February 3, 2002: The New England Patriots' Underdog Win

February 3, 2002: Super Bowl XXXVI is played at the Superdome in New Orleans. Remember when the New England Patriots were considered plucky underdogs, and their opponents were arrogant swellheads? Never again.

The Patriots were founded as the Boston Patriots in 1960, with the American Football League. In 1963, they won the AFL Eastern Division title, but got clobbered by the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship Game. They bounced around from stadium to stadium, playing at Boston University's Nickerson Field, Boston College's Alumni Stadium, Harvard Stadium and Fenway Park.

In 1971, their 2nd season after the NFL merged with the AFL, they moved to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts, a little closer to downtown Providence, Rhode Island than to downtown Boston. To tap into a regional identity -- something the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins never found it necessary to do -- they changed their name to the New England Patriots.

In 1976, after 9 seasons seasons finishing .500 or less, they went 11-3, and won the AFC's Wild Card Playoff berth. But they lost the Divisional Playoff to the Oakland Raiders, in controversial fashion. In 1978, they won the AFC East, but lost the Divisional Playoff to the Houston Oilers. In 1982, they made the Playoffs, but lost to the Miami Dolphins in the 1st Round.

In the 1985 season, they did something no other NFL team had done: They won 3 Playoff games on the road to advance to the Super Bowl. (Only 1 team has done it since: The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers.) They beat the New York Jets at the Meadowlands, the now-moved Raiders at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl. But they got slaughtered by the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.

 

After a Division title and a Divisional Playoff loss to the Denver Broncos in the 1986 season, the Pats collapsed, falling into mediocrity on the field and disgrace off it. New ownership hired Bill Parcells to rebuild the team. He got them into the Playoffs in 1994, losing to the Cleveland Browns. In 1996, he got them to an AFC East title, and into Super Bowl XXXI, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers. This was followed by another Division title in 1997, and another Playoff berth in 1998.

In 2000, Bill Belichick was named head coach. He had been Parcells' defensive coordinator with the Patriots, and with both New York teams, the Giants and the Jets. But as a head coach, he had already failed with the Browns. But in just his 2nd season at the helm, he got them to 11-5 and the AFC East title.

The key game was the 2nd of the year. Mo Lewis of the Jets injured quarterback Drew Bledsoe on a tackle. In came Tom Brady, drafted in the 6th round, and not hyped much. After a 5-5 start, the Pats won their last 6 regular season games.

The Divisional Playoff was the last game played at Foxboro Stadium, as what became Gillette Stadium was being built next-door. In a blizzard, the "Tuck Rule" helped the Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders, 16-13, on an overtime field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The following week, they won away to the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning them a berth in Super Bowl XXXVI.

They would play the St. Louis Rams, whose passing attack, led by Kurt Warner, was known as "The Greatest Show On Turf." They had won the Super Bowl just 2 years earlier. They were 14-2, their only losses being by 3 at home to the New Orleans Saints, and by 7 at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They had beaten the Packers in the Divisional Round and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.

They were talking big. They were talking dynasty. They were favored by 14 points, and they were talking like a team that deserved to be.

Boston had won 6 World Series, although none since 1918; 5 Stanley Cups, although none since 1972; and a record 16 NBA Championships, although none since 1986. The city had never won one in football. This was their chance to do so. Since the Celtics' 1986 title, Boston teams had gone 0-7 in finals, including the Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XXXI. New England needed a win.

The Rams' offensive starters were introduced first. Then the Patriots were introduced, collectively rather than individually. Trying to show that they were a team, rather than a collection of stars. Little did we know that one of them would become the biggest football star of their generation.

The Rams scored first, a 50-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins. But in the 2nd quarter, the Patriots were really pressuring Kurt Warner. And after a 3rd-down incompletion, I saw a look in Warner's eyes. I'd previously seen that look in the eyes of Dan Marino, Tony Eason, John Elway, Jim Kelly, Neil O'Donnell and Kerry Collins. It was the look of a quarterback who knew he was going to lose the Super Bowl. And the Rams were still winning at this point. They were forced to try another long field goal attempt by Wilkins, this time from 52 yards out. It was long enough, but wide left.

