The On Deck Circle

Note: This article has been submitted by Deven Hiscock.

This is my list of top ten SuperBowl moments and memories in my mind. These are all images, thoughts, and games that come to my mind when I hear the word SuperBowl.

10. Talk about a buzz kill. Super Bowl XXXII: Atlanta Falcons Safety Eugene Robinson gets burned by Rod Smith and John Elway for an 80-yard touchdown pass. Maybe the fact that Robinson spent the night in jail for soliciting a police officer for oral sex threw him off his game? To make the story even more embarrassing, Robinson had received the “Bart Starr Award” for his “high moral character” that season.9. Hester does it again! SuperBowl XLI: Devin Hester returns the opening kick off for a 92-yard touchdown, the first time the SuperBowl’s opening kickoff was returned for a TD in history. That would be the last chance he was given to display his returning abilities as the Colts avoided Hester like the plague for the rest of the game. The return touchdown was Hester’s 6th of the season, an NFL record.

8. Could someone please get this chicken bone out of my throat! I’m choking! SuperBowl’s XXV-XXVII: Choke is exactly what the Buffalo Bills did in their first of four SuperBowl appearances in a row. The words “Wide Right” are now infamous in the minds of Bills fans everywhere, but luckily I am not one of them! The Bills also choked as they played in four consecutive SuperBowls and came up short in each one. This raises the question for fans: is it better to have played in a championship and lost then to not play in one at all?7. 49er thumping. SuperBowl XXIX: Being a Chargers fan at the time, I had high expectations for Junior Seau, Stan Humphries, and the rest of the Bolts. Boy was I wrong. Steve Young finally got that “monkey off of his back” in the playoffs and throws a SuperBowl record 6 touchdown passes.

6. Favre’s long run. SuperBowl XXXI: Well, not literally. I remember the 54-yard touchdown bomb to Andre Rison early in the game. After the toss, Favre, with his bucket in one hand in the air, sprints down the sideline 54 yards to the endzone to celebrate the opening score. Once again my support was on the side of New England (GO BLEDSOE!). Not!

5. Nipple Gate. SuperBowl XXXVIII: The halftime of this SuperBowl is one that will live on in infamy in CBS and FCC history. At the end of the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake performance, JT removes a part of Jackson’s clothing to reveal her breast with a nipple cover. MTV, who produced the show, claims that was all Jackson and J.T, who conveniently invented the term “wardrobe malfunction” to explain the incident. Of course, I was playing hockey at the time as for some reason we were scheduled to play on Super Sunday. But I did see the Adam Vinateri game winning field goal to beat the Panthers.

4. Ricky Prohl is clutch but can’t win in the SuperBowl! SuperBowls XXXVI-XXXVIII: First with St. Louis, Prohl catches a then game tying 26 yard touchdown from Kurt Warner, with 1:30 left in the 4th quarter. With the game destined for overtime, the legend of Brady is officially born. See moment #2 for details. Then with Carolina, Prohl catches a touchdown pass with 1:08 left in the 4tth quarter to tie the game. But once again he is robbed of his day as hero as John Kasay puts the kickoff out of bounds, putting the Pats on their own 40. Tom Brady and Adam Vinateri contribute the late game heroics and Prohl is left sitting thinking of what could have been. Twice.

3. Elway’s faithful leap. SuperBowl XXXII: In a 17-17 tie, late in the fourth quarter on 3rd and 6, on the Green Bay 12 yard line, John Elway makes the play of the game. Dropping back to pass and seeing no one open, he sprints for the first down, leaping over a defender and getting hit by two others. Spinning in helicopter-like fashion, Elway lands for the first down inside the five in an image that will be replayed thousands of times on Best Damn. This act of leadership in a moment of doubt is one of the best I’ve ever witnessed and will always be imbedded in my mind when I think about the SuperBowl.

2. The prevent only prevents you from winning! SuperBowl XXXVI: After coming back to tie the game at 17-17, the St. Louis Rams decide to play in a prevent defence against the Pats. With no pressure, Tom Brady was given time to hit receivers for quick 5 and 10 yard plays. This ultimately lead to an Adam Vinateri 48-yard field goal as the clock hit zero…for the win.

1. So close, but yet so far away. SuperBowl XXXIV: In what was, in my opinion, the best SuperBowl of all time, a childhood dream was lived and crushed at the same time. With 6 seconds left on the clock and trailing 23-16, Steve Mcnair had the ball at the St. Louis 10 yard line, desperately trying to tie the game. Dropping back to pass, Mcnair completes the pass to Kevin Dyson on the 3 yard line, but gets hit and wrapped up by St. Louis linebacker Mike Jones. While going down, Dyson stretches out for the endzone in vain, coming up a yard short of sending the game to overtime. For my money, this is the most memorable image in SuperBowl history.