Having a great time usually involves women, booze and drugs. NFL players love to have a great time during Super Bowl week. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise then that the majority of the biggest Super Bowl scandals of all time involve women, booze and drugs. Here are the top eight in NFL history. (Editor's note: "Deflategate" is not a Super Bowl scandal (yet), so save your comments.)
8. Green Bay Packers tight end Max McGee violates curfew the night before Super Bowl I.
![super bowl scandals, max mcgee hungover]()
Violating curfew is one way to put it. Another way is to say that the Packers' backup tight end got absolutely shithoused with several "pretty girls" in Los Angeles and didn't get back to his hotel room until 4 a.m. because he didn't expect to play in the big game. But after starting receiver Boyd Dowler injured his shoulder, McGee was forced into action despite his "raging hangover" and somehow managed to catch seven balls for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
7. Jim McMahon was one wild and crazy guy in the week leading up to Super Bowl XX.
![super bowl scandals, jim mcmahon moon]()
According to GQ, McMahon's Super Bowl week was so bizarre that "even the producers of 'Entourage' would question the plausibility of it all." Besides being an asshole to the media, McMahon mooned a helicopter, pissed on the streets of New Orleans, threw fruit from a balcony with Jim Kelly onto the people below and wore a different number on his practice jersey because he feared snipers were going to kill him after rumors began swirling that he called the women of New Orleans "sluts." Despite the distractions, McMahon and the Bears curb stomped the New England Patriots by 36 points.
6. The lights go out at Super Bowl XLVII.
![super bowl scandals, super bowl blackout]()
Speaking of curb stomping, the Baltimore Ravens were really giving it to the San Francisco 49ers a few years ago when the power went out inside the Superdome in New Orleans early in the third quarter. Baltimore's Jacoby Jones had given the Ravens a 28-6 lead shortly before things went dark because of an "abnormality." Thirty-four minutes later, the lights came back on and so did the 49ers offense. Baltimore would hang on to win, but it wasn't just fans who were crying conspiracy theory. Both Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis went on the record accusing the NFL of some rather shady shenanigans.
5. Ray Lewis allegedly was involved in the murder of two guys after Super Bowl XXVIII.
![super bowl scandals, ray lewis murder charge]()
Speaking of Ray Lewis, the former Ravens linebacker wasn't even playing in the big game, but he made the trek to Atlanta anyway to party with his boys. "But all hell broke loose" outside a club sometime after 3:30 a.m. when a member of Ray's crew got into an argument with two other clubgoers. A melee ensued, two men were fatally stabbed and Lewis's limo sped away amidst a hail of gunfire. Authorities never found the clothes Lewis was wearing that night, the case against him and his boys fell apart and to this day, nobody has been found guilty of the murders.
4. Brad Johnson paid a guy $7,500 to "doctor" footballs before Super Bowl XXXVII.
![super bowl scandals, brad johnson doctored footballs]()
Long before "Deflategate," below-average Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson found a way to win a Super Bowl against Oakland. One of the reasons was because Tampa Bay's defense was historically good that season. Another reason is that former Raiders coach Jon Gruden was now at the helm for the Buccaneers, and he pretty much knew what play was coming every time the Raiders came to the line of scrimmage. And yet another reason could be that Johnson admitted to paying a guy $7,500 to scuff 100 footballs so they would be easier to grip.
3. Barret Robbins goes AWOL before Super Bowl XXXVII.
![super bowl scandals, barret robbins disappearance]()
Or maybe Johnson and the Bucs were so successful because Oakland's bipolar starting center disappeared the day before the big game and was so incoherent when he returned later that night that head coach Bill Callahan left him off the roster. Robbins allegedly told his wife that he had been in Tijuana all day drinking and celebrating because he thought the Raiders had already won the game. Wide receiver Tim Brown later said that Robbins went nuts because Callahan had changed the game plan just 48 hours before game time and was "throwing the Super Bowl." That's juicy stuff right there.
2. Stanley Wilson went on an epic cocaine binge before Super Bowl XXIII.
![super bowl scandals, stanley wilson cocaine super bowl]()
Nose candy was a problem for Wilson, much like cake was for Dom DeLuise. The Cincinnati Bengals running back had missed the entire 1985 and 1987 seasons because of cocaine use, but he had stayed clean for the entire 1988 campaign leading up to the Super Bowl. However, just before the team's final meeting before the big game, Wilson told teammates he had to go back to his room to get his playbook. Unfortunately, Wilson really went back for the gutter glitter, and running backs coach Jim Anderson found him "sweating and shivering" in his hotel bathtub. Head coach Sam Wyche had no choice but to leave him off the roster, and the Bengals would lose to the 49ers by only four points.
1. Eugene Robinson gets arrested soliciting a prostitute shortly after receiving the NFL award for outstanding moral character the night before Super Bowl XXXIII.