On their next drive, Warner was intercepted by Ty Law, who took it in 47 yards to give the Pats a 7-3 lead. A Warner pass to Ricky Proehl was turned into a fumble by Antwan Harris, and Terrell Buckley recovered it. Brady took over, and in the last minute of the half, threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to David Patten. It was 14-3 New England.

After an emotional halftime show by U2, the 3rd quarter was comparatively dull. But Otis Smith intercepted Warner to set up a 37-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

This was before social media: We had Internet chat rooms and message boards, but no Facebook or Twitter. Still, there seemed to be a feeling around the country that, the longer the Patriots held the lead over the heavily favored Rams, the more surprised people got. Not me: I was getting less and less surprised. The Patriots had dominated the game. Even while they were down 3-0, they looked like the better team.

Then came the kind of comeback that would, over the next 20 years, come to be expected from the Patriots and (and, later, or) Brady. The kind that, if it was the Patriots (and/or Brady), would make you wonder if they were cheating again. At this point, we had no reason to suspect the Patriots (and/or Brady) of cheating. In hindsight, maybe they were, but it stopped working.

The Rams got to the Patriots' 3-yard line. On 4th & goal, needing 2 touchdowns in the last 10 minutes, they decided to go for it. Warner couldn't find anyone open, and was hit by Roman Phifer, and fumbled. Tebucky Jones picked it up, and took it back 97 yards for a touchdown. But the main reason no one was open was that Willie McGinest had committed a holding penalty on Marshall Faulk, preventing him from becoming an eligible receiver. The Rams got a new set of downs, and Warner scored on a quarterback sneak. The Rams were within 17-10 with 9:31.

With 1:51 left, the Rams had one more drive, starting on their own 45. Warner threw 18 yards to Az-Zahir Hakim, 11 to Yo Murphy, and 26 yards to Proehl for a touchdown. With 1:30 left in regulation, it was 17-17.

The question now was, How would the less experienced Patriots respond to blowing a 2-touchdown 4th quarter lead, with no timeouts left? The answer turned out to be, "Very well." Brady got the Patriots a little closer, a little closer, and a little closer. The key play was a 23-yard pass to Troy Brown. With 7 seconds left, they were in position for Vinatieri to kick a 48-yard field goal.

Three weeks earlier, in the cold, snow and wind of Foxboro Stadium, Vinatieri had made a game-winning field goal in overtime. This time, he was inside the Superdome, with no weather at all. If he failed, it was overtime. If he succeeded, he was a New England hero forever.

The kick was perfect. Final score: New England 20, St. Louis 17. The Patriots were World Champions for the 1st time. And, except in the St. Louis area, hardly anybody begrudged them this. They were the plucky underdogs that everybody could like.

Just like the University of Miami football team was in the 1984 Orange Bowl. Just like the Duke basketball team was in the 1991 Final Four. Just like the Atlanta Braves were in the 1991 baseball postseason. Just like Manchester United were in the 1992-93 Premier League season. Just like the Yankees were in the 1996 baseball postseason. Just like the Boston Red Sox were in the 2004 baseball postseason. Just like the Houston Astros were in the 2017 baseball postseason. Just like the Kansas City Chiefs were in Super Bowl LIV. Things change.

Brady was named the game's Most Valuable Player. As had been custom since Super Bowl XXI, the Super Bowl MVP was invited to do an "I'm going to Disney World!" commercial and participate in a parade at Walt Disney World. First, Brady had to get Belichick's permission to miss the team flight back home, and instead fly from New Orleans to Orlando.

Belichick looked at Brady as if he'd just heard the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. As if he was going to tell Brady, "No, practice is tomorrow in Foxborough, at 9 AM." Finally, he said, "Of course, you can go. How many times do you win the Super Bowl?"

