Olympic Committees
Twenty-nine countries boycotted the Games due to the refusal of the IOC to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976. The boycott was led by Congolese official Jean-Claude Ganga. Some of the boycotting nations (including Morocco, Cameroon and Egypt) had already participated, however, and withdrew after the first few days. Senegal and Ivory Coast were the only African countries that competed throughout the duration of the Games. Elsewhere, both Iraq and Guyana also opted to join the Congolese-led boycott. South Africa had been banned from the Olympics since 1964 due to its apartheid policies. Other countries, such as El Salvador and Zaire, did not participate in Montreal for purely economic reasons.


1976 Summer Olympics, Non-participating National Olympic Committees, Republic of China boycott
An unrelated boycott of the Montreal Games was the main issue between the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The ROC team withdrew from the games when Canada's Liberal government under Pierre Trudeau told it that the name "Republic of China" was not permissible at the Games because Canada had officially recognized the PRC in 1970. Canada attempted a compromise by allowing the ROC the continued use of its national flag and anthem in the Montreal Olympic activities; the ROC refused.


1976 Summer Olympics, Non-participating National Olympic Committees, Republic of China boycott
Later in November 1976, the IOC recognized the PRC as the only recognized name of any Olympic activities representative of any Chinese government. In 1979 the IOC established in the Nagoya Resolution that the PRC agreed to participate in IOC activities if the Republic of China was referred to as "Chinese Taipei". Another boycott would occur before the ROC would accept the provisions of the 1979 Resolution although the reason that so many other countries boycotted were not all the same as the ROC.


1976 Summer Olympics, Doping
East Germany encouraged and covered up a culture of doping across many sports for decades. Doping of East German athletes was prevalent at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The legacy of the Montreal Olympics is complex. Many citizens regard the Olympiad as a financial disaster for the city as it faced debts for 30 years after the Games had finished. The retractable roof of the Olympic Stadium never properly worked and on several occasions has torn, prompting the stadium to be closed for extended periods of time for repairs. The failure of the Montreal Expos baseball club is largely blamed on the failure of the Olympic Stadium to transition into an effective and popular venue for the club – given the massive capacity of the stadium, it often looked unimpressive even with regular crowds in excess of 20,000 spectators.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The Quebec provincial government took over construction when it became evident in 1975 that work had fallen far behind schedule. Work was still ongoing just weeks before the opening date, and the tower was not built. Mayor Jean Drapeau had confidently predicted in 1970 that "the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby", but the debt racked up to a billion dollars that the Quebec government mandated the city pay in full. This would prompt cartoonist Aislin to draw a pregnant Drapeau on the telephone saying, "Allo, Morgentaler?" in reference to a Montreal abortion provider.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The Olympic Stadium was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert. It is often nicknamed "The Big O" as a reference to both its name and to the doughnut-shape of the permanent component of the stadium's roof, though "The Big Owe" has been used to reference the astronomical cost of the stadium and the 1976 Olympics as a whole. It has never had an effective retractable roof, and the tower (called the Montreal Tower) was completed only after the Olympic Games were over. In December 2006 the stadium's costs were finally paid in full. The total expenditure (including repairs, renovations, construction, interest, and inflation) amounted to C$1.61 billion. Today the stadium lacks a permanent tenant, as the Montreal Alouettes and Montreal Expos have moved, though it does host some individual games of the Alouettes as well as CF Montréal (formerly the Montreal Impact).


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
One of the streets surrounding the Olympic Stadium was renamed to honor Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
The boycott by African nations over the inclusion of New Zealand, whose rugby team had played in South Africa that year, was a contributing factor in the massive protests and civil disobedience that occurred during the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand. Official sporting contacts between South Africa and New Zealand did not occur again until after the fall of apartheid.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
Australia's failure to win a gold medal led the country to create the Australian Institute of Sport.


1976 Summer Olympics, Legacy
In 2016, the 40th anniversary celebrations were held. In conjunction with the celebrations, the 2016 Quebec Games were held.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from July 17 to August 1, 1976. A total of 6,084 athletes from 92 countries represented by National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in these Games, competing in 198 events in 23 sports.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table
Twenty-eight African countries boycotted these Games. This decision was taken in response to the participation of New Zealand, because its national rugby union team (the All Blacks) continued to play rugby with South Africa, which had been banned from the Olympic movement since 1964 due to its apartheid policies.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table
Athletes from 42 countries won at least one medal, leaving 51 countries in blank in the medals table. The Soviet Union won the highest number of gold medals (49) and overall medals (125). The Games were dominated by the Soviet Bloc, with the USSR and its satellites occupying seven out of top ten places in the medal standings. Thailand and Bermuda won the first medals in their Olympic history, with Bermuda being the least populous nation to ever win a Summer Olympic medal until Alessandra Perilli won bronze for San Marino in trap shooting in 2020.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table
The Montreal Summer Olympics proved disastrous to Canada not only in financial terms; it failed to  win a single gold medal despite being the host nation. Overall, it was 27th in the medal table, which remains the worst result a host nation has ever scored in the history of the Summer Games.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table
Nikolai Andrianov of the Soviet Union won seven medals (four gold, two silver and one bronze medals), becoming the most medaled athlete in these Games.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table, Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.


1976 Summer Olympics medal table, Medal table
A total of 198 events in 23 different sports were contested at the Montreal Games. In boxing and judo, two bronze medals were awarded for each weight class. In gymnastics, two bronze medals were awarded for third–place ties in the men's pommel horse and men's horizontal bar events, and a second–place tie in the women's vault resulted in two silver medals and no bronze medal awarded for that event.


1976 Summer Olympics national flag bearers
During the Parade of Nations section of the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in French, the main language of Quebec province of Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Because of 1976 Summer Olympics boycott, some African countries which marched at the parade later withdrew from the Games. Egypt was the only exception because they had decided not to march at the opening ceremony.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay
The 1976 Summer Olympics torch relay celebrated the first time that a Canadian city had hosted the Games. Convention states that the flame should be lit at Olympia in Greece and then transported to Athens, making its way onwards to the host city. On this occasion a signal was sent via satellite to transmit the flame to Ottawa where it would then make its way to the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Montreal and a second ceremony in Kingston, Ontario.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch
The torch was primarily made of aluminium and weighed 836 grams. It was fuelled by olive oil in part to further strengthen the link to the Greek origins of the events.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch-bearers
There were around 1,214 torch-bearers who travelled a combined total of 775 km through Greece and Canada. For the section of the relay within Canada there were more than 4,000 applicants for just over 700 positions. Various criteria were enforced to ensure the quality of the runners, including the ability to run a kilometre in five minutes or less. For the first time a computer was used to select the torch-bearers based on these criteria. Unsuccessful candidates were encouraged to escort the torch-bearer during their run.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Torch-bearers
All torch-bearers were sent a copy of the "Flame Bearer's Guide" several months before they were due to participate which gave specific details about how they should carry the torch and how to transfer the flame.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The Canadian Olympic Committee considered retracing the route taken by the country's discoverer, Jacques Cartier, but decided that this would be too similar to the 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay held in Mexico. They instead chose a route that would allow a significant number of athletes to participate at the same time while getting the flame from its home in Greece to the cauldron in Montreal in just five days.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Route
The flame was lit in Olympia before progressing through several Greek cities, finishing the first leg of the journey in Athens. The distance between Athens and the final destination in Canada would normally have mandated transportation across the sea. However, the Canadian Olympic Committee had a more innovative solution. The Olympic flame was placed in front of a sensor that detects ionised particles and was then encoded into impulses and sent via satellite to Ottawa. The arrival of the signal activated a laser that recreated the Olympic flame in a 90 cm urn in the Canadian city.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Lighting of the cauldron
For the first time in the history of the torch relay two athletes lit the cauldron. The two final torch-bearers, Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, were 15 and 16 years old, respectively.