![super bowl scandals, eugene robinson super bowl prostitute]()
This one was almost as ironic as Lil Wayne winning a Grammy for musical excellence. On the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII against the defending champion Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was busy accepting the Bart Starr Award for "outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community." He then allegedly offered an undercover Miami police officer forty bucks for sex. Robinson was pure garbage the next day on the field, and he would later return the Bart Starr Award for obvious reasons.
Who was the greatest player to ever play for your team? The Greatest Player of All Time From Every NFL Franchise
8. Green Bay Packers tight end Max McGee violates curfew the night before Super Bowl I.
Violating curfew is one way to put it. Another way is to say that the Packers' backup tight end got absolutely shithoused with several "pretty girls" in Los Angeles and didn't get back to his hotel room until 4 a.m. because he didn't expect to play in the big game. But after starting receiver Boyd Dowler injured his shoulder, McGee was forced into action despite his "raging hangover" and somehow managed to catch seven balls for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
7. Jim McMahon was one wild and crazy guy in the week leading up to Super Bowl XX.
According to GQ, McMahon's Super Bowl week was so bizarre that "even the producers of 'Entourage' would question the plausibility of it all." Besides being an asshole to the media, McMahon mooned a helicopter, pissed on the streets of New Orleans, threw fruit from a balcony with Jim Kelly onto the people below and wore a different number on his practice jersey because he feared snipers were going to kill him after rumors began swirling that he called the women of New Orleans "sluts." Despite the distractions, McMahon and the Bears curb stomped the New England Patriots by 36 points.
6. The lights go out at Super Bowl XLVII.
Speaking of curb stomping, the Baltimore Ravens were really giving it to the San Francisco 49ers a few years ago when the power went out inside the Superdome in New Orleans early in the third quarter. Baltimore's Jacoby Jones had given the Ravens a 28-6 lead shortly before things went dark because of an "abnormality." Thirty-four minutes later, the lights came back on and so did the 49ers offense. Baltimore would hang on to win, but it wasn't just fans who were crying conspiracy theory. Both Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis went on the record accusing the NFL of some rather shady shenanigans.
5. Ray Lewis allegedly was involved in the murder of two guys after Super Bowl XXVIII.
Speaking of Ray Lewis, the former Ravens linebacker wasn't even playing in the big game, but he made the trek to Atlanta anyway to party with his boys. "But all hell broke loose" outside a club sometime after 3:30 a.m. when a member of Ray's crew got into an argument with two other clubgoers. A melee ensued, two men were fatally stabbed and Lewis's limo sped away amidst a hail of gunfire. Authorities never found the clothes Lewis was wearing that night, the case against him and his boys fell apart and to this day, nobody has been found guilty of the murders.
4. Brad Johnson paid a guy $7,500 to "doctor" footballs before Super Bowl XXXVII.
Long before "Deflategate," below-average Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson found a way to win a Super Bowl against Oakland. One of the reasons was because Tampa Bay's defense was historically good that season. Another reason is that former Raiders coach Jon Gruden was now at the helm for the Buccaneers, and he pretty much knew what play was coming every time the Raiders came to the line of scrimmage. And yet another reason could be that Johnson admitted to paying a guy $7,500 to scuff 100 footballs so they would be easier to grip.
3. Barret Robbins goes AWOL before Super Bowl XXXVII.
Or maybe Johnson and the Bucs were so successful because Oakland's bipolar starting center disappeared the day before the big game and was so incoherent when he returned later that night that head coach Bill Callahan left him off the roster. Robbins allegedly told his wife that he had been in Tijuana all day drinking and celebrating because he thought the Raiders had already won the game. Wide receiver Tim Brown later said that Robbins went nuts because Callahan had changed the game plan just 48 hours before game time and was "throwing the Super Bowl." That's juicy stuff right there.
2. Stanley Wilson went on an epic cocaine binge before Super Bowl XXIII.
Nose candy was a problem for Wilson, much like cake was for Dom DeLuise. The Cincinnati Bengals running back had missed the entire 1985 and 1987 seasons because of cocaine use, but he had stayed clean for the entire 1988 campaign leading up to the Super Bowl. However, just before the team's final meeting before the big game, Wilson told teammates he had to go back to his room to get his playbook. Unfortunately, Wilson really went back for the gutter glitter, and running backs coach Jim Anderson found him "sweating and shivering" in his hotel bathtub. Head coach Sam Wyche had no choice but to leave him off the roster, and the Bengals would lose to the 49ers by only four points.
1. Eugene Robinson gets arrested soliciting a prostitute shortly after receiving the NFL award for outstanding moral character the night before Super Bowl XXXIII.
This one was almost as ironic as Lil Wayne winning a Grammy for musical excellence. On the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII against the defending champion Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was busy accepting the Bart Starr Award for "outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community." He then allegedly offered an undercover Miami police officer forty bucks for sex. Robinson was pure garbage the next day on the field, and he would later return the Bart Starr Award for obvious reasons.
Who was the greatest player to ever play for your team? The Greatest Player of All Time From Every NFL Franchise