6 Players Who Succumbed to the Temptations of Super Bowl Week
The night before Super Bowl I, Green Bay Packers’ back-up wide receiver Max McGee violated team curfew and partied until the wee hours of the morning, figuring he had little chance of playing in the game.
On game day, McGee even told starting receiver Boyd Dowler that he better not get hurt, because McGee had had a long night and was in no condition to take the field.
Lo and behold, Dowler was injured on the Packers’ second drive. Amazingly, a hung-over McGee caught seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, leading Green Bay to a 35 to 10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Of course, it doesn’t always end so well for those taken in by the off-the-field temptations of Super Bowl week. Keep reading for five more tales of Super Bowl overindulgence.
5. Brett Favre Super Bowl XXI in New Orleans (pictured above)
During Super Bowl week in the Big Easy, QB Brett Favre was spotted, beer in hand, on Bourbon Street.
This might not seem like such a big deal, except that Favre had been publicly struggling with addiction to alcohol and painkillers.
Right before the game, Favre reportedly began dry heaving, adding to speculation that the league’s MVP had fallen off the wagon. Like McGee did, Favre silenced any criticism by leading his team to victory.
4. Stanley Wilson, Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami
Prior to the final team meeting before the big game, Cincinnati Bengals’ fullback Stanley Wilson told teammates he needed to go back to his hotel room and get his playbook. When Wilson didn’t return, a coach was sent to retrieve him, and found Wilson in the bathroom, in the throes of a cocaine high.
Wilson was suspended from the game, and ultimately suspended from the NFL for life for what was his third drug offense. The Bengals could have used Wilson on that Sunday, as they dropped a 20 to 16 squeaker to the San Francisco 49ers.
3. Darryl Talley, Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena (pictured above)
Something happened between Buffalo Bills’ linebacker Darryl Talley and one of Magic Johnson’s bodyguards in a Los Angeles night club during Super Bowl week.
According to eyewitnesses, Talley had words with Johnson, and then one of Johnson’s bodyguards leveled Talley with a punch to the nose.
According to Johnson’s agent, there was some pushing and shoving between Talley and the bodyguard, but no punches were thrown.
According to Talley, nothing happened.
The controversy didn’t help the Bills, who ended up losing the big game to the Dallas Cowboys 52 to 17.
2. Barret Robbins, Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego
Robbins, an all-pro center, was an integral part of the success of the Oakland Raiders, who were the favorites to win Super Bowl 37. However, he went missing the day before the game. It turns out Robbins, who suffers from bipolar disorder, believed the Raiders had already won the Super Bowl, and had gone down to Tijuana for a day of celebrating.
Robbins was in no condition to play in the actual game, which the Raiders lost 48 to 21 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Robbins has since served jail time on substance abuse charges.
1. Eugene Robinson, Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami (pictured above)
Atlanta Falcons’ safety Eugene Robinson snags the number one spot first for the salacious nature of his misdeed -- soliciting an undercover cop for oral sex the night before the Super Bowl.
But Robinson scores extra points for the context of his crime: It happened on the same day he received The Bart Starr Award for “high moral character” from a Christian group.
Despite his arrest, Robinson played in the Super Bowl, where he was burned on an 80-yard touchdown pass, and later missed a key tackle on a long run, which set up another TD. The Falcons lost the game to the Denver Broncos, 34 to 19.
-- Contributed by Jeremy Taylor