They need to stop having Super Bowls in Tampa Bay

[underpants]

The Tampa Bay area is no stranger to hosting Super Bowls in uncertain times. While the nation has fond recollections of Whitney Houston's iconic national anthem at Super Bowl XXV in 1991, the area remembers something much different.

The NFL almost canceled that game due to fears of a terrorist attack, as the United States was barely two weeks into the Persian Gulf War. Concrete barriers surrounded what was then Tampa Stadium. Every fan was waved with a metal detector. There were SWAT teams, FBI agents, bomb technicians and military helicopters circling overhead.



Then, during Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, the nation was in its worst economic recession in 80 years. The total economic impact for the Tampa Bay area dropped by about $50 million compared to the two previous Super Bowls.

"I don't think anyone could have imagined that when the commissioner handed off the football to us on Feb. 3, down in Miami at Super Bowl LIV, that we could have imagined what would be in store over the following year," said Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and CEO of the Super Bowl LV host committee.

"The good thing is, we're used to doing that because the last few Super Bowls we've had have been under unusual circumstances," said Santiago Corrada, CEO of Visit Tampa Bay.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30842697/how-tampa-bay-nfl-pulled-super-bowl-lv-amid-pandemic

[Klaralven]

1. Next year it will be in Inglewood, CA

Near the intersection of the 405 and the 105.

[gladium et scutum]

2. Fully agree with you

The only places they should have Super Bowls are Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburg, or Buffalo.

[maxrandb]

3. Hey! Don't forget Cleveland!

Tom Brady has only tied Otto Graham for quarterbacks with the most championships.

[gladium et scutum]

4. Your Right

I forgot Cleveland has an open air stadium. Perfect for championship football at it's toughest.

[Demsrule86]

6. Given our weather, it could be another Ice Bowl...I always watch the documentary when it comes on

Too young to have seen it...

[gladium et scutum]

7. Watched it on TV, was about 16 at the time.

[Poiuyt]

5. Cleveland @ Green Bay NFL Championship 1/2/66

I'd say that the NFL has gotten soft.

[Demsrule86]

8. How about this?

https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/the-ice-bowl/

[Poiuyt]

9. I remember that game

I live about 25 miles from Green Bay. At that time, the NFL had a 100 mile radius blackout, so I had to listen to the radio. I remember going nuts those last few minutes, pacing up and down the hallway of our house, and then screaming my head off. Fun times.

[maxrandb]

10. How about the Ohio State vs Michigan Snow Bowl?

The game was set to be played in front of 50,535 fans, some of whom built small bonfires in the stands to keep warm. Others sat with boxes over their heads to shield from the cold, with holes cut in to peer out. As the game was set to begin, grounds crews struggled to get the tarp off of the frozen field with four feet of snow on top of it. Local Boy Scouts and fans had to help with the tarps, finally removing them 2:21 hours late.[4]

Michigan won the game 9–3, despite never getting a first down, failing on all nine pass attempts and punting 24 times. The Buckeyes had just three first downs, passed for a total of 18 yards, rushed for 16 yards (11 fewer than U-M) and punted 21 times, four of which were blocked. Overall, the teams punted 45 times during the game, sometimes on first down based on the strategy that both teams felt it better to have the ball in the hands of their opponents near the end zone and hope for a fumble of the slippery ball. In the end, Ohio State Halfback Vic Janowicz (who went on to win the Heisman Trophy) punted for 685 yards while Michigan's Chuck Ortmann punted for 723 yards.[5]

The first score of the game came when Buckeye defensive guard Bob Momsen blocked an Ortmann punt and fell on it at the Michigan 8-yard line late in the first quarter of the game. The Buckeyes ran three straight running plays that went for minus-13 yards, putting the ball back to the 21. Janowicz was called upon to kick a 38-yard field goal into the swirling wind with the goal posts barely in view. He made it to give the Buckeyes a 3–0 lead. The kick would later be called one of the "Greatest Feats in American Sports" by a panel of sports writers.[6]

In the second quarter, Michigan tackle Al Wahl blocked a Janowicz punt deep in Ohio State territory. The blocked ball rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving Michigan their first score of the game and trimming the Buckeyes' lead to 3–2. Michigan scored what proved to be the winning touchdown when with 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Janowicz attempted a third down punt, only to have Michigan's Tony Momsen (brother of Ohio State's Bob Momsen) break through the line and block the punt. Momsen fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and U-M kicked the extra-point to go up 9–3. OSU coach Fesler could have run another play instead of punting on third down and let the clock expire on the half, but he feared a fumble (there were 10 that day) that would be recovered as a touchdown by Michigan.[7]