1976 Summer Olympics torch relay, Relay elements, Continuation of the relay
Though the flame had reached the Olympic Stadium and was used to mark the opening of the Games the relay actually continued to a second venue. Many sailing and yachting events were going to be held in Kingston, Ontario and the flame was taken there using a variety of unusual transportation methods. The torches were carried to the city on horseback, bicycle, and canoes as well as the more traditional running relay.


1976 Summer Paralympics
The 1976 Summer Paralympics (French: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Canada, from 4 to 12 August 1976, marking the first time a Paralympics was held in Americas and in Canada. The games began three days after the close of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Context
This was the first time global politics interfered with the Paralympic Games. "The problem stemmed from the logic that admitting a team from South Africa was to give implicit approval for its government's attitude towards segregation and racism." Although the South African team at the time was a multi-racial one, the Canadian government withdrew its half million dollar contribution and "matching amounts of funds were likely to be pulled out by the metropolitan government". The provincial government at Queen's Park eventually covered the tab.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Context
Two groups, both with the same President - Ludwig Guttmann - were involved in the decision-making: the International Sports Organisation for the Disabled and the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. Guttman and Bob Jackson, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, worked to convince the governments to honour their promises of support and were largely successful. Nevertheless, a number of teams withdrew, following on from the Montreal boycott by 25 countries, and those teams were threatened with exclusion from future events. Later, efforts were made to develop a joint policy with the International Olympic Committee.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Context
Rhodesia was not allowed to participate as the Canadian government refused to grant visas for the Rhodesian Paralympic team to attend the competition.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Venues
The opening of the 1976 games was held at Woodbine Race Track in north Etobicoke. There was no athletes' village, so competitors were housed at York University (Keele campus), University of Toronto (St. George Campus), and the CNIB (national headquarters in Toronto). Israeli athletes were housed at an undisclosed hotel due to security concerns. Closing ceremonies and outdoor events (mainly track and field) took place at Centennial Park Stadium. Centennial Gymnasium and Centennial Park's Olympic Pool (Etobicoke Olympium) were the other venues (for indoor and swimming events respectively).


1976 Summer Paralympics, Media coverage
The 1976 games marked the first television coverage of Paralympic events. Performances were shown to viewers in Southern Ontario. Within the Toronto area, a consortium of local cable companies (including Trillium Cable and Rogers Cable) carried the games on channel 10 after CTV and Global TV declined to carry them.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Sports
At the 1976 games, amputees and visually impaired athletes competed for the first time; previous editions of the Paralympic Games had included only wheelchair athletes. Within the sport of athletics, new wheelchair racing distances of 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m were added. Shooting and goalball, both previously demonstration events, were included as official medal sports.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Medal table
The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Canada, is highlighted.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Participating delegations
Forty-one delegations took part in the Toronto Paralympics. Burma, Colombia, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia and Luxembourg made their first appearances.


1976 Summer Paralympics, Participating delegations
South Africa was competing at the Paralympics for the fourth time. Although banned from the Olympic Games due to its policy of apartheid, it was not banned from the Paralympics until 1980, and Canada, as host country, did not object to its participation. These were, however, to be its last Paralympics before the dismantling of apartheid; The Netherlands, as hosts of the 1980 Games, declared South Africa's further participation "undesirable".


1976 Summer Paralympics medal table
The 1976 Summer Paralympics medal table is a list of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 1976 Summer Paralympics, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from August 3 to 11, 1976.


1976 Summer Paralympics medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code.


1976 Summer Paralympics medal table, Medal table
To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the  icon next to the column title.


1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election was held on 6 May 1976. A third of the seats on the Council were up for election, with each of the 26 council wards returning one councillor by first-past-the-post. The election was held on the same day as other local elections.


1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election results
Labour maintained a comfortable majority on the Council after the election, despite losing three seats to the Conservatives.


1976 Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election results
The election resulted in the following composition of the Council:


1976 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden on 13 June 1976. It was the seventh round of the 1976 Formula One season and the ninth Swedish Grand Prix. The race was contested over 72 laps of the 4.0 km circuit for a race distance of 290 kilometres.


1976 Swedish Grand Prix
It saw the first and only win of a six-wheel car – the Tyrrell P34. The theory was that its four front wheels would increase mechanical front-end grip – with more rubber on the road – and thus eliminate understeer while at the same time improve cornering and braking. When it was revealed it was the instant sensation of the 1976 season.


1976 Swedish Grand Prix
Tyrrell's Jody Scheckter took pole, with Patrick Depailler in fourth. In the race it was Mario Andretti in the Lotus 77 who led for much of the race. Andretti however had been penalised sixty seconds for jumping the start. Andretti's engine failed on lap 46 while attempting to build his lead over the two Tyrrells. They went on to finish first and second, Jody Scheckter leading Patrick Depailler to the line for his second Swedish Grand Prix victory.


1976 Swedish Grand Prix
Eight laps before Andretti's retirement Chris Amon crashed his Ensign N176 after a suspension failure, allowing championship leader Niki Lauda to move into the position that became third in his Ferrari 312T2. Jacques Laffite continued to show the promise of the Ligier JS5 in fourth. James Hunt was fifth in his McLaren M23 and Clay Regazzoni climbed into the final point in the second Ferrari late in the race.


1976 Swedish Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race
Points are accurate at the conclusion of the race and do not reflect final results of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix as it was under appeal.


1976 Swedish Open
The 1976 Swedish Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts held in Båstad, Sweden. It was a Three Star category tournament and part of the Grand Prix circuit. It was the 29th edition of the tournament and was held from 4 July through 11 July 1976. Unseeded Tonino Zugarelli won the singles title.


1976 Swedish Open, Finals, Doubles
Fred McNair /  Sherwood Stewart defeated  Wojciech Fibak /  Juan Gisbert 6–3, 6–4


1976 Swedish general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 1976. Although the Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 152 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, a coalition government was formed with the Centre Party, the People's Party and the conservative Moderate Party (who won a combined 180 seats), which formed Sweden's first non-socialist government since 1936.


1976 Swedish general election
Centre Party leader Thorbjörn Fälldin, who had widely been expected to take over the government in the previous election of 1973 (which turned out to bring a 175-175 draw between the left and right blocs), was appointed Prime Minister, the first not from the Swedish Social Democratic Party since Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp's brief interregnum 40 years earlier.


1976 Swedish general election, Results, By municipality
Votes by municipality. The municipalities are the color of the party that got the most votes within the coalition that won relative majority.


1976 Swedish general election, Results, By municipality
Cartogram of the map to the left with each municipality rescaled to the number of valid votes cast.


1976 Swedish general election, Results, By municipality
Map showing the voting shifts from the 1973 to the 1976 election. Darker blue indicates a municipality voted more towards the parties that formed the centre-right bloc. Darker red indicates a municipality voted more towards the parties that form the left-wing bloc.


1976 Swedish general election, Results, By municipality
Votes by municipality as a scale from red/Left-wing bloc to blue/Centre-right bloc.


1976 Swedish general election, Results, By municipality
Cartogram of vote with each municipality rescaled in proportion to number of valid votes cast. Deeper blue represents a relative majority for the centre-right coalition, brighter red represents a relative majority for the left-wing coalition.


