Few things top seeing a magical sports moment in person.
A few months ago I was lucky enough to attend my first Army-Navy Game. That has been a bucket list item for me for years, and while seeing it on television is good, nothing compares to that experience live. From the pageantry of the Cadets and Midshipmen marching into the stadium, the pre-game festivities, the Cadets losing their mind to “Tsunami” just before kickoff, and of course the teams singing their alma mater following the game, with the winner singing last, to cap off the experience.
Here at SB Nation we have seen many Super Bowls, some of them even in person. But here are the moments we wish we could have seen up close, even if we saw them on television.
Mark Schofield — Super Bowl XXIII
The year was 1987, and my football journey hung on a matter of chance.
I was ten years old, and embarking upon my second year of organized football. After an ill-fated stint as a running back and defensive back the previous year, a position switch was underway.
I was moving to quarterback.
That meant a new number, and I had a decision to make. There were two quarterbacks I loved watching when I got the chance, so I knew I wanted one of their numbers. One was Joe Montana, the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and already the owner of two Super Bowl titles.
The other was Dan Marino, who lost to Montana in Super Bowl XIX.
And it was Marino’s “13” which was my first choice.
At that time, Marino was different. Electric. Appointment-worthy viewing. When he says — as has in recent years — that he could throw for 6,000 yards in the modern NFL, he is absolutely correct. It was a new NFL and he was at the forefront of it, and despite having lost to Montana in Super Bowl XIX, there was every expectation that someday Marino would have a Lombardi Trophy of his own.
So when I stepped up to the equipment manager one steamy August night, I asked for 13.
A jersey number that, probably for various reasons, was not printed. 16 it was.
That bit of chance sent a ten-year-old boy down a different path of fandom. Montana became the quarterback that I studied, modeled my game after, and followed. Looking back, it was probably for the best given … let’s just say stylistic issues. When I reached high school and 16 was not available I turned to 3, the number Montana wore at Notre Dame.
In college, 3 turned into 9. Both 16 and 3 were unavailable, so 9 — 3 times 3 — was the best I could do.
Fast-forward a few years from that sweltering August evening, to the night of Super Bowl XXIII. There I was with my family, clad in all sorts of 49ers gear, watching from our living room as Montana and the 49ers took on the Cincinnati Bengals. I was only a few years older, and very much living and dying with every snap.
That’s when Montana did what he did so many times in his career, which was deliver a game-winning drive in the clutch. I almost hit my head on the ceiling jumping with joy.
I grew older, and while I had a few chances to try and create similar drives of my own I never lived up to them. Montana went to Kansas City and eventually retired, and my own playing days wound down. The 49ers fan in me subsided, and I did what many do, and started following the New England Patriots, the local team, during the 1990s. There were some lean years, followed by some more successful ones.
But Super Bowl XXIII, and that game-winning drive, shaped me.
Sure I got to see it, but if I could see any moment in Super Bowl history in person, that would be the one.
Bernd Buchmasser — Super Bowl XXXVI
Growing up in Austria, you only got one chance a year to watch a live NFL football game. Needless to say, that chance was the Super Bowl.
I wasn’t particularly interested in the sport as a kid, but I had a general idea of its existence and that the Super Bowl was a pretty big deal. You just cannot escape US culture, even six time zones away and in a small town nestled in the Alps.
By February 2002, I wanted to find out what the fuzz was all about. So, I asked my parents if I could watch the game.
Given that it was a school night, I can’t blame them for saying no. They did, however, promise to tape the whole thing.
Escaping spoilers was not a particularly hard thing to do back then. My friends weren’t interested, and there was no internet or other forms of instant communication available at the time. I was able to go through a whole school day and return home without anybody having spoiled the fun for me.
So, there I was, on Monday afternoon putting the VHS tape in and watching the game. I had absolutely zero idea what was going on, but credit to Austria’s public broadcaster: they explained the game, and what was going on; they also made it clear that those St. Louis Rams were quite good, and that the New England Patriots were huge underdogs — something that resonated with me.
I wanted to see the Patriots led by this previously unknown guy named Tom Brady win. They went up 17-3 in the third quarter, and it was looking good, but the game was far from over.
Well, at least for the players it wasn’t.
For me, it was.
You see, VHS has limited capacity, and my parents didn’t anticipate the entire damn thing lasting around four hours. So, the tape just ran out on me. I never saw the Rams’ frantic comeback attempt, nor Brady leading the Patriots on an improbable last-minute drive. I didn’t see Adam Vinatieri kick the game-winning field goal either.
I read about it all in the newspaper the next day. I didn’t get to see video of it all until around half a year later, when the next season was about to kick off.
I still wish I had seen it live.
Jason Marcum — Super Bowl XLIX
If there was truly a moment in Super Bowl history I wish I could have been there to see in person, it has to be what was one of the most stunning plays in NFL history.
It happened in the final minute of what had already been one of the most thrilling championship games the NFL had ever seen in Super Bowl XLIX. The New England Patriots were attempting to continue what would become one of the greatest dynasties any sport had ever seen, while the Seattle Seahawks were looking to build their own dynasty after winning it all the season prior.
After the Seahawks built a 10-point lead that they took late into the fourth quarter, Tom Brady engineered one of his signature comebacks, throwing two touchdowns in just under six minutes of game time to give New England a 28-24 lead with 2:02 remaining.
