Failure™ Magazine

Quirkiest Football Failures II

Part two of a three-part series.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under Sports

Are you ready for some (more) quirky football failures? Following is part two of Failure’s three-part Quirkiest Football Failures series.

August 30, 2008: The Idaho Vandals lose their season-opening football game to the Arizona Wildcats 70-0, while also suffering the indignity of competing while wearing uniform pants that feature a prominent “I” (University of Idaho) logo with “Vandals” in script across the players’ buttocks. “We didn’t realize how noticeable it [the logo] would be until it was on our players,” says Idaho athletic director Rob Spear, citing a “miscommunication” between the school and Nike over the design of the uniforms. Weeks later, the Vandals’ cheerleading squad is pressured into redesigning its uniforms after the university receives complaints that the girls’ recently-debuted two-piece outfits are too skimpy.

August 13, 2001: A preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens is cancelled 35 minutes after its scheduled start because of ruts, bumps, dips and divots in the newly-installed NexTurf field at Veterans Stadium. To make matters worse, the venue’s jam-packed press elevator breaks down, stranding 18 members of the media for 40 minutes.

January 31, 1993: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII. The Bills commit a record nine turnovers en route to the team’s third consecutive Super Bowl defeat. The most memorable play occurs in the fourth quarter when Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett picks up a Frank Reich fumble at the Dallas 35-yard line and begins rumbling toward the Buffalo end zone, poised to score his first touchdown “since [he] was 10 years old playing pee-wee football.” But Lett is unable to resist the temptation to showboat, and as he approaches the goal line he slows a bit while holding the football out to one side. This allows Bills wide receiver Don Beebe to catch up and swat the ball out of his hand at the 1-yard line. The ball rolls through the end zone for a touchback, spoiling Lett’s chance at Super Bowl glory.

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