The Super Bowl brings out the best and weirdest in football and the events surrounding the big game. Some of those that have made it to the top.
Thurman Thomas forgets his helmet
It was surprising when Kenneth Davis took the first handoff of that Super Bowl from Jim Kelly. Why? Because Thurman Thomas was the Bills’ main back. Meanwhile, the Bills’ equipment staff was searching for Thomas’ helmet. “I firmly believe that one of his teammates picked up Thurman’s helmet thinking it was theirs and walked to the other end of the bench and realized it wasn’t his helmet, put it down and then went to find his own,” said equipment manager Dave Hojnowski in 2011. Thomas’ helmet was found on the defensive side of the bench in time for Buffalo’s third offensive play.
Tom Brady’s jersey goes missing
Tom Brady’s missing jersey from Super Bowl LI went missing after the Patriots’ dramatic victory. It was eventually found in Mexico, apparently in the possession of a newspaper editor who had a media credential for the event and, the authorities say, more: other game-day clothing and equipment from Brady and another player, possibly from other Super Bowls. It took an investigation by the FBI and the police in Houston, where the game was played, as well as Mexican authorities and the league, to find the jersey.
James Harrison, Super Bowl XLIII
Leon Lett, Super Bowl XXVII
Garo Yepremian
Leading the Redskins 14-0 in the final minutes of the game, Garo Yepremian lined up to kick a field goal that would have capped the Dolphins’ 17-0 season with a 17-0 win. Yepremian’s kick was too low and blocked. Yepremian then picked up the ball and attempted a pitiful “pass,” which was corraled by cornerback Mike Bass, who ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. Bass is credited with a 49-yard return of a fumble.
Thomas Henderson
Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson’s drug problems aren’t a secret, but not many know the Cowboys’ linebacker snuck cocaine into Super Bowl XIII. By Super Bowl XII, Henderson said he was already deep into his cocaine addiction. Asked if he was doing drugs in New Orleans during the week leading up to the game, Henderson said, “I was with Richard Pryor and Marvin Gaye, so what do you think I was doing? On the sidelines at the Orange Bowl a year later, Henderson said he utilized a small spray bottle that contained a mixture of water and cocaine. “I had a deviated septum that was a bloody mess, and I had this big scab,” he said. “When you’re snorting (cocaine) pebbles up your nose, it’s going to hurt the lining of your nose. But I was only using the (the spray bottle) for medical purposes to ease the pain, not to get high.”
Barrett Robbins
Oakland’s All-Pro center Barrett Robbins disappeared the day before the game in 2003 from the team’s San Diego hotel and headed to Tijuana, Mexico. He returned disoriented, spent game day in the hospital, and his life and career spiraled downward into substance-abuse clinics and jail time. The Raiders’ offense struggled in his absence, committing five turnovers and rushing for just 19 yards in a 48-21 loss to Tampa Bay.
Stanley Wilson
The night before Super Bowl XXIII, Bengals running back Stanley Wilson was found in the bathroom of his room at the Holiday Inn following a drug relapse. Wilson had already been suspended during the 1985 and ’87 seasons for cocaine use, so another relapse led to a ban from the league (due to a three-strike rule) and he wasn’t allowed to play in the big game. “There was a dozen used matches on the tub ledge, a cigarette filter with no tobacco in it, little piles of ashes around the sink and a (plastic) sign that had some burn marks on it,” the owner of the Holiday Inn told the Associated Press at the time. The Bengals lost to the 49ers, 20-16, and the late Sam Wyche believes the outcome may have been different if Wilson didn’t relapse. “I wish we’d had Stanley Wilson,” the Bengals’ coach told Fox Sports in 2013. “If you remember, the field hadn’t been watered correctly or had been watered too much. Stanley Wilson was one of those Barry Sanders-type runners who kept his feet low to the ground and dart left and right. He’d have had people falling down. Whereas our other two runners, James Brooks and Ickey Woods were long striders. “It kind of nullified their quickness and speed because of their style. It would not have nullified Stanley. I think he’d have had a big day rushing the ball, but we’ll never know.”
The streaker
British streaker Mark Roberts snuck onto the field dressed as a referee during Super Bowl XXXVIII and let it all hang out before being tackled by an angry Patriots player and escorted from the field. As of 2013, Roberts had streaked at over 500 events, from beauty pageants to weather forecasts.
Eugene Robinson
Eugene Robinson was arrested the day before the Falcons lost to Denver in Super Bowl XXXIII for soliciting a prostitute. The Falcons safety had just received the Bart Starr Award for “high moral character,” with his family in attendance. Robinson played the game but might wish he hadn’t. He allowed an 80-yard TD pass to Rod Smith and missed a tackle on a long run by Terrell Davis.
