In November 1991, the New York Giants returned to Tampa Stadium (the old “Big Sombrero”) for a regular season match up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills in that stadium in Super Bowl XXV earlier in the year. As a long-time Giants fan living in Florida, I was thrilled they were returning and scored two tickets for the game. I invited my work friend Jack Marshall to come to the game with me.
The game itself was pretty exciting. The Giants posted an early touchdown when return man Dave Megget ran a punt back 70 yards for the score. Jeff Hostetler started the game but was replaced late by Phil Simms due to a back injury.
The highlight of the game (or the low point, based on your perspective) occurred during the third quarter. Jack and I had end zone seats, a few rows from the top of the section. At one point, we notice a number of people standing along the wall behind the top row, drawn by something outside the stadium.
Fortunately, I had my camera with me and caught this photo of the distraction: a fan’s recreational vehicle somehow caught fire out in the parking lot. I witnessed flames rising from the RV by at least ten feet. As the image indicates, the thick black smoke from the fire could be seen from a good distance. We never did find out what the cause was, but my guess is some cooking device wasn’t properly secured before the owners headed to their seats in the stadium. I imagine they were pretty upset to find their ride hollowed out by flames when they returned to their spot.
By the way, the Giants won, 21-14.