If they only knew.

When the Patriots got back to Boston, there was a celebration at City Hall. And Larry Izzo, a backup linebacker who didn't have much more to do with the win than Mayor Tom Menino did, picked up the Vince Lombardi Trophy, held it up, and started a chant, which the crowd picked up: "Yankees suck! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!"

The Patriots did not beat the Yankees -- or any other New York team.

Seeing this, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "I guarantee you: If the Giants win the Super Bowl, nobody is going to be saying, 'Boston sucks!'"

Six years later, after 2 more Patriot Super Bowl wins, and an epic Red Sox Playoff win over the Yankees, when the New York Giants took on an 18-0 Patriots team in Super Bowl XLII, and won, Shaughnessy was proven wrong.

Years later, after "Deflategate," there was an accusation that the Patriots had illegally taped the Rams in this game, published in the Boston Herald, suggesting that the Patriots had been cheating from the beginning of their dynasty. The Herald got sued, and later issued a retraction.

But think of it this way: We have more investigated-and-proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have investigated-and-proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

In 2019, a poll ranked this game 20th on a list of the 100 Greatest Games of the NFL's 1st 100 years.

UPDATE: The Patriots have a team Hall of Fame. From their 2000s dynasty: Quarterback Tom Brady, running back Kevin Faulk, receiver Troy Brown, tackle Matt Light, defensive end Richard Seymour, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork; linebackers Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel; cornerback Ty Law, safety Rodney Harrison; assistant coach Dante Scarnecchia, cheerleading director Tracy Sormanti; and broadcasters Cappelletti and Santos.

Bill Belichick, who coached the Patriots to all 6 Super Bowl wins, is not yet in this Hall of Fame. Vrabel returned to coach the Patriots to the 2025 AFC Championship, but lost Super Bowl LX.

*

February 3, 2002 was a Sunday. The Super Bowl was the only football game played that day. Baseball was out of season. And the NHL held its All-Star Game the day before, at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. A North America team (4 Americans and 17 Canadians) captained by Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche lost to a "World" team (all 21 were Europeans, captained by Mats Sundin of Sweden), 8-5.

The NBA went against their usual policy of caving in to the long hours of Super Bowl programming, and only scheduling 1 or 2 games, usually involving a rivalry, and instead scheduled 9 games:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, 94-83 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-91 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Indiana Pacers, 109-89 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic, 105-98 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 97-79 at the Great American Pyramid in Memphis.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 101-94 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-107 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 98-97 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Chicago Bulls, 101-96 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

February 1, 2004: Timberlake vs. Jackson

February 1, 2004: Super Bowl XXXVIII -- thus far, the Super Bowl with the longest Roman numeral -- is played at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston. And, for the first time, and thus far the only time, a Super Bowl is overshadowed by something else that happened inside the stadium. (Black Sunday was a novel, and then a film. Same with The Sum of All Fears. Thankfully, nothing like either has ever happened in real life.)

The New England Patriots were AFC Champions, after winning Super Bowl XXXVI on a last-play field goal by Adam Vinatieri and then missing the Playoffs in the season in between. By an unusual turn of events, it was the 4th Super Bowl appearance in team history, but the 1st that wasn't played at the Superdome in New Orleans.

The Carolina Panthers were NFC Champions in their 8th season of play, after reaching the NFC Championship Game in 1996-97, only their 2nd. This was not the 1st time a Carolina-based team had reached a Final, though: The Carolina Hurricanes had reached the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.

It was the 2nd time the Super Bowl was held in Houston, after Super Bowl VIII was held at Rice Stadium, home of Rice University. It was already outdated by 1974, but it seated about 20,000 more people than the Astrodome did. The NFL waited until both the Houston Oilers and the Astrodome were replaced before awarding Houston another game. (The League now has a policy that the game can only be played in stadiums that are a team's home field, even as they hope that team won't make the game, so that it will be a neutral field.) It was the 1st time that the Super Bowl was held in a stadium with a retractable roof.