1976 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1976 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the eighth round of the 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 25 July 1976 at the Scandinavian Raceway.


1976 Swiss referendums
Ten referendums were held in Switzerland in 1976. The first two were held on 21 March on popular initiatives "for employees' participation" (with a counter-proposal; both were rejected), and "for taxation reform" (also rejected). The next three were held on 13 June on a federal law on spatial planning (rejected), a CHF 200 million loan to the International Development Association (rejected), and renewing unemployment insurance (approved).


1976 Swiss referendums
Two referendums were held on 26 September on an amendment to the Swiss Federal Constitution on broadcasting (rejected) and a popular initiative "for liability insurance by the union for motor vehicles and bicycless" (rejected). The final three referendums were held on 5 December on monetary policy (approved), price monitoring (approved) and a popular initiative to introduce a 40-hour working week (rejected).


1976 Syracuse Orangemen football team
The 1976 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Frank Maloney and played their home games at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. The team finished with a record of 3–8.


1976 São Paulo FC season
The 1976 football season was São Paulo's 47th season since club's existence.


1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series
The 1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series  was an Australian motor racing competition open to Formula Ford racing cars. It was the seventh Australian national series for Formula Fords. The series was won by Richard Carter  driving a Birrana F73.


1976 TANFL season
The 1976 Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) premiership season was an Australian rules football competition staged in Hobart, Tasmania over seventeen (17) roster rounds and four (4) finals series matches between 3 April and 11 September 1976.


1976 TANFL season, 1976 TANFL Ladder, Round 17
Note: This round was postponed by one week on 7 August due to poor weather and ground conditions.


1976 TANFL season, 1976 TANFL Ladder, Grand Final
Source: All scores and statistics courtesy of the Hobart Mercury and Saturday Evening Mercury (SEM) publications.


1976 TCU Horned Frogs football team
The 1976 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University (TCU) in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. The Horned Frogs finished the season 0–11 overall and 0–8 in the Southwest Conference. The team was coached by Jim Shofner, in his third and final year as head coach. The Frogs played their home games in Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on campus in Fort Worth, Texas.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's first season in the National Football League (NFL). It was the Buccaneers' first season playing their home games at Tampa Stadium, and the club's first under head coach John McKay. The Buccaneers gained infamy as the first team to play an entire 14-game season without winning or tying a single game (including five games where they never even scored). With the NFL going to a 16-game format in 1978, this is the only time any team ever went 0–14.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
They did not score until their third game and did not score a touchdown until their fourth. They lost by more than a touchdown eleven times. Colorful, maverick former USC coach McKay, whose wisecracking remarks occasionally agitated fans and the league, led the team. The only bright spot was future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Lee Roy Selmon, who made his rookie debut in an injury-plagued season.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The expansion draft was largely made up of aging veterans, giving the Buccaneers little basis for success. The lack of medical information provided on players in the expansion draft contributed heavily to the team's problems, as they finished the season with 17 players on injured reserve. They were last in the league in points scored, touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns. After a 19-point fourth-quarter performance brought them within striking distance of a victory in week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs, they were blown out of every game the rest of the season. Subsequent expansion teams were given a more generous allotment of draft picks and expansion draft opportunities, in part to avoid a repeat of the Buccaneers' difficulties.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
This was the only season in which the Buccaneers were not members of the NFC. Instead, they played in the AFC's West Division, after which they switched conferences with their expansion brethren, the Seattle Seahawks, who took their spot in the AFC West. From 1977 to 2001, the Buccaneers represented the NFC Central, which was otherwise filled with teams from the Great Lakes region (Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings). Since 2002, both teams have played in the NFC, with the Buccaneers in the South and the Seahawks in the West.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay
Owner Hugh Culverhouse, encouraged by recommendations from Vice President of Operations Ron Wolf and Alabama coaching legend Bear Bryant, chose John McKay, winner of four national championships with the USC Trojans, as the first Buccaneer head coach. Aided by a string of great tailbacks, including Heisman Trophy winners O. J. Simpson and Mike Garrett, McKay was credited with popularizing the I formation. Other candidates considered included Hank Stram, Ara Parseghian, and Joe Paterno.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay
McKay was reportedly offered a five-year contract worth $750,000, plus cars, insurance, and real estate, and turned down an offer from the Seattle Seahawks and a counter-offer from USC to take the job. Critical of the NFL, he had turned down offers from professional teams in the past. McKay cited NCAA cutbacks in finances and recruiting as motivations for leaving the college ranks, saying simply that it was "time to try something else".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay
McKay's only promise was that he would beat what he called "Pittsburgh's timetable", referencing the fact that it took the Steelers 41 years to win their first championship. Coach McKay would prove to be somewhat correct as Tampa Bay won the NFC's Central Division in 1979, the team's fourth year of existence, though it would take the team 27 seasons to win its first of two championships, which was won in the 2002 season. Their second championship coming 18 years later in Super Bowl LV.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay quotes
McKay had a natural sense of humor that helped him to cope with the pressures of the long losing streak, and it was not unusual for his press conferences to resemble comedy routines. While this may have helped cope with the on-field frustrations, it also served to mask how difficult the experience was for him, a situation his son Rich compared to "taking off in a jet airplane and finding out that neither engine works."


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay quotes
Additionally, assistant coach Dennis Fryzel, when the team was penalized for having 12 players on the field, asked a referee, "Which one was it?" And after injured guard Ira Gordon suffered a neck injury and was sent by McKay to get an X-ray to see what was wrong, Gordon reportedly told McKay, "Coach, I got the x-ray, but I don't feel any better".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay's comments on coaching in the NFL
I don't know what this pro football mystique is. I've gone to the pro camps. They throw the ball, they catch the ball. Many of them are ex-USC players. I'm not amazed at what they do. I've watched the pros play. They run traps, they pitch the ball, they sweep. What else is there? - John McKay, Sports Illustrated


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay's comments on coaching in the NFL
Coach McKay had won four national championships while coaching at USC, and he never hesitated to express his lack of awe at the NFL. He earned enemies in the league with his dismissive comments and nonchalant attitude. The league liked to promote the games as having life-or-death significance, and were undercut by a coach who would make statements such as, "You draw Xs and Os on a blackboard and that's not so difficult. I can even do it with my left hand".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay's comments on coaching in the NFL
Such statements made the Buccaneers' road more difficult, as a feeling grew around the league that McKay was a newcomer who needed to be taught a lesson. Linebacker Richard "Batman" Wood echoed those sentiments: "It was a brand-new organization. Who cared about us? They wanted to devastate us, beat us in the ground. And with coach McKay coming from college, they wanted to maybe even play us a little harder."


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay's comments on coaching in the NFL
Examples given of opponents using McKay's comments as an excuse to run up the score included the reverse that Denver ran late in a 48–13 victory, and the timeout that Chuck Fairbanks called at the end of the Patriots game to enable Steve Grogan to break the NFL record of season rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. One sports analyst had predicted that McKay's lucrative contract would encourage opposing coaches to run up the score on the Buccaneers, to be able to demonstrate to their team owners that they were deserving of similar money.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, John McKay, McKay's comments on coaching in the NFL
Fed up with the attitude that he had to prove himself in the NFL, McKay once drunkenly needled Don Shula by saying, "I think pro coaches should have to prove themselves by winning four national championships in the colleges". He later admitted to having ruffled some feathers in the NFL, but said, "it wasn't as if they didn't deserve it".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Other winless teams
Five previous teams finished with a winless and tieless season record, mostly during World War II: the 1934 Cincinnati Reds at 0–8, the 1942 Detroit Lions at 0–11, the 1943 Chicago Cardinals at 0–10, and the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers and Chicago Cardinals/Pittsburgh Steelers at 0–10 (the Cardinals and Steelers merged for the 1944 season and are commonly referred to as Card-Pitt, or, derisively, as the "carpet").