The Steelers fan showers
In Super Bowl XIII, Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw threw four touchdown passes to lead the Steelers to a 35-31 win over Dallas at the Orange Bowl in Miami. After the game, NFL Films’ Steve Sabol saw someone who didn’t seem to be a player. Per the LA Times: “I’d been around the Steelers long enough to know this guy wasn’t a trainer or an equipment guy. Who the hell was he? It was obvious he wasn’t a player. So I went over to talk to Joe Greene at his locker, and during the course of the interview, this guy comes out of the shower and starts getting dressed in front of a locker near Joe’s. I said, “Joe, who is this guy?” And Joe’s exact words were, ‘I don’t know who . . . he is.’ Now, some guys are sheepish about walking around naked in those situations. That wasn’t this guy. No modesty at all. So he goes and parks himself in front of Larry Brown’s locker. And I think this is the best part: Suddenly, three reporters come over and start interviewing him about the game! First of all, Larry Brown was a 6-foot-4, 260-pound, big, muscular African-American guy. This was a little white guy. Not only that, but Larry Brown didn’t even suit up for the game. Well, this guy was going along with the interview for a while. But the reporters figured out pretty quickly that this wasn’t Larry Brown. Ever since then, I’ve always been kind of leery about any kind of locker-room quote from the Super Bowl. Anyway, this fan got dressed and walked out of the locker room.”
Pink cough drop
Pink was about to sing the national anthem when she realized it was time to ditch what she was chewing on. Unfortunately, the camera was on the singer at the time.
Downtown Julie Brown
Ray Buchanan and Shannon Sharpe
Ray Buchanan, a Falcons cornerback, and Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe got into a memorable media day exchange. Buchanan fired the first salvo: “Shannon looks like a horse. I’ll tell you, that’s an ugly dude. You can’t tell me he doesn’t look like Mr. Ed.” Sharpe returned fire with the following about Buchanan, who sported a dog collar to Media Day: “Tell Ray to put the eyeliner, the lipstick and the high heels away. I’m not saying he’s a cross-dresser, but that’s just what I heard.” Sharpe added, “I’ve never called anybody ugly. Do I think people are ugly? Yeah, I think he is ugly, but I never said that.”
Tom Brady gets a proposal
A turkey leg for a microphone
Fake Tom Brady
What can you do when someone shows up in front of Tom Brady, who actually looks exactly like Tom Brady?
Doug Williams
Before Super Bowl XXII, one individual asked Doug Williams, “How long have you been a black quarterback?” but surprisingly, that isn’t how it all went down. Apparently, the real story is that Butch John, a reporter for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, was so fed up with constant black quarterback questions that he said, “It’s obvious you’ve always been a black quarterback all your life. When did it start to matter?” Not as dumb of a question as you thought, huh?
Ines Sainz attracts attention
Mexican reporter Ines Sainz has been a staple at Super Bowls for almost a decade, drawing attention for her head-turning looks and eye-catching outfits, but she made her biggest headlines in 2010 when she reportedly was the target of lewd comments and catcalls in the Jets locker room.
Max McGee
Packers receiver Max McGee had four catches all of in 1966 and wasn’t expecting to play in Super Bowl I, so he spent the night before out on the town. The next day, the hung-over McGee didn’t bring his helmet to the field. Injury forced him into the lineup, and he finished with seven catches for 138 yards and two TDs in the win against the Chiefs.
Diana Ross exits in a helicopter
A lot of performers seem to focus on making a grand entrance at the Super Bowl halftime show, but Diana Ross was more concerned with her exit in 1996. As she was finishing up her set, a helicopter flew into the stadium, landed, picked her up, then flew away as she sat in the open cabin of the bird.
Left Shark and Katy Perry
During her campy halftime show, pop star Katy Perry rode in on a mechanical lion, dueted with Lenny Kravitz and flew over the stadium crowd on a shooting star. What is best remembered is Perry singing “Teenage Dream” against a cartoony tropical backdrop with palm trees, beach balls and two dancers in cuddly shark costumes. To the internet’s great amusement, it soon became clear that the shark to the left of Perry seemed a little … off. While the other shark followed the choreography, Left Shark flailed and spun around and seemed at times to be making it up as he went along. #LeftShark became a meme before halftime was even over.
Kenneth Davis on Norwood kick
Scott Norwood missed the field goal that would have given the Bills a victory over the Giants in Super Bowl XXV. Running back Kenneth Davis had a novel reason for why the kick did not go through the uprights. “At the 20-, maybe 30-yard line you could start seeing the ball move,” said Davis in Four Falls of Buffalo. “You start seeing it move. And to this day I tell people that I think it was the wind that was blowing from the Apache helicopter that was hovering over the stadium.”
Apple launches the Mac
The Raiders were blowing out the Redskins in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII when TV viewers were startled by a TV commercial. Directed by Ridley Scott, the iconic spot plugged Apple’s new Macintosh personal computer — “Think Different,” get it? — and signaled the upstart company’s arrival as a major player. It also helped make the Super Bowl an annual showcase for splashy, big-budget commercials.
The blackout
Fans had barely returned to their seats for the second half of Super Bowl XLVII when a partial power outage left the Superdome in darkness. The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers left the field, people had to be rescued from a stalled stadium elevator and fans took to their phones to try and decipher what was going on. Some people joked that Beyonce’s halftime show was so hot it fried the power. Play was stopped for 34 minutes while the electrical glitch was fixed. Many observers think the blackout stalled the Ravens’ momentum and helped the 49ers storm back from a 28-6 deficit to make the game close.
And, of course, Timberlake and Jackson
It was a halftime show that was about to come to a conclusion. If you blinked, you missed Justin Timberlake ripping off a part of Janet Jackson’s top to expose the singer’s breast during Super Bowl XXXVIII. The act was not missed by many after the replay and millions of replays, leading to all sorts of controversy.