The Patriots were favored by 7 points. Houston native Beyoncé Knowles sang the National Anthem. The 1st quarter was scoreless: The closest either team came to scoring was Vinatieri missing a 31-yard field goal attempt.

In the 2nd quarter, Vinatieri attempted a field goal from 36 yards out. This time, the Panthers blocked it. But the Panthers were no better: Quarterback Jake Delhomme completed only 1 of his 1st 9 passes, got sacked 3 times, and fumbled. The last of those sacks, by Mike Vrabel, forced the fumble, which became the break the Patriots were looking for. Richard Seymour recovered it at the Patriots' 20-yard line, and, 3 plays later, Tom Brady threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch.

This was 26 minutes and 55 seconds into the game, the longest a Super Bowl had gone from kickoff without scoring. But it opened the floodgates: Delhomme figured things out, drove the Panthers 95 yards in 8 plays, and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith to tie the game. But there was 1:07 left in the half, and Brady took the Pats 78 yards in 6 plays, 52 of those yards on a pass to Branch. Brady threw a 5-yard pass to David Givens, to make it 14-7 New England. But there was still enough time for the Panthers to get into field goal range, and John Kasay kicked one from 50 yards out on the last play of the half. Patriots 14, Panthers 10.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show was next. It was sponsored by MTV (which, like the game's telecaster, CBS, was owned by Viacom), and it began with a "Choose or Lose" video, encouraging young people to vote. So far, so good.

As for the live performances, Jessica Simpson, a Texas native, started the festivities not by singing -- there was a relief -- but by shouting, "Houston, choose to party!" Next up, the combined marching bands of the University of Houston and Texas Southern University (a historically black school in Houston) played "The Way You Move," by OutKast (who were not there). Still, nothing that couldn't be rated PG.

Next up was Sean Combs, then using the name P. Diddy. I have never liked him, but he wasn't especially offensive this time, singing "Bad Boy for Life." Next up were singers dressed like cheerleaders, singing Toni Basil's 1982 Number 1 hit "Mickey," substituting first "Diddy," then "Nelly." That was the cue for Nelly, the St. Louis-based rapper, who sang his best-known song, "Hot in Herre." This is where the trouble started: Nelly kept grabbing and shaking his dick.

Diddy followed with another song, his duet with his pal, the late Notorious B.I.G., "Mo Money Mo Problems." This was followed by Robert James Ritchie, a.k.a. Kid Rock. Or, as he said, introducing himself, "My name is Kiiiiiiiiiiiid... " I never did hear him say, "Rock!" This great conservative was wearing a plastic American flag as a poncho. That should have been the most offensive gesture of the day, although the 2 songs he did, "Bawitdaba" and "Cowboy," were not exactly Sgt. Pepper material.

Robert Ritchie grew up in a mansion in the suburbs of Detroit, but likes to pass himself off as Kid Rock, country rocker/rapper, heir to Ted Nugent as "The Motor City Madman." Instead, Kid Rock is the only person I've ever seen who manages to be a ginker and a chav at the same time. (I realize that most people who know what a ginker is won't know what a chav is, and vice versa. Let me put it this way: Kelso and Hyde from "That '70s Show" were ginkers; Vanilla Ice and Eminem are chavs.)

Next was Janet Jackson, who wore a long black vinyl outfit with what looked like rhinestones around the breasts, and led a group of dancers through her song "Rhythm Nation." At the time, she was bigger than any of these people. She had done what few relatives of superstars had managed to do: Build her own brand, and get on, if not quite the same level, then maybe only one level below her brother Michael.

And if that had been the end of it, well, we might have been talking about how disgusting Nelly was, and how hypocritical Kid Rock is. But that was not the end of it. The last song was "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake.

The biggest heartthrob of the vocal group NSYNC, he has had, far and away, the biggest solo career of any member of the late 1990s-early 2000s "boy bands." He did it by doing what Janet did: Building his own brand. In his case, building an image of the Southern version of a sex maniac who is simply too charming for women to resist.