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Other winless teams
The 0–14 record was matched by the 1980 New Orleans Saints, who won their penultimate game to end the season 1–15. The 1981 Baltimore Colts then won their opener and closer, but lost every game in between to equal the Buccaneers' and Saints' 14-game single-season losing streak. The 1982 Colts were winless in a strike-shortened season, but did get a tie in one game. The 1990 New England Patriots had a 1–1 record when several of the players sexually harassed a female reporter. The fallout from the scandal contributed to the team finishing 0–14 in its remaining games.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Other winless teams
The 2013 Houston Texans also managed to match the Buccaneers' single-season losing streak after starting 2–0. Most recently, the 2016 Cleveland Browns lost their first 14 games (with an 0–4 preseason this becomes 18 straight) to match the Buccaneers' single season streak, but managed to avoid becoming the NFL's second 0–16 team by winning their penultimate game against the San Diego Chargers, although they would not be so lucky in the next season.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Other winless teams
The Buccaneers' record for consecutive games lost in a single season has been surpassed four times: by the 2001 Carolina Panthers and the 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars, who both lost fifteen consecutive games after winning their opener, the 2008 Detroit Lions, and the 2017 Cleveland Browns, the latter two being the only winless teams in a 16-game schedule. Twelve NFL teams since the 1976 Buccaneers have lost 15 or 16 games in a season, but the Buccaneers' 26-game losing streak from 1976 to 1977 still stands as the longest in modern NFL history. The aforementioned Detroit Lions have come the closest to matching the Buccaneers' losing streak, having lost 19 consecutive games between the last game of 2007 until finally winning in week 3 of the 2009 season.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason
The Buccaneers signed their first-ever free agents in January: former Birmingham Americans and Nebraska guard Tom Alward, Denver Broncos and Notre Dame defensive end Pete Duranko, and Chicago Bears wide receiver Wayne Wheeler. Having not selected a quarterback in the veteran allocation draft, they addressed that need in their first-ever trade, a deal to get local favorite Steve Spurrier from the San Francisco 49ers. The former Heisman Trophy winner was obtained for a second-round draft choice and two of the veteran draftees, Bruce Elia and Willie McGee. An earlier attempt to obtain a quarterback failed when the team sent a future draft pick to the Saints for backup quarterback Larry Cipa, only to waive him when he failed his physical. The Buccaneers also used a third-round pick to obtain defensive back Mike Washington from the Baltimore Colts.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Coaching staff
Ron Wolf, who had been the Oakland Raiders' Director of Player Personnel since 1963 and was credited with much of their success, was hired as Vice President of Operations. Los Angeles Rams general manager Don Klosterman and former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram were early candidates for the job; but Klosterman withdrew, and Stram was interested in a combined coach/general manager position.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Coaching staff
Wolf was directly responsible for the drafting of 20 of the Raiders' 22 starters, and his effectiveness at scouting talent was believed to be a major reason for the Raiders' being one of the few teams not to belong to a scouting combine. The Buccaneers quickly developed a Raiders flavor, choosing to hire a scouting staff rather than rely on the computerized scouting reports that almost all other teams were using, and hiring Raiders business manager Ken LaRue to serve in the same capacity. One of Wolf's responsibilities was to assist in the hiring of a head coach. Wolf persuaded Culverhouse that it would be better for any prospect to gain a year of experience and knowledge in his present job, rather than be named at expansion time, when there was little or no advantage to having a coach in place.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Coaching staff
Wolf named Tom Bass director of player personnel. Bass had previously served as head of scouting and defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, the only team apart from the Buccaneers and Raiders that still maintained a human scouting staff instead of using the computerized services, and the team on whose model the Buccaneers' expansion strategy was patterned. Bass was Paul Brown's first coaching hire with the expansion Bengals, and previously had been an assistant under Sid Gillman with the San Diego Chargers, and with Don Coryell at San Diego State.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Coaching staff
Former McKay assistant and Utah State head coach Phil Krueger was added to the staff, joined shortly thereafter by USC assistants Wayne Fontes and Willie Brown, as defensive backs and receivers coaches, respectively. Dennis Fryzel, the last University of Tampa head coach, was added to handle special teams. Denver Broncos assistant Jerry Frei was hired as offensive line coach, becoming McKay's first assistant hired from the professional ranks, and was followed by former New York Jets defensive coordinator Dick Voris, hired initially as defensive line coach.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Coaching staff
Abe Gibron, former head coach of the Chicago Bears and college teammate of McKay at Purdue, was brought on board as a defensive assistant. The staff was completed with the addition of Atlanta Falcons assistant and former Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills head coach John Rauch as offensive coordinator. Tampa resident Harry Smith, a trainer with experience working with local college athletes such as John Matuszak and Gary Huff, became the team's strength and conditioning coach.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Expansion Draft
The list of available players was released only 72 hours before the draft, and included many medical rejects who did not even report to training camp. McKay initially felt that the draft included a higher-than-expected level of talent, joking that "they're in their late 30s. I couldn't be happier". At the time, the NFL allowed existing teams to protect all except three players on their active rosters, leaving very meager options for expansion brethren Buccaneers and Seahawks. While the expansion draft did not include many well-known starters, it included several players who had notoriety with previous professional and college teams:


