Longtime Bucs team doctor and Tampa surgeon dies at 83

Dr. Joe Diaco, a longtime Tampa area surgeon and the first doctor of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he became one of the longest-running team doctors in NFL history, died Dec. 19. He was 83. 

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Diaco was also a board member of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, where he helped oversee Tampa International Airport. Diaco died surrounded by family, according to his official obituary. Several relatives and others in the community posted statements on social media about Diaco. “I just lost my HERO and father, Dr. Joseph Diaco, this morning,” wrote Dr. Dan Diaco, one of Joe Diaco’s three sons, on Facebook. “I miss you Dad. Thank you for helping the world around you!”