"Rock Your Body" had been written by Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, collectively known as The Neptunes. Ironically, they had first offered the song to Michael Jackson, but he turned it down. So they gave it to Justin, and his recording of it hit Number 2 in 2003.

But I didn't like Justin. Never have. Never will. Janet, I liked, and still do. But not Justin. I was watching this game, and this show, at a chain restaurant that has since closed (though the chain is still in business). When I saw him come onstage, I thought, "Good time for a bathroom break."

It seemed as though the halftime show was going to end with Janet and Justin dancing together to Justin's big hit. And if that had been the case, no one would remember it today. But they got to the last line of the song, which is "I gotta have you naked by the end of this song."

And just before getting to that line, thus proving that both of them had been lip-syncing, Justin grabbed Janet's right breast, and pulled, tearing off a piece of the outfit, and exposing the breast, with what looked like a jeweled earring attached to the nipple.

At that moment, presumably as scheduled, fireworks were shot off from the stadium's roof. Someone at CBS saw what was happening, and immediately switched camera angles to show the fireworks above -- not the "fireworks" below.

And, being in the bathroom at the time, I missed it.

When I came back out, the restaurant wasn't exactly packed, and if anybody was talking about it, I didn't hear it. This was February 1, 2004. Facebook went online exactly 3 days later. Twitter was more than 2 years away. We had the Internet, but we didn't have "social media" as we now understand that term. Had I gone into a chat room, or onto a message board, or even clicked on a newspaper or TV network website, I would have found out what happened rather quickly. But there was no way to know within minutes what had happened. I literally didn't know about it until I woke up the next morning.

I didn't know about it because CBS announcers Greg Gumbel and former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms didn't talk about it. They did briefly talk about, but did not show, a streaker who ran onto the field after the halftime show's stage was dismantled. The streaker wasn't completely naked: He wore a thong. And he had the address of a website written in black ink on his back. This was no Morganna the Kissing Bandit, or 1986 World Series parachutist Michael Sergio, or even the "Fan Man" at one of the Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe fights. This was just some fat yutz trying to make a quick buck and maybe a name for himself.

It probably never entered his mind that he might be taking some of the heat off the halftime show. If that had been his secondary intent, along with the primary intent of promoting the website, it didn't work at all.

Anyway, we me only knowing about the game itself, the game itself went on. There was no scoring in the 3rd quarter, leaving it still at New England 14, Carolina 10. But there would be 37 points scored in the 4th quarter, the most ever in a single Super Bowl, breaking the record of 35 in the 2nd quarter of Super Bowl XXII, all by the Washington Redskins.

Two plays into the 4th quarter, Antowain Smith scored on a 2-yard run, and the Patriots led 21-10. The Panthers got the ball back, and DeShaun Foster broke off a 33-yard touchdown run. The Panthers tried a 2-point conversion, but failed, leaving the score at 21-16. The Patriots launched another drive, but Reggie Howard intercepted Brady in the end zone. Delhomme then threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to Mushin Muhammad, the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history. Another 2-point conversion attempt failed.

But the Panthers now led, 22-21. It was the 1st time a team had trailed a Super Bowl by at least 10 points and had taken the lead.

The Patriots were not fazed. (Because they knew they were still going to win? Were they cheating?) The Patriots got to 3rd & goal, and set Vrabel up as a tight end, and scored. The Patriots attempted a 2-pointer, and made it, taking a 29-22 lead with 2:51 to go.

There was plenty of time for the Panthers. Two years earlier, Ricky Proehl had caught a game-tying touchdown pass for the St. Louis Rams against the Patriots, who won that Super Bowl anyway. This time, he was playing for the Panthers, and Delhomme threw him a 12-yard touchdown pass. Having already failed on 2 2-point conversions, Panthers coach John Fox went for 1, and Kasay kicked the extra point to make it 29-29.