That gave Russell Wilson and the Seahawks one last chance to win the game. After quickly getting into Patriots territory, Jermaine Kearse made one of the most spectacular catches ever seen when he caught a twice-deflected ball that went off Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler and into Kearse’s waiting arms before he was tackled at the 5-yard line with a minute left.
That was followed by a Marshawn Lynch run down to the 4-yard line, and the Patriots burned a timeout to stop the clock with 26 seconds left, hoping to have a little time to answer with the Seahawks set to punch this one in for the go-ahead score…
That’s when one of the most stunning moments in NFL history happened.
Sitting at the 1-yard line with one timeout remaining, it felt like a lock that the Seahawks were punching this one in. Seattle could have easily gotten three more plays in before time expired. Heck, they likely could have just run it three straight times and gotten in before the final horn sounded.
And why wouldn’t you, when you had one of the NFL’s best running backs in Lynch, a two-time rushing touchdowns leader who was also a First-Team All-Pro in 2012 and a Second-Team pick that very season…
That’s when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made a call that would live in infamy.
With New England on its heels and Lynch ready to pound it in for the win, Carroll opted to let Wilson drop back and throw a slant that was intercepted by Butler, who played the route with absolute perfection to grab the ball before Ricardo Lockette could get to it.
Watching this moment on TV was like seeing a Shakespearean tragedy play out before my very eyes on the world’s biggest stage. Never had there ever been a Super Bowl moment where things shifted so drastically from one play to the next.
A virtual lock of a win for Seattle was suddenly turned into a tragic defeat, all by just one beautifully timed play by Butler, an undrafted rookie who, just moments earlier, had allowed that batted ball to fall into the arms of Kearse and seemingly put Seattle in position to win the game.
To be there live to see that moment play out would have truly been a sight to behold.
Jared Mueller— Super Bowl XLII
While I do not have the same personal connection as others, seeing the New York Giants upend the Patriots with David Tyree’s helmet catch would have been amazing. As an Ohioan, I always tend to root for the underdogs. (Wish there was any kind of Cleveland Browns moment I could add to this list.) Calling a New York team an underdog feels weird but New England was the Goliath of that era so Eli Manning became the David opposing them.
I did not feel a lot of hope for the Giants watching the game on television but Tyree’s catch and their win was exciting nonetheless. Being in the stands for it would have been great especially if any smug Patriots fans were nearby. (My friends Mark and Bernd are not smug and if they were there I would have consoled them first.)
Bill Williamson — Super Bowl XXV
To me, sports is an extension of my family. Sports became my livelihood because I was obsessed with it from a young age. It’s all I was focused on and I owe that to my father. He, too, was a sports addict. Our shared passion fuels my memories of him now, even more than 34 years after his death.
My dad was a lifelong New York Giants fan. While I did follow his path as a baseball Giants fan, I never really bought into the football Giants even though one my early memories was walking about with one of those classic 1970s winter beanies (compete with the obnoxious colored fuzzy ball on top) with the G-Men’s logo on it.
Still, I always though my dad’s fandom of the Giants was cool especially after they drafted Lawrence Taylor (my goodness, did my father love himself some LT) and transformed their organization. For a guy who traveled from his home in the Bronx to Philadelphia to be able to watch the classic Giants-Baltimore Colts 1958 NFL Championship game on television, that was dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, my dad deserved all the Giants’ success he got.
It was fun seeing the Giants beat the Denver Broncos in XXI for dad as the Giants won their first Super Bowl. I was away at college and wasn’t able to watch the game with him. But I called (collect) during the game as the Giants pulled away to hear and feel his joy.
That was the last Giants Super Bowl we experienced together.
He died early in the 1990 season after a short illness. I was just beginning my professional journalism career, covering a little bit of everything for a Bay Area newspaper’s sports section.
One of my most vivid and best memories of my career was covering the NFC Championship Game between the Giants and the 49ers at Candlestick Park in January 1991. I was standing directly behind the Giants’ bench when Matt Bahr’s 42-yard field goal sailed through the uprights to send New York to Super Bowl XXV and prevent the 49ers from attempting to become the only team to three-peat as a Super Bowl champion.
I felt my dad during that kick. To this day, It was the only game I’ve covered and was rooting for an outcome. I don’t apologize for it.
I wish I was able to see the Giants finish the journey in person on January 27, 1991, as they beat the Buffalo Bills in Tampa just four months after they lost one of their biggest fans.
I’ve always felt I owed Scott Norwood a solid. Wide right may have had some help that day.
David Fucillo — Super Bowl XXIII or XXIV
I became a 49ers fan in 1988, the year they eventually won Super Bowl 23 against the Bengals. It was a formative experience as I have been a 49ers fan ever since. That game is one of the all-timers in Super Bowl history thanks to Joe Montana leading a game-winning drive he capped with a touchdown pass to John Taylor.
It would be easy to say that’s the moment I wish I’d seen live. And if I’m being honest with myself, it probably was that drive. And yet, as a kid who loved the 49ers and loved talking smack to people who liked other teams, the next year might have been even better. The 49ers bulldozed the Broncos in what is still a record-breaking performance. While there was not a single moment about that game that stands out as an iconic moment, the whole game was a moment in which the 49ers made it clear they were the team of the decade. I can only imagine how much fun I would have had sitting in the stands watching the 49ers absolutely decimating an incredibly talented Broncos squad. As a fan, I either want to see an epic tight game with a wild finish, or I want to see my team absolute crush the opposition.
