They had the outfits, the photographer was available and WFLA-TV had offered up some free studio space, so the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders said, 'What the heck?'
The result was a holiday gift for the fans.
Recently, the Buccaneer Cheerleaders donned the Santa-inspired outfits they had ordered for Tampa Bay's December 19 home game against New Orleans and headed into the studio for a quick and fun photo shoot. With team mascot Captain Fear standing in as Santa and holiday music playing in the background, the women took turns striking poses with holiday props.
For the most part, the shoot was an opportunity for the team's 28 cheerleaders to get together in a stress-free environment, try out the new uniforms and get into the holiday spirit. The resulting pictures came out so well, however, that the team has created a new section on the web site to share them with the fans.
Click here to check out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders' Holiday Photo Album!
"We really want to enhance our portion of the web site with a lot more photos for the fans," said Cheerleading Coordinator Sandy Charboneau. "That's been a goal of ours all year. We thought this was an opportunity to give our fans a little something extra for the holidays.
"We had such a good time shooting it, with the music playing and all the girls hanging out together. There wasn't any stress at all – it was just a good time, and the pictures turned out great."
On Sunday, fans attending the Bucs-Saints game will also get an opportunity to meet Buccaneer cheerleaders and acquire autographs on their Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders 2005 Swimsuit Calendar.
The Swimsuit Calendar is now on sale in a variety of stores and online here at Buccaneers.com. The cheerleaders will also be set up at several locations at Raymond James Stadium before the game against New Orleans on the 19th. Fans will have the opportunity to purchase the calendar and receive signatures on the spot.
The 2005 Swimsuit Calendar features huge, two-page spreads for each of the months as well as additional photo collages in the middle and on the back cover. Cheerleader Kayla Drawdy, who was recently featured in Cosmopolitan magazine, poses on the front cover along with the calendar's subtitle, "12 Steamy Months Featuring the NFL's Most Beautiful Cheerleaders."
Even on a squad filled with such photogenic women, Drawdy's feature shot was the obvious choice for the front cover.
"The cover seemed very apparent to everyone," said Charboneau. "I saw the photo the moment it came out and said, 'That's got to be the cover.' And everyone agreed. Believe me, it was hard to choose the photos for the 12 months – there were a lot of pictures we could have used there. But there was no doubt about the cover shot."
There is no doubt, either, that the 2005 Swimsuit Calendar would make an excellent holiday gift for many Buccaneer fans. Charboneau and the Buccaneer Cheerleaders, who shot the calendar earlier in the fall, were thrilled with the final result.
"We are so proud of the calendar," said Charboneau. "We're ecstatic with the outcome. I think it's the best calendar we've ever had, in every aspect. We had all new people working on it, from the photographer to the graphic designer, and we went to locations we've never tried before. The swimsuits that were donated to us were awesome…every element came together and we are all very proud of it."
