The No.87 shirt Another number that has been predominantly owned by wide receivers over tight ends, but the level of talent that has worn the 87 jersey has not been dominating at best. Gerald Carter became part of the best receiving combination in franchise history in 1984 with Kevin House and still ranks in the Top 10 in most franchise receiving statistics. Larry Mucker became known as "six or nothing" for his ability to only catch the ball in the endzone during his early days with the franchise. Willie Drewrey was a decent enough punt returner under three different coaches and has the two longest receiving touchdowns in Buccaneer history. He was followed by one of our many receiving draft busts, Lamar Thomas. Busts and Bert Emanuel of course go together beautifully and it was only the two decent seasons put up by Keenan McCardell that included a pair of Super Bowl touchdown catches that saved this number from almost total failure. The number was recently owned by Austin Seferian-Jenkins who will go down as more a bust than anything else. Ron Gronkowski’s arrival in Tampa meant he took over his favourite number from his Patriot days and was the effective Gronk he was in New England for his two seasons as a Buccaneer. BEST EVER TO WEAR No.87 FOR THE BUCCANEERS - KEENAN McCARDELL
Click on the player's name for their profile page, Buccaneer stats and picture galleries Years Player Pos 1977-80 Larry Mucker WR 1981-87 Gerald Carter WR 1987 Steve Carter WR 1989-92 Willie Drewrey WR 1992 George Thomas WR 1993-95 Lamar Thomas WR 1996 Nilo Silvan WR 1997 John Davis TE 1998-99 Bert Emanuel WR 2000-01 Frank Murphy WR 2002-03 Keenan McCardell WR 2005 JR Russell WR 2007 Keith Heinrich TE 2008-09 Brian Clark WR 2010-12 Preston Parker WR 2014-16 Austin Seferian-Jenkins TE 2019 Jordan Leggett TE 2020-21 Rob Gronkowski TE 2023- Payne Durham TE