One of the most obsessed about, highest rated, and all-and-all significant events of the year is this weekend. It’s Super Bowl 50 and no matter if you’re obsessed with football or don’t care about the game, for the next 72 hours it’s going to dominate all media—be it the Net, TV, radio, newspapers, telegrams, and messages delivered by pidgeon.
But even such a huge cultural milestone is not without its skeletons. Over the last half century there’s been numerous Super Bowl scandals, and today on MakeAGif we’re going to examine a few of the big ones.
Super Bowl XXX
In 2009, viewers in Tucson, Arizona were treated to more than the average ball playing when adult cable station Club Jenna interrupted the game for 30 seconds. Instead of seeing the Cardinals fourth-quarter touchdown, viewers were treated with full frontal male nudity.
The Boob Seen ‘Round the World
Even though it was just 12 years ago this controversy seems almost quaint now, but at the time it was a HUGE deal. An enormous scandal. Super Bowl XXXVIII’s halftime show ended with Justin Timberlake tearing off part a of segment of Janet Jackson’s costume to reveal a flash of her breast for a few seconds before the lights went down….kind of.
The obviously planned move, which the performers claimed was a “wardrobe malfunction” revealed no more boob than a cheerleaders bikini, Janet was wearing a “nipple guard” over part of her rack. But it still drove the nation insane and started a mini-culture war.
Thanks to Bribes Dozens & Dozens of Footballs Are Altered for Super Bowl XXXVII
You’d think this would be a bigger deal than Janet Jackson’s bewb. But bizarrely no one seems to give a fig that quarterback Brad Johnson bribed some NFL workers to alter the balls used in 2003’s Super Bowl XXXVII. He admitted it a few years after the fact claiming it was no biggie, just a little extra money to some workers to scuff up the balls and break them in a bit. His confession was initially greeted with shrugs and a general “who cares” response.
But recently people seem a little more uptight that happened. It’s probably thanks to “deflategate”, and the whole common sense approach that it might be sketchy if a player is paying thousands in bribes to alter footballs.
Super Bowl XXXIII’s Moral Scandal
1999 featured a scandal that should appeal to all lovers of irony. On the day before he was to play in Super Bowl XXXIII for the Falcons, defensive back Eugene Robinson received an award for “high moral character” from the Christian organization, Athletes in Action. Hours later he was picked up by an undercover cop for soliciting a prostitute. Robinson still played in the game only to see the Falcon’s lose.
More Half-Time Shenanigans
The moral guardians of the nation were once more set into a tizzy by the Super Bowl halftime show in 2007. During a performance by Prince he had a giant sheet-like screen placed in front of him so that his shadow projected onto it. He then proceeded to make his guitar look like a large phallus….very mature Prince!
The Lights Go Out at Super Bowl XLVII Leading to Conspiracy Theories
During 2003’s Super Bowl the 49ers were down 28-6 to the Ravens and the outcome of the game was looking obvious. When suddenly the lights went out! A mysterious power outage shut down the game for 34 minutes. The 49ers rallied and made a miraculous comeback…but still lost with the final score being 34-31. But the power outage was never satisfactorily explained and some conspiracy theorists claim it was somehow caused by rogue 49er’s fans trying to help their team out.