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft
The 1976 NFL Draft was considered to be the worst draft class in many years, with only eight high-quality prospects, as compared to the normal 27 or 28. The popularity of the wishbone offense among college teams left the draft devoid of quarterback prospects: indeed the 1976 quarterback draft class is retrospectively viewed as amongst the worst of all time. A drawing held the previous December gave the Buccaneers the rights to the first overall selection.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft trades
As an expansion team, the Buccaneers were given two extra picks in each of the 2nd–5th rounds. Their second 2nd-round pick was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Steve Spurrier. Their first 3rd-round pick was traded to Baltimore for cornerback Mike Washington. Their first 4th-round pick and last 5th-round picks were traded to the Los Angeles Rams for linebacker Jim Peterson. Their 8th-round pick was traded to the New York Jets for linebacker Steve Reese.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft selections
With the first selection in the draft, the Buccaneers picked Lee Roy Selmon, considered to be the best defensive tackle in Oklahoma history and described as "one of the greatest defensive linemen I have ever watched" by coach McKay. Shortly thereafter, with their second pick of the second round, they took his brother Dewey. The two, who were the two leading tacklers on the 1975 Oklahoma Sooners football team, were the third pair of brothers in NFL history to go to the same team in the same draft.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft selections
They became the only pair of brothers to play for the same NFL team at the same time until Lyle Blackwood joined his brother Glenn on the Miami Dolphins' roster in 1981. The move prompted brother Lucious Selmon to offer to come out of retirement if Tampa Bay would obtain his NFL rights. The Buccaneers spent their first second-round pick on Florida fullback Jimmy DuBose, and took Colorado offensive tackle Steve Young in the third round. Later-round picks who made the team included defensive back Curtis Jordan, quarterback Parnell Dickinson, and running back George Ragsdale. Carl Roaches, later a Pro Bowl return man for the Houston Oilers, and Tommy West, later the head coach at Clemson and the University of Memphis, were selected by the Buccaneers but did not make the roster.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
The Buccaneers' first training camp began on July 6, at the team's training facility near Tampa International Airport, with a crew from NFL Films on hand to film the proceedings. Chicago Bears quarterback and Tampa native Gary Huff showed up to taunt the receivers. McKay noted that many of the players were out of shape, and expressed surprise at players who he felt were not taking advantage of a big opportunity. Ron Wolf, after seeing the team's players in action, admitted disappointment at his own efforts in assembling the team.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
Defensive coordinator Abe Gibron, who promised to be honest with each player about his performance and told one that he had a chance of making the team, but that "You're built like Tarzan, but you run like Jane", assessed the defense as having the makings of a great front four. The team's smallest, and perhaps fastest, player was Carl Roaches, who at 5'61⁄2" and 165 pounds, could run the 100-yard dash in 9.5 seconds. The team's strongest player was fitness fanatic Dave Pear, who could bench press 10 repetitions at 400 pounds.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
McKay was unimpressed with the candidates at backup quarterback, saying of one injured contender, "his hand is still bad, but his passing is worse". Middle linebacker soon proved to be a position for which there were no quality candidates in camp. Running back George Ragsdale impressed the coaches, but broke his wrist in training camp. Essex Johnson, the Cincinnati Bengals' all-time leading rusher and one of three remaining original Bengals, was obtained for "undisclosed considerations".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
The (as McKay liked to point out, undefeated) team made their game debut against the Los Angeles Rams in an exhibition at the Los Angeles Coliseum on July 31, losing 26-3. McKay called the players' performance "unaggressive, uninspiring, lethargic, and unacceptable", and cut 15 players one day prior to the following Tuesday's cutdown date. McKay was pleased with the following week's improved performance against the Green Bay Packers, a 10–6 loss in which a late interception of a Parnell Dickinson pass prevented a likely Buccaneer victory.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
After the Packers referred to them as the "Tampa Buccaneers", the Buccaneers threatened to introduce the "Green Packers" at their next meeting. The Buccaneers' first victory came in a 17–3 preseason win over the favored Atlanta Falcons, in which they scored on runs by Steve Spurrier and Essex Johnson, and a Mirro Roder field goal. Although the win had no official significance, it raised optimism among fans, particularly due to the team's defensive performance. McKay himself was puzzled, unsure whether the win was due to a superior performance by Tampa Bay, or a lack of effort by the Falcons. Their home debut came in a 28–21 loss to the Miami Dolphins, in front of a crowd of 71,718, a crowd which Dolphins owner Joe Robbie said proved his longtime prediction that a Bay Area team would be a success.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Preseason
The late preseason saw a wave of signings of players cut by other teams, particularly the Bengals and Colts. Signees included Isaac Hagins, Danny Reece, Dave Green, and Jack Novak, with Ira Gordon and camp standout Jim Cagle among those waived to make roster space for them. Running back Charlie Davis was also obtained via trade. The moves left the team with nine former Bengals on their roster, a situation they expected, as they knew that Bengals owner Paul Brown had more young talent than he would be able to keep on his team. Linebacker Richard Wood was obtained from the New York Jets for a future draft choice, with injury-plagued running back Harold Hart placed on injured reserve to make roster space for him. Wood was the final roster addition of the preseason, and became the fifth ex-USC player on the roster.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
According to coach McKay, the team's progress was set back as they spent the preseason trying to find out which veterans would develop into regulars, but found that the younger players were better. This meant that the team started over from the beginning as the regular season began. The tone for the season seemed to be set as the team got lost in the Houston Astrodome when leaving the locker room to take the field for their opening game.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
They spent 20 minutes trying to find their way out, and barely made it to the field in time for the opening kickoff. The team started out with solid defensive play, ranking in the top 10 until injuries began to set in. They began to wear out as the Buccaneers' offensive ineptitude meant that the defense spent a lot of time on the field, over 100 plays in some games.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Receiver Johnny McKay pointed out the tendency of the offense to feel pressured after a three-and-out possession, with the result that they would press even harder the next time, quickly going three-and-out again. Coach McKay said early on that controlling the ball for 40 percent of the game, as they were, was not long enough to win. Placekicker Mirro Roder was cut after missing three field goals in the first two games, in both of which the Buccaneers were shut out, giving their offense the nickname "Zero Gang", which stuck with them through a total of eleven shutouts before their first victory as a franchise.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Roder was not replaced, with punter Dave Green taking over his duties. Rick Jennings spent the shortest amount of time with the club of all players that season; picked up on waivers from the Raiders on a Tuesday, he was released the same Thursday. New uniforms had to be ordered for the team when it was discovered that the fans could not tell the players apart because the numerals on the white uniforms could not be seen from the stands.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Many local Miami Dolphins fans were angered when the NFL upheld the Buccaneers' demand that Dolphin games not be broadcast in the Tampa Bay area on days that the Buccaneers play at home. The timing of the decision led to the firing of Director of Administration Curt Mosher after the season.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
The team failed to throw a touchdown pass in any of their first five games, three of which were shutout losses. Offensive coordinator John Rauch walked out on the team during the week 5 game against Cincinnati, and gave 'personal differences' as the reason for his resignation. His duties were taken over by McKay, who pointed to the increased effectiveness of the team's "simpler" offense, saying that they were no longer "trying to do all the things people said you have to do in this league".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
On a strange NFL weekend in which O. J. Simpson was ejected from a game for fighting, the Chicago Bears lost a game due to a referee's inadvertent whistle, and Minnesota Vikings receiver Sammy White fumbled away a touchdown due to starting his celebration before entering the end zone, McKay launched an obscenity-filled tirade against Denver Broncos coach John Ralston after a blowout loss.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
McKay admitted that his feelings dated back to their college rivalry, when McKay coached at USC and Ralston coached at Stanford University, but pointed to specific plays such as a reverse and a last-minute punt return as evidence that Ralston was trying to run up the score. Third-string running back Manfred Moore caught a lucky break when, waived after the week 13 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was picked up by the Oakland Raiders as an injury replacement for ex-Buccaneer Rick Jennings. He wound up going from an 0–13 team to the eventual Super Bowl champion.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Players began to meet for postgame parties at Steve Spurrier's house, in order to avoid having to show their faces in public. According to defensive end Pat Toomay, "By the time we got to the last game of the season, we had so many injuries that we didn't feel we had much of a chance. Everybody was so sick of the season that they showed up packed and ready to get out of town. It looked like a bunch of Okies fleeing the dust bowl." McKay said that the week 4 game against the Baltimore Colts summed up the season: "On one play I looked up and one of our guys was getting kicked out of the game, and two more were getting carried off".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
The team did not score a touchdown until cornerback Danny Reece returned a fumble 44 yards in the fourth game. Running back Louis Carter threw their first touchdown pass in an "Expansion Bowl" loss to the Seattle Seahawks in which the two teams combined for 310 yards in penalties. They were outscored 412–125, allowed 6.7 yards per play, and allowed an average of 183 rushing yards per game.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Several factors contributed to the Buccaneers' record. One was the stinginess of owner Culverhouse, who went so far as to lease the team jet from McCulloch (the chainsaw manufacturer) Airlines. At times Culverhouse had to pay for fuel with his own credit card, because of McCulloch's financial difficulties. The offense was able to move the ball freely at times, but had difficulty getting the ball into the end zone. McKay and Spurrier had a difficult relationship, with Spurrier at times taking public potshots at McKay.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Frustrated by the lack of quality receivers, Spurrier criticized McKay for playing his own son Johnny ahead of receivers Spurrier considered more capable. Coach McKay, for his part, questioned (rightly, according to Spurrier himself) Spurrier's drive, although he publicly defended Spurrier by terming fans who booed him "idiots". Spurrier was not the only player angered over the younger McKay's retention, and Pat Toomay later alleged that Spurrier would throw passes over the middle to McKay in an attempt to get him injured, but that McKay made no effort to catch them. Injuries were a large factor.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Only five Buccaneers started all 14 games, and neither of the team's projected starting running backs, Harold Hart and Vince Kendrick, ever played a regular-season down for the team. The defense, who played the equivalent of two seasons in one due to the inability of the offense to mount sustained drives, was hit particularly hard by injuries. Toward the end of the year, the roster became so thin that the team signed undersized ex-USC linebacker Jimmie "Psycho" Sims straight off the streets. With no time to learn the system, Sims was simply instructed to blitz on every down.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Finally, the losing was in part by design: McKay was determined to give experience to young players who he felt could help the team in the future, rather than obtain veterans who might help the team win a few games in the short run, but who would no longer be around by the time the team would develop into a championship contender.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
The 2008 NFL Network program "10 Worst Teams of All Time" (produced prior to the Lions' winless season) recognized the 1976 Buccaneers as the worst NFL team ever, although it is disputed whether their record was not deceptive, as they were decimated by injuries and were a play away from victory several times. There is some opinion that the 1976 team was not even the worst in Buccaneers history, with the 2–14 1986 squad deserving of that distinction.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Houston Oilers
September 12, 1976, at The Astrodome, Houston, TexasThe Buccaneers, making their NFL debut against the Houston Oilers, averaged less than two yards per offensive play. They were unable to score despite being given good field position by two Oiler fumbles. Steve Spurrier completed 8 of 21 passes for 36 yards, and starting running backs Jimmy DuBose and Louis Carter rushed for 12 yards on 15 carries. Despite being outgained 169 to 8 by the second quarter, they were only behind 7–0 and missed a chance to tie the score when Lee McGriff dropped a Spurrier pass in the end zone.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Houston Oilers
A later drive ended when Spurrier overthrew John McKay, Jr., instead hitting defender C.L. Whittington. A third chance to tie the score was lost when Mark Cotney dropped an interception of a Dan Pastorini pass with a clear path to the end zone. Whittington gave the Buccaneers the ball on the Oiler 11-yard line by fumbling a punt, but then killed the Buccaneers' scoring chances by intercepting another Spurrier pass. Ronnie Coleman ran 25 times for 142 yards for the Oilers.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Houston Oilers
McKay expressed concern over the team's offense after the defeat, and responded to a reporter's taunt of "I thought you said you were going to win some games?" by saying, "Houston has been in the league 6,000 years and still hasn't won a championship. The Bucs will be heard from". It was a day with a bad beginning, middle, and ending for the Buccaneers. The day began with the Buccaneers getting lost in the maze-like Astrodome interior, and ended with the team's charter plane bouncing and rolling before righting itself on landing. In addition, starting tackle Dave Reavis was injured during pregame warmups and was lost for the season.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 2: vs San Diego Chargers
September 19, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaThe San Diego Chargers got 16 first downs, compared to 5 for the Buccaneers. Chargers players and coaches praised the Buccaneers' defense, who held them to 9 points until the final three minutes of the game, saying that they played the equivalent of five-quarters. Three Tampa Bay quarterbacks completed a combined 3 of 8 passes for −4 yards. Buccaneers receiver Bob Moore said, "We're at rock bottom now...but if we start pointing a finger, we'll go 0–14". The Chargers finished with 325 yards of offense to the Buccaneers' 125.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 2: vs San Diego Chargers
Inconsistent blocking was blamed for the offensive problems, a situation that was not helped by the injury to tackle Dave Reavis. Mercury Morris, who had been picked up on waivers by the Chargers from the Miami Dolphins after the Buccaneers' preseason game against the Dolphins, commented that the difference in Buccaneers' offensive line protection between the two games was like watching two different teams. The Buccaneers' lack of speed was also noticeable. The loss marked the first time since 1961 that a professional football team was shut out in the first two games of the season, when the Oakland Raiders were shut out by the same two teams in the same order.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs Buffalo Bills
September 26, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaThe Buccaneers scored their first points, but were not able to score enough to win, despite statistically outperforming the Buffalo Bills in most phases of the game. The Buccaneers had only three Dave Green field goals to show for seven possessions inside the Bills' 22-yard line. O. J. Simpson, who would rush for a season total of 1,503 yards, was held to only 39 yards on twenty carries.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs Buffalo Bills
The Bills, the highest-scoring team in recent years, were 1 of 12 in third-down conversions, and were surpassed in yardage, first downs, rushing average, and number of total plays. Buffalo took the lead on Bob Chandler's 58-yard reception of a tipped pass. The Buccaneers' 338 yards of offense, a great improvement over their previous two games, coincided with coach McKay's relenting to Steve Spurrier's demands that he be able to call his own plays. Spurrier suffered a bone chip in his throwing hand that made his status questionable for the next week's game.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Baltimore Colts
October 3, 1976, at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MarylandAfter taking a 3–0 lead against one of the league's better teams on a Dave Green field goal, the Buccaneers were overwhelmed by the Baltimore Colts in a disastrous second quarter. A Danny Reece interception of a Bert Jones pass was called back due to a roughing-the-passer penalty, and another was dropped by Richard Wood. Cornerback Mike Washington was thrown out of the game for fighting. Cal Peterson and Lee Roy Selmon went out with knee injuries. Film of the game appeared to indicate that the injury to Selmon was intentional.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Baltimore Colts
The Colts followed with 9 points in each of the next two-quarters. The Buccaneers finally scored their first two touchdowns of the year, a fumble return by Danny Reece and a 1-yard Charlie Davis run. The Colts set team records with eight sacks, and with 124 penalty yards. They outgained Tampa Bay 458 yards to 89 and 31 first downs to 6. The Buccaneers were only able to complete four passes; wide receiver Lee McGriff was their leading passer with a 39-yard completion. Said McKay afterward, "Field position hurt us badly, dropped passes hurt us badly, no blocking hurt us badly, injuries hurt us badly, and penalties hurt us badly. Otherwise, it was a perfect afternoon."


