Winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate prize in football… and, thus, you might expect the moment that a player or coach finally gets their hands on the Lombardi trophy—it is nothing but pure excitement and joy.
Unfortunately, not every trophy presentation goes as smoothly as planned. In fact, we have seen some extremely awkward moments during the ceremonies meant to celebrate the league’s best over the years.
Without further ado, let’s take a look back and call out the 10 most aggressively awkward Lombardi trophy presentations of all time.
Take a look at the top 10 most awkward Super Bowl trophy presentations ever.
2018 Super Bowl
2018 was a big year for Philadelphia, as the Eagles finally secured their first Super Bowl win.
Diehards all over the City of Brotherly Love lost their minds, with actor and comedian Kevin Hart among them.
The only problem was—Hart wasn’t actually in Philly—he was at the game and made an intoxicated attempt to get on the stage with the team as the Lombardi Trophy was being presented.
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Leading to the ridiculous photo that later surfaced showing Hart seemingly arguing with a security guard that double him in size as he tried to get on the podium.
“Something in my head said, ‘I need to go down there with the team,’” Hart later told Conan O’Brien in an interview. “The city of Philadelphia wants to see me hold this trophy.”
Unfortunately for Hart… and, apparently… the city of Philadelphia—his mission was dead on arrival—leading to a memorable but extremely awkward trophy ceremony moment!
2001 Super Bowl
The 2001 Super Bowl was one of the most thorough beatdowns in Super Bowl history, as Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens curb-stomped the New York Giants 34 to 7.
Some of our younger fans may only remember the “preacher” version of Ray Lewis that we saw later in his career, but at the time, he was one of the last players that the NFL wanted under the spotlight, as he was at the center of a murder investigation from an altercation that took place following the prior year’s Super Bowl when he was in town as a spectator.
But as fate would have it, his Ravens found themselves atop the mountain the very next year, and Lewis earned MVP honors. It was an extremely uncomfortable trophy ceremony shortly thereafter.
For starters, Lewis was talking out of his backside during his entire interview, acting like the world was against them for no good reason…
Then he tripped over his words, saying, “We are the best ever, best ever, right now.”
And if that weren’t enough, there was the cringe soundbite from Art Modell—and the weirdest forced laugh these two ears have ever heard from then-commissioner Paul Taglibue. The NFL sure was lucky there was no social media at the time!
2008 Super Bowl
Now… I don’t want to begrudge a guy for getting emotional after a heck of an accomplishment, but Giants star receiver Plaxico Burress had a super awkward meltdown during his big moment in New York’s trophy ceremony.
Yes, it was a heck of a win, and he caught the game-winning touchdown and all that… so we aren’t going to blame him, but it’s still a weird moment!
And if that weren’t enough—Terry Bradshaw’s way-too-close interviews on the podium definitely secured this ceremony’s place on this list!
2017 Super Bowl
Say what you will about the 2000s and 2010s New England Patriots… they were arrogant, they were reviled, and they were, at times, known to push the boundaries when it comes to the NFL’s rules and regulations…
But when the chips were down, more often than not, they found a way to deliver.
And there is no better example of that than the 2016 – 2017 NFL season, when Brady and Belichick put together, perhaps, their most impressive campaign to date—on the heels of the Deflate Gate scandal.
For anyone who was lucky enough to have somehow missed the biggest non-story in the history of the NFL—Brady and the Patriots found themselves under Roger Goodell’s microscope after reports surfaced that the PSI in the footballs used during the 2014 AFC Championship Game between New England and Indianapolis, which was a massive blowout by the way, was lower than the league standard.
“11 of the 12 footballs used in the first half were judged by the officials to be under the minimum of 12.5 PSI, but just one was two pounds under. Many of them were just a few ticks under the minimum.”
While this may not seem like a big deal to anyone with an ounce of common sense, the NFL did what it does and built a mountain out of a molehill, putting the Patriots under a year-plus-long investigation, which resulted in Tom Brady receiving a four-game suspension during the aforementioned 2016 and owner Robert Kraft paying a $1 million dollar fine.
The Patriots, however, rallied off three wins in four tries during Brady’s absence and marched all the way to the Super Bowl, where they pulled off the greatest comeback in the history of the big game and Brady earned MVP honors on the back of 466 passing yards, two touchdowns, and a game-tying 91 yard drive in the final minute of play.
Needless to say, the exchanges between Commissioner Goodell and the Patriots big three were as awkward as humanly possible. For a group that had plenty of good wins, this one had to be up there! Especially with how they got to rub it in Goodell’s face in front of the whole world.
1984 Super Bowl
While our modern NFL fans may think that Robert Kraft vs. Roger Goodell is the ultimate owner commissioner rivalry—many NFL historians would argue that today’s duo couldn’t hold a candle to the animosity between NFL mogul and former Raiders owner, Al Davis, and then commissioner Pete Rozelle.
These two had a blood feud back in the 1980s—and when his squad climbed to the top of the NFL universe in 1984, knocking off a defending champion Washington side in emphatic fashion, 38 to 9, he had the opportunity to stare his enemy in the face as he received the trophy.
Just all-time stuff right there!
