The most memorable Super Bowl moments off the field originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
For all the lore surrounding the Super Bowl, it always manages to deliver a number of surprises that even the organizers couldn’t have foreseen. Sometimes these moments are so memorable that they become more defining than the game itself.
As the philadelphia eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to meet in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII, it’s time to take a look at some of the most unexpected and indelible Super Bowl memories that have little to do with the game itself.
You could fill out an entire list based on the halftime shows and national anthems alone, as evidenced by the myriad of controversies (Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake), viral moments (left shark), and downright iconic performances. But for the purposes of this list, we are going to postpone the scheduled performances for another day.
Here’s a look at some of the wildest and most memorable moments from beyond the scoreboard.
Lights out in the Superdome (Super Bowl XLVII)
Super Bowl XLVII lived up to the saying “good things come in threes.”
Nicknamed the Har-bowl, after opposing brothers and head coaches John and Jim Harbaugh, the narrative alone already captured football fans long before the first kickoff. That seemed to be the extent of the drama, however, as the Baltimore Ravens and their older brother John took a 28-6 lead early in the third quarter. A minute and a half after Jacoby Jones returned the ball 108 yards to give the Ravens that 22-point lead, chaos broke out.
A power outage interrupted the broadcast, leaving the stadium with dim backup lighting for 34 minutes. During this period, the players stayed on the field, stretching, relaxing and in the case of san francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick speaking to the umpires, something John Harbaugh disagreed with.
The power eventually returned and play resumed, setting the stage for the third dramatic element of the night: a comeback.
The 49ers scored 17 points in just over four minutes to cut the lead to five and make things interesting with 15 minutes left. In the end, however, it was too little, too late, as the 49ers were unable to continue at their breakneck pace, while the ever-reliable Justin Tucker scored two field goals in the final frame to clinch Baltimore’s 34-31 victory. .
Streaker’s big payday falls short (Super Bowl LV)
Yuri Andrade is far from the first or most famous to win the Super Bowl; that honor probably belongs to the English. marcos roberts – but he managed to stretch out his 15 minutes of fame better than almost anyone before him.
Wearing a pink leotard and ill-fitting shorts, Andrade stormed onto Raymond James Field in the fourth quarter of the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The prankster managed to pull off some spinning moves for his highlight reel while trying to avoid safety before they finally “converged on him at the goal line,” as the play-by-play announcer called it. kevin harlan.
Unfortunately for Andrade, he took the spotlight too far and revealed his grand scheme to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now that he found out, he and two friends from high school had planned this grand scheme, placing bets on the offshore gambling site Bovada.com that would generate a payout close to half a million dollars. Bovada.com Ultimately refunded to any bettor who predicted there would be no fan on the pitch, as well as those who predicted there would be a fan but were determined not to have been involved in the scheme.
While Andrade missed his big payday, he earned the respect of at least a star in the field.
“The slide into the end zone was pretty incredible,” Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski said after his team’s 31-9 victory. “He really scored.”
Madden taken off the field (Super Bowl XI)
Before champagne showers and Gatorade drenches existed, John Madden and the Oakland Raiders provided arguably the most memorable image of Super Bowl ecstasy.
After beating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14, Raiders players threw their head coach “Big John” on their shoulders to celebrate the franchise’s Super Bowl win.
Though Madden’s coaching career wrapped up just two seasons later, he brought to the broadcast booth that same living spirit and esteemed reputation that earned him the adoration of generations of fans.
The legend of the first touchdown of the Super Bowl (Super Bowl I)
This is technically “in the field” but the circumstances are too wild not to include them on this list. Some of the details of Max McGee’s Super Bowl exploits are up for debate, but regardless, the heart of the story is NFL lore at this point.
McGee, 34, traveled to the first Super Bowl in Los Angeles having made just four receptions for the Green Bay Packers that season. Assuming he wouldn’t see the field, McGee opted for break curfew and enjoy a night out in California before returning to the hotel around 6:30 am
That could have been the end of the story, a backup player having too much fun, but luckily, wide receiver Boyd Dowler hurt his shoulder on the third play of the game, forcing a probably hungover McGee to leave. backing out. increase. According to his obituary in The New York TimesMcGee even forgot his helmet and had to borrow one from a teammate.
He went on to have the game of his life, totaling seven receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns, including a one-handed hurdle to start the Super Bowl record books. Even today, McGee’s performance remains the 14th with most yards and one of only 17 times Multiple receiving touchdowns have been recorded in Super Bowl history.
Apple launches the Mac (Super Bowl XVIII)
In the age of boundary-pushing Super Bowl ads, it’s hard to quantify the most memorable ones, but 1984 is certainly in a league of its own for lasting impact.
The minute-long dystopian commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, set the stage for Apple’s unveiling of the Macintosh computer and pitched the invention as the reason “you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’” , a reference to George Orwell’s dystopian novel.
The commercial received mixed reviews, not unlike Apple’s early days, but the tech giant looms large nearly four decades later and only further cemented the Super Bowl as a cultural event that transcends sports.
Brady’s jersey disappears (Super Bowl LI)
Super Bowl LI is widely remembered for the 25-point comeback — or collapse, depending on who you ask — by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to forever scar Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons with reputations for choking and countless memes as evidence All that on-field drama turned out to be the perfect opportunity for a sports memorabilia-stealing journalist to make the move on him and grab Brady’s jersey.
More than 2,000 miles away in Seattle, a 19-year-old Patriots fan named Dylan Wagner recalled a memorabilia collector he had been in contact with sharing photos of what appeared to be Brady’s used jersey in the Super Bowl just two years earlier. While that jersey was not reported missing, Wagner sent the photos up the chain of command along with the collector’s name matching records of a man seen in NFL security footage just a week before the Super Bowl. LI.
Nearly two months of investigation eventually led authorities to Mexico, where Martín Mauricio Ortega, a writer and longtime editor of the Mexican publication La Prensa, was found in possession of the two jerseys along with a host of other stolen sporting goods.