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Cincinnati Bengals
October 10, 1976, at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, OhioWith four defensive starters out with injuries, the Buccaneers spotted the Cincinnati Bengals a 14–0 first-quarter lead. The defense came together for the last three-quarters, with the only points coming from Tommy Casanova's 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Ken Anderson, the AFC's leading passer, was held to 98 yards passing. Lacking healthy linebackers, the Buccaneers abandoned their 3–4 defense in favor of a 4–3. The Buccaneers held a 191–174 yardage advantage over the AFC Central-leading Bengals in the final 45 minutes. The Bengals declined to hand out game balls to any of their players after the win.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs Seattle Seahawks
October 17, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaSeattle Seahawks linebacker Mike Curtis blocked a field goal that would have sent the game into overtime, guaranteeing a Seahawk victory in what was billed as the "expansion bowl" meeting between two winless, first-year teams. The Buccaneers outgained the Seahawks, 285 yards to 253, but the officials outgained both, with 310 yards in penalties. The 35 penalties (accepted, 41 were thrown by the officials) were two short of the 25-year-old league record. Each team was penalized for holding eight times.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs Seattle Seahawks
Defensive tackle Pat Toomay complained that "the officials made us look like a bunch of idiots". Dan Ryczek was the only Buccaneer lineman not to be called for holding. Tampa Bay running back Louis Carter, stuffed at the goal line, threw the ball to Morris Owens, who dived into the end zone for the first Buccaneer passing touchdown. A tackle by Seahawk punter Rick Engles prevented a touchdown return by Danny Reece that would have won the game for the Buccaneers. An earlier field goal try was blocked by Lyle Blackwood. The game ended with Dave Brown being helped from the field after being hit in the eye by the final penalty flag.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 7: vs Miami Dolphins
October 24, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaA blocked field goal and extra-point attempt provided the margin of victory for the Miami Dolphins. Ex-Dolphin receiver Morris Owens came back to haunt his old team with three touchdown catches. Starting quarterback Parnell Dickinson threw the first, then was replaced by recently acquired quarterback Terry Hanratty after injuring his ankle. When Hanratty proved ineffective, Steve Spurrier, who had not practiced during the week due to a swollen knee, came off the bench to throw the final two touchdowns.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 7: vs Miami Dolphins
It took a final-minute, 55-yard Garo Yepremian field goal to clinch the game for the Dolphins, whose pass defense had been decimated by injuries. 192 of the Buccaneers' 334 total yards came through the air. McKay would later point to this game as the high point of the Buccaneers' season. Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti saw it differently, calling the narrow victory "a disgrace" and "the low point in Miami Dolphins' history".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs Kansas City Chiefs
October 31, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaThe Kansas City Chiefs credited their defense with the win after holding the Buccaneers to 14 yards rushing. The Buccaneers managed only 2 first downs and 34 yards of total offense before exploding for three touchdowns in the final ten minutes. The Buccaneers were mistake-prone and ineffective throughout the first three-quarters. Ken Stone was penalized for roughing on a missed field goal in the first quarter, with the result that the Chiefs got a second chance to kick it.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs Kansas City Chiefs
The special teams allowed Henry Marshall to return a punt 59 yards, setting up the Chiefs' second touchdown. They got 14 first downs and 162 yards in the final 15 minutes, scoring on an Essex Johnson run and passes from Steve Spurrier to Johnny McKay and Jack Novak. Coach McKay felt that the difference was that the team did not begin giving effort until the fourth quarter. McKay also felt that the Chiefs left themselves vulnerable by trying to run up the score.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs Kansas City Chiefs
Bert Cooper, filling in at linebacker for an injured Steve Reese, was consistently exploited in the passing game. McKay later threatened to fire players who he felt were giving a slack effort, specifically referring to a Chiefs kickoff that rolled all the way to the 4-yard line, with no Buccaneers trying to recover it. Spectators booed the team, and one threw a dead bird at Spurrier as he returned to the locker room after the game. Buccaneer defenders found some consolation in having held the AFC's top offensive team to only 13 points. Defensive end Council Rudolph played, despite the death of his father the previous evening.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Denver Broncos
November 7, 1976, at Mile High Stadium, Denver, ColoradoWith the score tied 10–10, Buccaneer linebacker Cal Peterson suffered a career-ending injury untouched when his knee gave out while running in an interception for what would have been a touchdown. Lee Roy Selmon also suffered a season-ending knee injury. After taking a 13–10 lead on a Dave Green field goal, the injury-riddled Buccaneers were doomed by an 181⁄2 minute span in which the Broncos scored 38 points.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Denver Broncos
Coach McKay accused Broncos coach John Ralston of running up the score and stormed off of the field, refusing to shake hands with him after the game. He later referred to Ralston as a "horse's ass" and said, "I don't like any part of him. His day is coming". Ralston responded by pointing out that most of the Broncos points came on fumble recoveries and interceptions. McKay later revealed his thoughts on the team's likely high draft position, saying "This team needs a catalyst. Ricky Bell can run through a wall".