But there was 1:08 left, and Kasay's kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Pats the ball on their own 40. Brady got them close enough for Vinatieri to try a 41-yard field goal attempt with 9 seconds left. In his career, he had attempted 35 field goals in indoor stadiums, and missed only 4 of them -- but all 4 had been right there at Reliant Stadium.

He made it. The Panthers could do nothing with the ensuing kickoff, and the Patriots had won, 32-29. There had now been 4 field goal attempts to win Super Bowls in the last 10 seasons, 3 of them successful, and Vinatieri had made 2 of them.

The Panthers didn't blow it. They didn't choke. They didn't break their fans' hearts. They played pretty well, scoring enough points to have won 17 of the 37 previous Super Bowls. But it would take them 12 years to get to another, and they still haven't won one. The Patriots, meanwhile, continued their run of success.

Did they cheat in this game? There has never been a serious accusation of it. But think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

It was one of the best Super Bowls ever played. And, outside of New England, and North and South Carolina, nobody cared. All people wanted to talk about was what was already being called "Nipplegate." It had overtones of sex, overtones of race (Janet is black, Justin is white), and a connection to sports. A triple threat.

The NFL ruled that MTV would never be invited to participate in anything with them again. The Federal Communications Commission fined CBS $550,000 for "indecency." A federal court ultimately voided the fine, and it was never paid. That was the right call: The situation wasn't CBS' fault. They were taken every bit as much by surprise as everyone else was.

The bulk of the public anger fell on Janet. The jokes from late-night comedians, while embarrassing and seeming to go on forever, turned out to be the least damaging part of it. Viacom and its subsidiaries, including CBS, MTV and Infinity Broadcasting, blacklisted her from their broadcasts.

"There are much worse things in the world," Janet said, "and for this to be such a focus, I don't understand."

From 1986 to 2001, she had 10 songs reach Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. Her next album, titled Damita Jo after her middle name, was released on March 30, 2004, 58 days after the incident, and none of the 3 singles from it cracked the Top 40. From 2006 to 2021, she would have only 2 singles that did.

She was 37 years old at the time of the incident, and still looked, moved and sounded great, so it's not like she was washed up. And her fans still sold out arenas all over the planet. But she has never again been a hitmaker.

And Timberlake? His next album came on September 8, 2006, and it produced 3 Number 1 hits. From 2006 to 2018, he had 18 Top 10 hits, 5 of them hitting Number 1.

He got off scot-free from hurting Janet's career. Just as he had gotten off scot-free from the way he treated Britney Spears, both while and after he was her girlfriend.

In 2018, Timberlake performed the halftime show of Super Bowl LII. Watching the game at home in East Brunswick, New Jersey, I had a choice of whether to watch it. I chose instead to put the recycling out. It was raining at the time. At least the Patriots lost that one, to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In 2021, a documentary about Britney's struggle to reclaim her legal rights aired, and it put Timberlake's actions and words -- toward her, and toward Janet -- in a new light. In an Instagram post, Timberlake said:

I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right...

I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism...

I didn’t recognize it for all that it was while it was happening in my own life but I do not want to ever benefit from others being pulled down again.

I can do better and I will do better. 

He had better. To paraphrase one of his later hits, he was one of those other boys who don't know how to act.

*

February 1, 2004 was a Sunday. There were no other football games played. Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Washington Wizards, 104-100 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. LeBron James, then a rookie, scored 38 points.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors, 84-83 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. Shaquille O'Neal scored 36 points.

* And the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-101 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Kevin Garnett scored 32.

And there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-4 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 6-4 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

And Arsenal beat Manchester City, 2-1 at Highbury in North London.

January 19, 2002: The Tuck Rule Game

January 19, 2002: The New England Patriots play their last game at their old Foxboro Stadium, in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. It is also the game that establishes a dynasty that, 20 years later, is, more or less, still running.

