When Malcolm Glazer triumphantly hoisted the Lombardi Trophy on January 26, 2003 after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers emphatically defeated the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII, his celebratory stance and smile signified to a world-wide audience that the Buccaneers had indeed arrived. That world championship – the franchise’s first in its then 27-year history – marked the fulfillment of a vow by Glazer and his family to not only restore the long-lost success of Tampa’s much-beloved franchise, but in fact to surpass any and all previous standards by capturing the team’s first World Championship.

Glazer and the Buccaneers helped wipe away years of futility experienced by the team, its players and their fans in fulfilling that promise. The club continues to be one of the most successful in the league under his leadership. Among the vanguard of the business elite, Glazer has, through his dedication and diligence, helped mold the Buccaneers into a model franchise, one respected league-wide and one other sports franchises endeavor to emulate. Since being purchased by Glazer on January 16, 1995, the Buccaneers franchise has experienced a dramatic upswing in its fortunes, posting a .527 winning percentage, earning seven playoff berths and capturing its first Super Bowl championship. In 2005, the team notched its 100th overall victory with the Glazers at the helm. Prior to the Glazer family’s ownership, the Buccaneers won just 87 games in 19 seasons, posting a .300 winning percentage. Under Glazer’s watch, the Buccaneers’ seven playoff appearances since 1997 are tied for third-most in the NFL. Prior to Glazer’s arrival, the franchise advanced to the postseason just three times in the previous 19 years, from 1976-1994. In addition, Tampa Bay has reached the playoffs six times since 1999, tied for third-best in the league.

Tampa Bay also eclipsed the club record for wins in a regular season with 12 in 2002. In fact, the top five single-season win totals in club history (12 in 2002, 11 in 2005, 11 in 1999, 10 in 2000 and 10 in 1997) have all come under Glazer’s helm, and Tampa Bay was the only team in the league to play in the postseason every year from 1999 to 2002. The 2007 campaign saw the Buccaneers claim their third NFC South Division title in six years, the sixth division crown in franchise history. The three titles are the most for any team in the division since its inception in 2002.

The Buccaneers have an 105-87 record since the start of the 1997 season, a winning percentage of .547 that ranks in the top five in the NFC over that span. The dominating Buccaneers defense ranked in the NFL’s Top 10 for nine consecutive years from 1997-2005, then the longest streak in the league and tied for the second-longest streak in the NFL since 1970. Tampa Bay also ranked second in the NFL in total defense in 2007 and ninth in 2008.

In January of 2009, Glazer and his family made the bold decision to hire Raheem Morris, one of the league’s best young talents. Morris became the youngest head coach in the National Football League upon his appointment on January 17, 2009. In addition, the family continued to upgrade off the field by naming long-time Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik as the fourth general manager in club history.

“Outside of the X’s and O’s, Mr. Glazer is why we’re here,” said former Pro Bowl FB Mike Alstott. “He came in and built the franchise up, allowed us to get some players in here that cared about winning. It has to start from the owner if you’re going to get anywhere and be competitive in this league.”

The drive to the Super Bowl title began when he made the controversial and courageous decision to hire Jon Gruden as the Buccaneers’ seventh head coach in club history on February 18, 2002. Gruden, one of the rising coaching stars in the National Football League, became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl. He was also the first non-rookie head coach in the history of the NFL to lead his team to the Super Bowl in his first season with a new team.

With his first Super Bowl title in hand, Glazer has his sights set on continued success and that drive led to another significant improvement. On March 17, 2004, the Buccaneers unveiled plans for their new, 136,320 square-foot state-of-the-art training center, promising a “world-class facility.” The new facility, considered the largest free standing training structure of its kind in professional sports according to industry sources, opened to rave reviews in August of 2006 following training camp.

When it opened in 2006, NFL Insiders were calling it, hands down, the finest training facility in the NFL. The spectacular and innovative facility includes a breathtaking entrance, which features the world’s largest football towering nearly five stories tall. It was built on the former Tampa Bay Center mall site across the street from Raymond James Stadium. The facility provides the ideal training environment to continue Tampa Bay’s tradition of winning championships.

“Just like our stadium, our new training facility and administrative offices are the finest in the NFL,” Glazer says. “To ensure that our facility would be the best, we sent our football and administrative staffers to visit what we felt were the best NFL training facilities and, in some cases, the best collegiate facilities in the country. We instructed our people to take notes and photographs, and to design their respective areas the way they wanted them to be once the facility was finished. The information our people returned with was amazing. We then took that information, presented it to the architects, and let them create the NFL’s best training facility.”

