From nipplegate to cocaine scandal The biggest scandals at the Super Bowl

blue News takes a look at the biggest scandals surrounding the Super Bowl. It's about cocaine, a serious detour into the red light district, delusions, porn and an incident that should go down in TV history as "Nipplegate".

1989: Life ban after cocaine breakdown

The night before the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers in Miami, the Cincinnati Bengals had a team meeting. Running back Stanley Wilson just wanted to get something in his room. When he still hadn't returned 20 minutes later, his coach went to check on him. He found a heap of misery - sweating and trembling, Wilson was lying on the floor, his upper lip and nose full of cocaine.

The then 27-year-old, who had already missed the entire 1985 and 1987 NLF seasons due to cocaine abuse, was banned for life after the new crash. Ten years later, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for several burglaries. Wilson's son, who also became a professional footballer, took a similar path. In June 2016, he tried to break into a house naked, and in 2017 he was arrested a second time, again in an Adam costume.

1999: A serious detour into the red light district

The night before the Super Bowl, family man Eugene Robinson wanted to have some fun in Miami's red light district. But the Atlanta Falcons defender fell into a trap and offered an undercover police officer money for oral sex. He was arrested on the spot, but was released a few hours later and was able to play in the Super Bowl. The Falcons were clearly defeated by the Denver Broncos - partly because Robinson's performance was abysmal. What added spice to the whole thing was the fact that Robinson was awarded the Bart Starr Award by the NFL shortly before his departure. This is awarded to athletes with high moral character. Understandably, he had to relinquish the award.

2003: Player runs off the night before the Super Bowl

Barret Robbins of the Oakland Raiders fled to Mexico the night before the final game in San Diego. After he emerged, he explained that he was suffering from bipolar disorder and had misadjusted his medication. As a result, he suffered from delusions and believed that his Raiders had already won the Super Bowl. Robbins was admitted to a clinic and underwent treatment after the strange incident. But shortly after he resumed training for the new season, he was suspended for steroid use. Incidentally, the Raiders lost the Super Bowl the night after Robbins disappeared. After his career, Robbins repeatedly came into conflict with the law.

2004: Nipplegate

Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson were given the honor of performing during halftime. An audience of millions witnessed a scandal that went down in TV history - Timberlake exposed Jackson's breast. The day after the Super Bowl, "Nipplegate" was the big topic. Since then, the half-time shows have been broadcast with a few seconds delay, as the prudish American public should no longer be expected to see such images.

2009: Suddenly there's a sex movie on TV

If a bare breast can cause outrage, then you can imagine what happened in the state of Arizona when a sex tape was shown for 37 seconds shortly before the end of the game. According to an initial statement, there had been a mix-up in the cable signals. Around 80,000 TV viewers were affected - they all received a ten-dollar discount on their next bill from the cable provider. In 2011, the FBI arrested a former employee of the cable provider who allegedly hacked the system.

2011: Christina Aguilera has an embarrassing slip-up

Being allowed to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl is a great honor - and a lucrative one at that. Every child in America knows the words, and the anthem is sung daily in many schools. This makes the performance of pop queen Christina Aguilera, who skips one verse and repeats another, all the more embarrassing. After the game, the singer apologized: "I can only hope that the audience could feel the love for my home country and that the spirit of the national anthem was still clear."

2012: Outstretched middle finger

There was also criticism in 2012 for the singer M.I.A., who gave millions and millions of TV viewers the middle finger during her big performance during the half-time break.

2013: Conspiracy theories after the power cut

The second half is still young when the lights go out in the Superdome in New Orleans. The power supply has collapsed and the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers has to be interrupted for 36 minutes. A faulty meter allegedly shut down the electronics and the emergency power supply also went on strike. However, there are also conspiracy theorists who do not believe in a coincidence. After all, sales in the stadium skyrocket thanks to the lights going out and the whole thing is also extremely interesting for the TV rights holders from a financial point of view. A 30-second commercial cost around four million US dollars at the time. And during the 36-minute forced break, there was plenty of time to show advertisements ...

2015: A commercial divides the nation

The Super Bowl is not only the biggest sporting event in the USA, but also an advertising spectacle. In the USA alone, well over 100 million TV viewers tune in each time. And so a 30-second clip from US insurer Nationwide triggers a fierce shitstorm on social media. The commercial features a young boy who talks about all the things he will never learn or experience in his life - because he was killed in an accident. A cut follows and an overflowing bathtub can be seen, along with the slogan: "The most common cause of death in children is preventable accidents."

Nationwide used this ad to draw attention to an app that warns of the dangers of accidents involving children. Actually a strong message that is anything but scandalous. However, there was not only a lot of approval on social media, but at least as much hatred and incomprehension for the ad.

The Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. The game will take place at Levi's Stadium in California and will be broadcast live in Switzerland on free-to-air TV on RTL from midnight on February 8-9.

You can also watch the Super Bowl at the movies.