Buccaneers Parade 2021: Latest News on Tampa Bay's Super Bowl Celebration Plans

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Super Bowl champions after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 on Sunday.

Quarterback Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl title and fifth Super Bowl MVP award after completing 21-of-29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Tampa has become a city of champions this year, with the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup and the Rays earning the American League pennant.

In typical years, championships would lead to well-attended celebratory parades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced cities to either cancel them entirely or adjust them as necessary.

As for the Bucs, the current plans for the team were undecided as of Wednesday, when the game's result was unknown. Mayor Jane Castor issued remarks in a Facebook Live appearance, per Charles Fargo of the Tampa Bay Times on Feb. 4.

"I am not superstitious, but we don't want to take any chances. We aren't planning anything yet," Castor said.

Tampa held a boat parade for the Lightning, with WFLA 8 noting that it occurred across the Hillsborough River.

Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Bucs and this year's Super Bowl, hosted a fan rally two days afterward.

The celebration did not come without COVID-19 concerns and notes about how to adjust in the future, per Castor.

“That was an exciting event for our community, but we did learn a lot about spreading out of the fans," Castor said, per Fargo.

"We didn't know as much about the outdoor rates of contagion as we do now. So we certainly will plan celebrations that are very, very safe."

Fargo set the scene for what went down during the Lightning celebration:

"Crowds gathered along the city's Riverwalk to watch Castor and Lightning players motor by in boats on the Hillsborough River. Not everyone socially distanced or wore masks.

"When players got off the boats at Rick's on the River, video showed fans drinking out of the Stanley Cup."

Castor has notably issued an outdoor mask mandate that runs through Saturday, which presumably would be after any Bucs celebration is held. Castor spokeswoman Ashley Bauman confirmed that would be the case for any celebration involving the Bucs, who would be involved in the planning.

At any rate, the weather appears to be spectacular for a boat parade, with WTSP-TV meteorologist Bobby Deskins providing an outlook:

Still, no parade would come without serious risk, and University of South Florida public health professor Dr. Jay Wolfson expressed concerns that the event could be held safely after seeing what happened when the Lightning celebrated, per Fargo:

"The street turned into a fraternity party. That’s what we have to avoid, but I don’t know that we can. It’s hard to control large groups of excited, celebratory fans who naturally want to come together to celebrate.

"People see this as a one-time, just for now, we’ve earned it, type of thing. But it creates a petri dish for community spread."

There is one certainty, however: The traditional Super Bowl victory parade down Main Street at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World has been called off due to the pandemic, per the Tampa Bay Times.

Regardless of when and how the Bucs celebrate, they are Super Bowl champions for the second time in franchise history after an emphatic win over last year's NFL title winners.