2006 Super Bowl
When an NFL owner gets to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, it’s supposed to be a moment of pure triumph. Years of work, millions of dollars spent, and a lifetime of dedication to the franchise all come together in one euphoric declaration of victory.
For Dan Rooney, that moment arrived after the Steelers took down the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
And while the win itself was historic—securing Pittsburgh’s first championship since the 1970s—the trophy presentation? That was unintentionally hilarious due to the geriatric’s brutal voice crack on the mic.
I get that you were… thrilled… Mr. Rooney, but what happened there?! Voice cracks are supposed to be reserved for teenagers going through puberty—not grown men with snow-white heads of hair!
It’s the kind of thing that would have instantly gone viral in today’s social media world. If Twitter had been around in 2006, there’s no doubt this would have been auto-tuned into a remix by the following morning.
Of course… Flags fly forever… but so do YouTube clips of the embarrassing moments celebrating said flags!
2020 Super Bowl
Kansas City had been waiting a long, long time to lift the Lombardi Trophy, so when Clark Hunt, the Chiefs’ chairman and CEO, took the mic to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl LIV victory, it should have been a euphoric, chest-thumping moment for Kansas City.
Instead, it was… well, a little weird, to say the least.
Hunt, standing proudly next to Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of the Chiefs’ brass, took the mic, rambled on for a bit, then triumphantly declared:
“To the Chiefs kingdom, you guys are world champions… AGAIN!”
The cadence was a little off… but to be expected… it wasn’t until he dropped an unexpected “Woo!” perhaps even to himself that the ceremony really went off the rails in terms of awkwardness.
Now, don’t get it twisted—the Chiefs Kingdom was absolutely fired up. But this wasn’t a natural, in-the-moment eruption of emotion. It felt more like a dad trying a little too hard to hype up the crowd at a wedding toast.
You have to think that Mahomes and Reid, standing nearby, had to have that yucky “hmm… Alright then…” feeling!
Back in 2020, this was just a slightly cringeworthy moment. Four years and multiple Super Bowls later, it now looks like the early stages of Kansas City morphing into the new Patriots—dominant but insufferable to anyone outside of their fanbase.
2015 Super Bowl
If you think that NFL players have big egos—how about their billionaire owners?!
Take the New England Patriots Robert Kraft, for example!
The man seemed to lose himself during his speech during the ceremony after their admittedly epic win over the Seahawks in the 2015 Super Bowl.
I get that he experienced all of the highs and lows in a matter of minutes, with the game seemingly being over before Pete Carroll and co. made one of the most infamous mistakes in NFL history, throwing the ball from the goal line despite having the league’s most bruising back at the time, Marshawn Lynch, ready to bowl into the endzone and secure the team’s second consecutive championship…
But still!
That doesn’t excuse Kraft from going on some bizarre diatribe comparing his various Super Bowl wins and inadvertently stating that this win was more impactful than the one that he, for some reason, believed healed the nation following the tragedy of 9/11.
Uhh, okay… Mr. Kraft—whatever you say… I guess.
And if that wasn’t enough to make the ceremony as a whole cringeworthy—how about the brutal interview of head coach Bill Belichick when the NFL exec made the mistake of asking Belichick if he thought he’d win another Super Bowl again—given the 10-year gap since his last championship.
Man… If looks could kill! Bill looked like he was ready to throw his ands on the spot, but he managed to keep his composure and responded in classic Belichick fashion. The man didn’t even flinch! And understandably so!
It takes gall to ask a man like Bill Belichick such a question in that tone… especially after a massive win like that!
The cherry on top of a bizarre trophy ceremony—though—one fitting for the end of that year’s Super Bowl if you ask me!
2000 Super Bowl
NFL owners have a lot of money… yes. But that doesn’t mean that they are always the brightest nor are they the most eloquent of speakers.
If you need evidence of this, look no further than the speech that Georgia Frontiere delivered after her St. Louis Rams knocked off the Titans in the 2000 Super Bowl 23 – 16.
“Belongs…. Belongs!”
Get the point, Georgia!
2009 Super Bowl
During the early years of the league, few NFL players dominated the headlines the same way that Broadway Joe Namath did.
The former New York Jets quarterback was one of the best signal callers of his generation and, in many ways, a cultural icon.
However, he, like many, struggled to keep his footing once his playing days came to an end and developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, which worsened in the early 2000s following his divorce and came to a head during a humiliating exchange with Suzy Kolber during a sideline interview.
In Namath’s book, he calls that moment a turning point in his life. “I saw it as a blessing in disguise,” says Namath, who admitted to being drunk during the interview. “I had embarrassed my friends and family and could not escape that feeling. I haven’t had a drink since.
All the credit to Namath for cleaning up his act and getting sober, but his entrance during the 2009 Super Bowl ceremony when he was tasked with delivering the trophy was still mighty awkward.
I’m sure he was feeling the pressure of the moment—or maybe he just got caught up in the moment…
But still, his march through the champion Steelers, who knocked off the Cardinals in dramatic fashion, was hard to watch.
Something about the way he was twitching and couldn’t stop barking at the players was just an awkward moment for anyone watching.