Known among his league peers as an innovative thinker, Glazer has infused his team and employees with the determination and dedication to be the best in the NFL. Glazer’s commitment to building a championship organization has provided the foundation for continued success on and off the field. That success has resulted in a level of popularity and support that is unmatched in franchise history.

Glazer has successfully constructed a multi-faceted plan, which calls for stable ownership, a talented coaching staff, knowledgeable personnel executives and a solid business partnership within the Tampa/St. Petersburg communities. The most visible aspect of this plan’s success is Tampa Bay’s state-of-the-art Raymond James Stadium, which has been dubbed the “Crown Jewel of the NFL.” Raymond James Stadium offers an unmatched game-day atmosphere for fans and players alike. Since it opened in 1998, every regular season and playoff game at the stadium has been a sellout, and the Buccaneers boast a 58-30 record (.659 winning percentage) at home in the regular season, tied for third-best in the NFC over that span. In the fall of 2006, FoxSports.com named Raymond James Stadium the best in the National Football League. In addition, the stadium was rated as having the best grass turf in the League in 2006, according to a biennial survey conducted of the league’s players. The home of the Buccaneers has also ranked first in the four previous surveys – 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 – since RJS opened in 1998.

Additionally, Glazer devoted a significant amount of time working to make the organization more fan-friendly by greatly increasing fan activities at Buccaneer home games through the expansion of the club’s community relations and special events departments. His mandate to increase the team’s visibility in the community was reflected in the more than 700 appearances made by Buccaneer players, coaches, cheerleaders and front office officials last year. Buccaneer players have set the standard with their philanthropic programs, including LB Derrick Brooks’ “Brooks’ Bunch” and RB Warrick Dunn’s “Homes for the Holidays” initiatives, which have been nationally acclaimed for their impact in the community.

“It is important for us to succeed on the field, but I want us to be good citizens in our community as well,” Glazer says. “We are role models. Children and adults look up to us. I want us to set the right example.”

Glazer’s input has been sought on the league level as well, as evidenced by his position on the NFL’s Finance Committee. He has also played a major role in Tampa becoming a host for the Super Bowl on several occasions. The Bay area was awarded the 2009 Super Bowl in May 2005, marking the second time during Glazer’s ownership the area will welcome the world’s most spectacular event. Glazer played an enormous role in helping to land each of the Super Bowls to Raymond James Stadium.

The Glazer Family Foundation continues to support a wide variety of community programs throughout the Tampa Bay area. The Foundation has donated grant money to more than 145 non-profit organizations, provided more than 1.8 million Buccaneer bookmarks to public libraries throughout seven Bay area counties and supplied 13,500 backpacks to more than 52 organizations for its back-to-school program. The Foundation has also played a crucial role in the continued development of two local NFL Y.E.T. Centers, recently supplying the funding for the newly constructed Glazer Family Fields at Jackson Heights and Mort Park. Tampa Bay’s two Y.E.T. Centers make it the first Super Bowl host city to house more than one of the NFL-affiliated youth development facilities. The foundation’s signature program is the one Glazer is most proud of: The “Cheering You On Program,” which has distributed more than 283,000 teddy bears to hospitalized children throughout central Florida.

In July of 2006, the Glazer Family donated more than $40,000 in vision screening equipment to the Hillsborough and Pinellas County school systems. In 2007, the Foundation donated $50,000 in equipment to Sarasota and Pasco County schools, and in the summer of 2008, the Foundation presented equipment valued at more than $50,000 to the Osceola and Orange Counties’ school systems. To date, the Foundation has distributed more than $150,000 in vision equipment to six school districts, and it will continue to support and expand on the vision testing programs within the Greater Tampa Bay Area each year.

Glazer’s philanthropic and charitable activities have also included the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, an organization that promotes amateur sports activities. Glazer has committed $2 million dollars to the Commission.

A true American success story, Glazer began working in his father’s watch-parts business at the age of eight. When Glazer was 15, his father died and the son assumed responsibility for the family business and expanded it.

In 2005, Glazer purchased the world’s most popular and valuable sports team, Manchester United, for more than $1.5 billion. The club has captured two consecutive Premier League titles (2007-2008), as well as the 2008 Champions League title.

In addition, Glazer owns, has owned or has been the largest shareholder of a diverse portfolio of international holdings and public companies, including: Shopping Centers, Zapata Corporation, Houlihan’s Restaurant Chain, Harley Davidson, Formica, Tonka, Specialty Equipment and Omega Protein.

A resident of Palm Beach, Florida, Malcolm Glazer was born in Rochester, New York. He and his wife, Linda, have six children and 13 grandchildren.