The Tampa Bay Buccaneers truly didn’t have the best season this year, and with a finishing record of 4 and 12 it’s likely there will be some major changes during the off season.

Now, whether those changes will come on the defensive side of the ball or on the offense remains to be seen, because those things are usually fully determined several months after the season ends.

But there’s one change that’s taking place right now, as former Buccaneer Warren Sapp announced the team be wearing new helmets for the 2014/2015 season, and they’ll abandon the dark helmets with the red logo that they’ve been wearing since 1996.

On Thursday, @WarrenSapp and the #Bucs will reveal their first logo & helmet re-design since 1997 on @nflnetwork: http://t.co/14lhbjCQri

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@TBBuccaneers) February 18, 2014

New @TBBuccaneers helmet coming for 2014! Wait til you see this thing!! #Fire my G Gerald McCoy joins me live Thurs 8pmEST @NFLNetwork

— Warren Sapp (@WarrenSapp) February 18, 2014

“On Thursday, Hall of Famer Warren Sapp will do the honors on NFL Network as the Buccaneers reveal their first logo and helmet re-design since their new uniforms were adopted in 1997,” announced the team.

And Sapp sent out a tweet that said fans should be excited about the change and he anticipates people liking the new helmets. “New @TBBuccaneers helmet coming for 2014,” he wrote. “Wait til you see this thing!! #Fire my G Gerald McCoy joins me live Thurs 8pm EST.”

From 1976 to 1996, the Buccaneers wore helmets with orange and red trim, which showed a logo of a pirate biting down on a sword. However, it seemed the team wanted to look more menacing, so they went with darker colored helmets with red trim, which showed an evil-looking skeleton sitting inside a tattered red flag.

It’ll be interesting to see what the reactions of the fans will be when the new helmet and logo are released tomorrow, because as most know, fans who are really passionate about their team take changes personally, and that’s whether the change has to do with a new player, a new coach, or a new helmet and logo.

Image via Wikimedia Commons