A structured early exit from Tampa for Week 6 allowed the Buccaneers to pack their bags, families and pets for an impromptu trip to New Orleans as the region braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton.
Head coach Todd Bowles described the mission for the team and staff as a three-day process with logistical hurdles in organizing families, players and staff to make the trip to Louisiana on Tuesday morning. More than 350 are in the team’s traveling party this week and the Buccaneers evacuated other player and staff family members to resorts in Orlando to remove them from harm’s way.
“I think overall, everything has gone smoothly. We got the team out, we got the families out, we got their pets out,” Bowles said Wednesday from a seat behind a folding table in a makeshift press conference setting. “Family is the most important thing right now. You can replace material things and you want everybody to be OK and you hope everybody evacuated; if not hunkered down safely. Family is the most important thing. If you can get your family out and keep them safe, everything else can be replaced.”
Bowles and several current players experienced a similar but far less orderly team evacuation prior to Hurricane Ian in 2022. Bowles said multiple players drove with family and there were failed connections along the way. The Bucs made only minor adjustments to their work week when Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida two weeks ago.
This week the Buccaneers are practicing at Tulane University in the late afternoon. They’ll play the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday before determining possible next steps.
Bowles said the Buccaneers will assess the aftermath of the hurricane and another round of potential logistical challenges that could await. The team facility at One Buc Place is landlocked and adjacent to Raymond James Stadium, but sits blocks from the Hillsborough River to the east and is separated from Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico only by Tampa International Airport.
The Buccaneers weighed moving to Houston for the week but chose New Orleans to avoid making multiple trips before Sunday. They could be in a similar circumstance next week before a scheduled Monday night game at home against Baltimore.
Bowles noted obvious challenges and provisional plans should significant damage to the team facility force the Buccaneers to stay on the road for an extended period.
He knows players face unusual challenges returning to hotel rooms at night, many of them with family members present.
“We understand that the things that we do in football are a small mechanism in the game of life and the hurricane is going to affect people,” Bowles said. “But we’re focused and we’re trying to get ready for a game. If everybody’s here and there families are here, that makes it a lot easier.”