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 10: at New York Jets
November 14, 1976, at Shea Stadium, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New YorkIn what was according to coach Lou Holtz a prearranged move, New York Jets rookie quarterback Richard Todd was replaced by Joe Namath late in the first quarter. Namath responded with a passing display that gave the Jets a 24–0 halftime lead. Saying that his players were "polite" to Namath, coach McKay compared the Buccaneers to a junior-high team, and said that the only thing they did better than the Jets was to be the first team on the field after halftime.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 10: at New York Jets
Clark Gaines rushed for 103 yards for the Jets. The Buccaneers' three quarterbacks combined for 171 yards passing, more than the Jets' quarterbacks, but the Buccaneers failed to score for the fourth time in the season. As the score rose, the press box announcer began calling out records set during the game, which included the Jets' first shutout in Shea Stadium. This was considered to be the Buccaneers' last good chance to win a game, with their four final opponents all in playoff contention. The Jets' 34 points were nearly a third of their season total of 110 after ten games, and a fifth of their season total of 169.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs Cleveland Browns
November 21, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaStrong first-half play left the Buccaneers tied 7–7 with the Cleveland Browns at halftime, but they failed to maintain the intensity for the second half of the game. A screen pass from Steve Spurrier to Essex Johnson caught the blitzing Cleveland linebackers out of position for a 13-yard touchdown. The solid blocking of the first half gave way to the Cleveland rush in the second half, and Spurrier was replaced with Parnell Dickinson in the fourth quarter.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs Cleveland Browns
Dickinson wound up leaving the game with a season-ending knee injury on a play in which he threw an interception to Terry Brown. Two Browns players were ejected for fighting, in a game in which several Buccaneers complained of cheap shots being taken. Dave Pear said, "If I had a gun, I would have shot them both in the head", of two Cleveland players who tried to take out his knees.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 12: at Oakland Raiders
November 28, 1976, at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CaliforniaThe Oakland Raiders, with an NFL-best 11–1 record, scored three touchdowns before the Buccaneers got their third first down. Mark van Eeghen scored on two 1-yard runs. A 2-yard Ed Williams touchdown run tied the score at 7–7 after the Buccaneers recovered a fumble at the Oakland 14-yard line in the first quarter. A Dave Green field goal made the score 21–10 at halftime, but Ken Stabler threw for two third-quarter touchdowns for the Raiders. Steve Spurrier finished the Buccaneers' scoring with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Morris Owens. Dewey Selmon suffered a serious knee injury, the Buccaneers' 14th of the season, on the first play of the game.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Pittsburgh Steelers
December 5, 1976, at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaJohn McKay gave ex-Steelers quarterback Terry Hanratty the start against his former team, saying that Hanratty's familiarity with the Steelers' schemes made him the best choice. "I don't know if I'm doing him a favor or not", said McKay, who compared the game to Custer's last stand. Hanratty was pulled in favor of Steve Spurrier in the second half. McKay later told reporters critical of Hanratty's performance, "You guys should take a Sunday off and play behind our offensive line. They just poured in on us."


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Rocky Bleier ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns, and Terry Bradshaw completed two touchdown passes to Lynn Swann. Franco Harris, with 55 yards rushing, became the fourth player both to rush for 5,000 yards in four seasons, and to gain 1,000 yards four or more times. The Steelers jumped out to a quick 21–0 lead, helped by two early Tampa Bay turnovers deep in their own territory. Pittsburgh players, some of whom could still remember having gone 0–13 after winning their opener in 1969, described the game as "strange", but declined to comment on the Buccaneers' play. The Buccaneers managed only 85 yards of offense against a Steeler team that needed the win to maintain their playoff chances.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Pittsburgh Steelers
This game had the distinction of being what is believed to be the largest points spread in NFL history, as Pittsburgh was favored by 24. This record was surpassed in 2013 when the Denver Broncos were favored in a 28-point spread against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Though the Broncos won the game, they did not cover (winning only 35–19) leaving Pittsburgh with the largest point spread covered by a favourite. This is the only game in NFL history in which a favourite has covered a spread of more than 20 points.


