Former NFL players and fans packed a corner of Raymond James Stadium before kickoff Sunday, trading tailgate food and football stories for a cause bigger than the game itself: raising money to fund a new obstacle course and youth programs for underserved kids across Tampa Bay.
The gathering, known as the Urbanski tailgate, is hosted annually by the NFL Alumni Association Tampa Bay Chapter and blends football tradition with community impact, according to Tampa Bay 28. The event traces back to a decades-old civic push to land Tampa an NFL franchise in the first place. Mark Urbanski told the station that his father, Leonard Levy, and three friends spent years courting the league before helping bring the Buccaneers to Tampa in the 1970s.
That effort has deep roots in local sports history. Identical twin civic boosters J. Leonard and George Levy formed the Florida West Coast Pro Football Task Force in 1970 and met with then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to help secure Tampa's original franchise, according to the City of Tampa. Last December, the city officially designated the intersection of North Himes Avenue and West Ohio Avenue near Raymond James Stadium as J Leonard and George Levy Ave to honor their contributions, per the same city announcement.
A Tailgate Tradition Rooted in Bucs History
The Urbanski tailgate itself has a long address in stadium lore. It has taken place in Lot 6 of Raymond James Stadium, south of Tampa Bay Boulevard, since the Buccaneers' inaugural 1976 season and was once featured on ESPN's Monday Night Football, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Mark Urbanski's late father, Jim Urbanski, was president of The Tampa Tribune and a fellow civic booster during that same era, the paper reported.
Sunday's event featured food, drinks, music and chances for fans to meet NFL legends, the Tampa Bay 28 report noted. Proceeds go directly to the NFL Alumni Association's Caring for Kids program, which supports youth in underserved communities. Walter Carter, president of the NFL Alumni Association Tampa Bay Chapter, said the chapter hoped to raise around $5,000 from the tailgate, with the money funding youth programs and an upcoming obstacle course.
“Everything we do goes back to caring for kids,” Carter said, per the station's report. He added that the chapter will provide backpack giveaways and plans to establish a summer camp that supplies food and groceries for children to take home.
New Obstacle Course Rising Near Blake High School
The chapter is also working to launch a children's obstacle course near Blake High School and Amateur Works, a project developed in collaboration with the Tampa Housing Authority. The course will include football skills stations, including an electronically timed 40-yard dash, and will be open to children 12 and under as well as people with special needs, according to the same station report. A ribbon-cutting is planned for October.
The park sits on lot T6 of the 120-acre West River redevelopment and is scheduled for completion in October, featuring an NFL-inspired obstacle course alongside the 40-yard dash track, according to the Tampa Housing Authority. The project builds on a similar partnership between the two organizations dating back to Super Bowl LV week in February 2021, when the NFL Alumni Tampa Bay Chapter and the Housing Authority broke ground on a youth obstacle course near Stewart Middle School, per the NFL Alumni Association.
Blake High School, the neighborhood school near the new park, has its own layered history in West Tampa. It originally opened in 1956 as a segregated school named for African-American educator Howard Wesley Blake, closed during desegregation in 1971, and reopened in 1997 as a public arts magnet school at its current North Boulevard site, according to Wikipedia.
Former Players Bring Their Own Stories to the Cause
Javon Kearse attended the tailgate. He holds the NFL rookie sack record, setting the mark with 14 sacks during his 1999 debut season with the Tennessee Titans and earning Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Kearse said giving back gives him the same fulfillment and joy he felt during his playing career, per the Tampa Bay 28 report.
Linebacker Mason Foster, who played for the Buccaneers from 2011 to 2014 after being drafted in the third round out of the University of Washington, now coaches high school football at Robinson High School. Foster, who grew up in Northern California, said he and his family fell in love with Tampa. He has three children in Tampa schools and said helping kids prepare for the future benefits the whole community.
The Housing Authority's role in Sunday's fundraiser reflects its broader community mission. The Tampa Housing Authority offers afterschool and summer services at the Oaks at Riverview Community Center. The NFL Alumni Association also runs Caring for Kids programs.