With what would be named Gillette Stadium rising next-door, the Patriots hosted the Oakland Raiders in an AFC Divisional Playoff. These teams were both charter franchises in the American Football League, and there were priors:

* December 18, 1976: The Patriots thought they were headed for the Super Bowl, but a last-minute roughing the passer penalty by referee Ben Dreith against Ray Hamilton gave the Raiders new life. They capitalized, and went on to win the Super Bowl.

* August 12, 1978: Raider safety Jack Tatum clobbered Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley, paralyzing him from the neck down. In an exhibition game.

* January 5, 1986: The teams met in the postseason for the 1st time since the Ben Dreith Game. The Patriots won. Afterward, Patrick Sullivan, son of Patriots owner Billy, got into a shouting match with Raider linebacker Matt Millen, who was angry at Sullivan heckling defensive end Howie Long. Millen threw the first punch, but Sullivan held his own. He told a reporter after the game, "We're just getting back for Jack Tatum, and all the crap that their football team has put on our football team over the years."

With 16 years come and gone, and the Patriots having changed ownership twice in the interim, those moments shouldn't have mattered. And maybe they didn't to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady; or to their respective counterparts on the Raiders: Al Davis, Jon Gruden and Rich Gannon. But then, Al Davis was always going to be Al Davis, so who knew?

The Patriots were 11-5, and Champions of the AFC Eastern Division. The Raiders were 10-6, and had won the AFC Western Division. The Patriots had a 1st Round bye, while the Raiders had beaten the New York Jets. Neither team had an appreciable edge on experience. Cliché Alert: Home-field advantage is usually said to be worth 3 points, and the Las Vegas oddsmakers had made the Patriots 3-point favorites.

The game started at 8:05 PM Eastern Time, and it was 25 degrees with snow falling. Understandable weather for New England in January, unusual for Oakland anytime. (The Oakland Coliseum has been considered a cold place to play, but they've never had snow during a game, either baseball or football.) Also understandable, given the weather, there was no scoring in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Gannon threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to James Jett, and the Raiders led 7-0 at the half. So, if the weather was affecting them, it wasn't much.

Adam Vinatieri got the Pats on the board with a 23-yard field goal. But Sebastian Janikowski kicked 2 for the Raiders, from 38 and 45 yards out. After 3 quarters, the Raiders led, 13-3. They still held that lead with 8 minutes left in regulation. The Raiders hadn't been to the Super Bowl in 18 years, but it looked like they were going.

With 7:52 left, Brady scored on a 6-yard run, to make it 13-10. With 2:19 left, the Raiders had to punt. The Patriots got the ball back on their own 46-yard line. Brady threw to Kevin Faulk for 7 yards. Then he ran for 5 yards and a 1st down. With 1:50 on the clock, and the ball on the Raider 42, the Raiders needed at least 10 more yards for a game-tying field goal. Then came the play that changed the history of the National Football League.

Brady dropped back to pass, but didn't see any open receivers. He pumped the ball, but the ball did not leave his hand. Then he was hit on his right by Charles Woodson, a fellow University of Michigan graduate. And at this point, the ball did leave Brady's hand, and fell to the ground. Raider linebacker Greg Biekert recovered. Raider ball.

Except referee Walt Coleman wasn't sure if it was a fumble or an incomplete pass. So he ruled it a fumble. A a call of "Fumble" would trigger an automatic instant replay review; while a call of "Incomplete pass" could not be reviewed. Whether that's fair or not, that was the rule of the time.

In 1999, the NFL instituted Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2: "When [an offensive] player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble."

If he was still moving the ball inward, to "tuck" the ball into his body when he lost possession, then this "Tuck Rule" would make the play in question an incomplete pass.

Beyond any question, Brady's arm had moved forward. Beyond any question, that movement stopped. If there was an attempt to pass, it had concluded. He then lost the ball.

In order to overturn a ruling, the replay must show that the ruling on the field was obviously wrong. The replay showed that the ruling on the field, a fumble, was absolutely correct. Therefore, the call should have stood, and the Raiders should have been given a 1st & 10, with good field position.