1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs New England Patriots
December 12, 1976, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FloridaTwo fumbles deep in New England Patriots territory overcame a stubborn Buccaneer effort. The Patriots' 260 rushing yards stood for years as the most allowed in a game by the Buccaneers, while their total of four pass completions remains the least by a Tampa Bay opponent. New England came from behind twice on Andy Johnson touchdown runs, and took the lead for good on Sam Hunt's 58-yard return of a Steve Spurrier interception. Johnson's first touchdown run was a 69-yarder that set a club record. Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan set an NFL record with four seconds left, rushing for his 12th touchdown of the year. The Buccaneers also set an NFL record, by becoming the only team to go winless in a 14-game season.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season
The 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the second indoor season of the club's existence. The Rowdies were able to replicate their 1975 outdoor success by winning the North American Soccer League's 1976 indoor championship.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Review
The Tampa Bay Rowdies were the runners-up of the 1975 NASL Indoor tournament in March, and the winners of Soccer Bowl '75 in August, both held California at the home venues of the San Jose Earthquakes. In October 1975 the NASL announced that the Bayfront Center would host both the 1976 Indoor Eastern Regionals and Final Four. It was later announced that Tampa Bay would also play a pre-tournament international friendly at the Bayfront Center. This meant that all of the Rowdies indoor matches for 1976 would be played at home.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Review, Friendlies
Billed in media reports as an International Challenge Cup Match, Tampa Bay’s first game was a pre-tournament international friendly versus Santos F.C. of Jamaica, and  played on March 6 at the Bayfront Center. The Rowdies easily defeated their guests, who were playing indoor soccer for the very first time, by the score of 11–4.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Review, Eastern Regionals
The winner of the Eastern Regional would gain an automatic place in the Final Four. In their first tournament game the Rowdies battled back from a 4–1 deficit midway through the second period, to score eight straight goals and defeat Washington, 9–5. The following evening Tampa Bay had a much easier time in defeating the Boston Minutemen, 5–3, as they dictated play until the final minutes, when Boston scored two meaningless late goals. Those two victories left the Rowdies as the only undefeated team in the group, and therefore champions of their region for the second straight year. Stewart Scullion was named Regional MVP, with Rodney Marsh and Arsene Auguste joining him on the All-Regional squad.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Review, Final Four
In the semifinal Tampa Bay held a slim, one-goal lead in the third period over the Dallas Tornado. With less than three minutes remaining the Rowdies broke open the match the by scoring three straight goals in a span of 81 seconds to defeated Dallas, 6–2, and earn their second straight trip to the indoor finals.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Review, Final Four
On March 27, 1976, the Tampa Bay Rowdies played in their third championship final out of three total competitions in their brief history. This time they would face surprise finalists Rochester Lancers. Unfortunately for Rochester, goalkeeper Jim May was severely injured late in their semi-final upset win over San Jose, and could not play in the final. The Rowdies were without Rodney Marsh for the contest, as he suffered a head injury in the semi-final. In a closely fought match Tampa Bay prevailed, 6–4, on three goals by Derek Smethurst, two by Clyde Best, and one by Mark Lindsay. Smethurst’s game winning, third goal came with 3:18 left in the match. Best was named tournament MVP, with Smethurst and Stewart Scullion joining him on the All-Tournament squad.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Statistics, Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Statistics, Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season
The 1976 season was the original Tampa Bay Rowdies second season of existence, and their second season in the North American Soccer League, the top division of soccer in the United States and Canada at that time. Tampa Bay entered the season as the defending Soccer Bowl champions.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Overview
The defense of the Rowdies' NASL title began with the club going on a four-match preseason tour of Haiti. After winning the 1976 indoor tournament, the team later played two addition preseason games against the San Antonio Thunder at high schools in the Tampa Bay Area. The mercurial English star, Rodney Marsh was introduced as team captain on April 22, but resigned the post after just eleven days, handing the job to fellow Englishman, Tommy Smith.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Overview
In the NASL season, the Rowdies finished with a league-best record of 18–6, which placed them first in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference. As regular season champions, they qualified for the playoffs with home field advantage throughout. In an upset, they fell to Toronto Metros-Croatia, 0–2, in the conference finals. Toronto went on to win the Soccer Bowl. For the second consecutive season South African striker, Derek Smethurst was the club leader in scoring with 20 goals, a total which also led the league.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Club, Honors
Seven different Rowdies received nine individual honors following the 1976 NASL season.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, Preseason friendlies
In January 1976 Tampa Bay made a four match tour of Haiti. The first was a, 1–1, draw on January 13 versus the Haitian National Team before a crowd of 21,000. Two days later another 21,000 witnessed the National Team defeat the Rowdies, 1–0. The third match of the tour was played on January 17, against the club side Racing CH with Tampa Bay dominating, 4–1, as 21,500 looked on. In the final Haitian game, the Rowdies edged Victory SC, 2–1, before 13,000 fans.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, Preseason friendlies
In early April Tampa Bay also played back-to-back friendlies with the San Antonio Thunder. The first was a 1–2 defeat, played at Sarasota High School which drew 2,845 fans. The following night as Tarpon Springs High School the teams played to a 0–0 draw before 2,500 onlookers. Tampa Bay finished the preseason with a record of 2–2–2.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, North American Soccer League season
The Rowdies finished the regular season with 154 points, positioning them in 1st place in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference, and first overall out of 20 NASL teams. After a solid 8–4 start to the season, Tampa Bay finished even stronger with a 10–2 record the rest of the way for a league-best record of 18–6. They earned two more victories than their nearest foe. They scored 58 goals, which was second in the league, while their 30 goals-against tied them with three other clubs as the fewest. As regular season champions, Tampa Bay also earned home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The club averaged 16,452 fans per game in the regular season, with three matches surpassing 15,000, one reaching 32,000, and still another topping 42,000.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, North American Soccer League season, Regular-season standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, North American Soccer League season, Regular-season standings
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Competitions, NASL playoffs
Tampa Bay's two home playoff matches drew more than 36,000 and 28,000 respectively.


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Statistics, Season scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Statistics, Season goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Statistics, Playoff scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season, Statistics, Playoff goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1976 Tangerine Bowl
The 1976 Tangerine Bowl was held on December 18, 1976, featuring the BYU Cougars and Oklahoma State Cowboys at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. BYU represented the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in only their second bowl game as a program, and Oklahoma State represented the Big Eight Conference. The matchup pitted the two schools in the postseason for the second time in three years, following the 1974 Fiesta Bowl, a game in which the Cowboys defeated the Cougars by a score of 16-6. Oklahoma State's running back Terry Miller broke the Tangerine Bowl records for total net yards run and longest run from scrimmage as well as tying another with four touchdowns scored as OSU defeated BYU, 49–21.


1976 Tangerine Bowl
It was during this game, as well a regular season matchup between Florida and Miami three weeks earlier, that the new east upper deck at the stadium severely swayed whenever fans stood up and cheered. The poorly designed upper deck became a huge source of controversy, and was dismantled just over three years later.