Instead, the ruling on the field was overturned: Incomplete pass. The Patriots kept the ball: 2nd & 10, on the Raider 42, with 1:47 to go.

Brady threw to David Patten for 13 yards and a 1st down. He threw passes intended for Troy Brown and Jermaine Williams, both falling incomplete. He ran up the middle for 1 yard. Belichick sent Adam Vinatieri in to kick a field goal. From 45 yards out. On natural grass. On frozen natural grass. In a snowstorm. With a little bit of wind. But the kick was good, and the game went to overtime.

The Patriots won the toss, and got the ball to start the overtime. They converted a 4th & 4 play, rather than attempt a game-winning 48-yard field goal into the wind. They got close enough for Vinatieri to try a 23-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the 1st overtime. It was good, and the Patriots had won, 16-13.

Under today's overtime rules, the team getting the ball first only kicking a field goal would not have ended the game. The Raiders would still have gotten the ball, with the chance to tie with a field goal or win with a touchdown. (This rule is designed to avoid long field goals giving a team a cheap overtime win, just because they won the coin toss. Had today's rules been in place then, and the Patriots scored a touchdown, the game would have been over immediately, and the Raiders would not have gotten a chance.)

The Patriots then beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, and upset the St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was the 1st of 9 Super Bowls that coach Belichick and quarterback Brady got to together, winning 6 of them.

Before this game, the Patriots had played 32 seasons, made the Playoffs 11 times, won 6 Division titles, reached 2 AFC Championship Games, and won both of them, but hadn't won a Super Bowl.

In the 22 seasons since, they've made the Playoffs 18 times, won 17 Division titles, reached 13 AFC Championship Games, won 9 of them, and won 6 Super Bowls.

Raiders owner Al Davis was enraged, to the point that he fired coach Gruden for not protesting the call enough. He replaced Gruden with Bill Callahan, and he led the Raiders to the AFC title the next season, reaching Super Bowl XXXVII, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- who had hired Gruden as their head coach. The Raiders haven't been back to the Super Bowl since then, and neither Davis' death and replacement as operating owner by his son Mark in 2011 nor their move to Las Vegas in 2020 has affected this.

In 2013, the Tuck Rule was abolished, by a vote of 29-1. The Patriots abstained from the vote, as did the team then known as the Washington Redskins. The only team to vote to keep it was, with a small amount of irony, the next team the Raiders beat after the game in question, the Steelers.

One more thing: Given the shady incidents in their history, and not just against the Patriots -- the 1978 "Holy Roller" play against the San Diego Chargers comes to mind -- the Raiders and their fans were on shaky ground saying that the Patriots had won unfairly. Right message? Maybe. But wrong messengers.

Still... There has never been a serious accusation of an NFL referee being paid to throw a game from one team to another. Doing it through incompetence, yes; through corruption, no. But if it turned out that the officials made the incorrect call on the replay because the Patriots paid them to, would anybody be surprised? 

Think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

In 2019, a poll ranked this game 15th on a list of the 100 Greatest Games of the NFL's 1st 100 years.

*

January 19, 2002 was a Saturday. In the other NFL Playoff game that day, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 33-19. It was the last game at the old Soldier Field in Chicago, before it was demolished and replaced with the new stadium known as The Eyesore On Lake Shore.

There were 13 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 97-89 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Houston Rockets, 99-90 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Charlotte Hornets, 91-89 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 116-107 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers, 100-88 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-103 at the Great American Pyramid in Memphis.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz, 106-103 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 98-81 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 94-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls, 77-69 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors, 105-102 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-93 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Denver Nuggets, 104-77 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

And there were 13 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 3-3 at the Meadowlands.

* The New York Islanders beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. (The New York Rangers were not scheduled.)

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 5-1 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Florida Panthers, 6-1 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Keith Tkachuk scored the winner with 1:31 left in overtime.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 1-0 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was temporarily known) in Edmonton.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-1 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the Compaq Center (now the SAP Center) in San Jose.