“That is Steve Tasker, sideline reporter for the Tremendous Bowl 47. In case you’re anticipating to listen to our pal Jim Nantz, it could be a second earlier than he will get on.”
When the audio of Tremendous Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens abruptly lower out early within the third quarter on Feb. 3, 2013, the thousands and thousands watching the CBS broadcast may need suspected one thing was amiss.
When Tasker, assigned to work the 49ers sideline, was the primary voice anybody heard, it was confirmed. There was no energy within the broadcast sales space, elevators and escalators floor to a halt and so did the sport — for 34 minutes.
“Half the facility in New Orleans stadium, the Superdome right here, is out,” Tasker introduced to the world.
For some Ravens gamers, the stoppage was suspicious. Jacoby Jones had returned the second-half kickoff 108 yards for a landing, Baltimore was main 28-6 and the Ravens had simply sacked 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick on second down. The Tremendous Bowl was about to be a rout after which the lights went out? Linebacker Ray Lewis smelled a rat.
“You can’t inform me somebody wasn’t sitting there, and once they say, ‘The Ravens (are) about to blow them out. Man, we higher do one thing,’” he stated in an interview for NFL Movies’ “America’s Recreation” later that yr. “That’s an enormous shift in any sport, in all seriousness.”
The precise rationalization was extra mundane. A newly put in system known as a relay routinely lower energy to the stadium when the amperage hit a sure stage as a result of the manufacturing facility settings have been too low.
Entergy, the native electrical firm, vows that received’t occur Sunday when the Tremendous Bowl returns to New Orleans for the primary time in 12 years. The corporate not makes use of the tools answerable for the blackout, there are higher redundancies for electrical circulation and the stadium has hosted greater than a decade of New Orleans Saints video games and concert events since with out incident.
GO DEEPER
From Tremendous Bowls to ‘final resort,’ Michael Jordan to ‘No mas,’ the Superdome has seen all of it
These concert events, considerably, have included Beyonce, whose halftime present in 2013 preceded the blackout, and Taylor Swift, who introduced 200,000 followers to the Caesars Superdome over three nights in October.
“Some known as that weekend the last word tabletop train,” Entergy stated in a press release.
Whereas the 49ers chuckle at Lewis’ conspiracy principle — “We had the identical delay they did,” offensive deal with Joe Staley stated — there’s no query they benefited from the reset.
They barrelled into their locker room at halftime intent on fixing the whole lot that had gone incorrect within the first half, shortly going over the tactical adjustments they’d make. Then they’d nowhere to go.
A Tremendous Bowl halftime is twice so long as a regular-season model and since there was a lot staging tools, the gamers couldn’t get onto the sector. As an alternative, they have been cooped up within the locker room.
The 49ers notice that the Ravens obtained away with a holding penalty in opposition to fullback Bruce Miller on Jones’ kick-return landing to start out the third quarter. However there additionally was a way that the lengthy halftime had an impact.
“I bear in mind coach (Jim) Harbaugh arising and asking, ‘Have been we warmed up?’” the 49ers power coach on the time, Mark Uyeyama, recalled. “And I’m going, ‘Uhhh — clearly (Jones) was.’”
The 49ers then ran two performs — a 29-yard go to Michael Crabtree and a 3-yard run by Frank Gore — earlier than Kaepernick was sacked by Arthur Jones. Following that play, colour commentator Phil Simms was in mid-sentence when the published went silent at 7:37 p.m. native time.
The 49ers had the ball trailing 28-6 when the facility abruptly went out within the Superdome. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Photos)
An assault? A shooter? These ideas flashed by way of everybody’s thoughts. The Sandy Hook taking pictures had occurred a month and a half earlier and the 49ers had been available at a sport in New England the place the victims have been remembered.
“The very first thing that went by way of my head is an act of terrorism,” then-49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman stated. “And what’s coming subsequent? First, they lower the facility. And now what? My complete household’s there.”
“I actually thought it was a terrorist assault initially,” stated Wink Martindale, then the Ravens’ inside linebackers coach. “You simply didn’t know. Instantly, you’re trying up the place your loved ones is sitting and the whole lot else to verify everybody was OK.”
After a couple of moments, these ideas dissipated. There was an preliminary groan from the gang, however there was no panic or commotion. The Superdome was quiet.
“To their credit score, everybody remained calm,” Tasker stated in a cellphone interview.
“Why is the clock stopped?”
Throwback to the lights going out throughout Ravens vs. 49ers in Tremendous Bowl XLVII 💡😳 pic.twitter.com/BD5qbuhjmq
— NFL Movies (@NFLFilms) December 25, 2023
He stated everybody’s first job was to seek out out what occurred and the way lengthy the sport can be delayed. The sideline reporters had stopped utilizing wi-fi microphones six years earlier throughout wet Tremendous Bowl XLI as a result of these mics had gone out. Tasker had a cable hooked up to his mic in New Orleans that stretched solely so far as the numbers on the sector. The league officers he wished to interview have been safely huddled at midfield and didn’t need to be interviewed on digital camera. So he strolled to midfield, obtained as a lot data as he might, then was approached by Jim Harbaugh on his method again to the sideline.
“He wished to know what they advised me,” Tasker stated.
The 49ers had a bonus in that they’d gone by way of one thing related the yr earlier than when a transformer blew outdoors of Candlestick Park, inflicting two delays throughout a “Monday Night time Soccer” sport in opposition to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Uyeyama stated he reminded gamers how nicely they’d dealt with that wait on the sideline.
“We have been higher ready than we have been in opposition to Pittsburgh,” Uyeyama stated. “And we’d put (Ben) Roethlisberger on his again all sport. So we have been strolling round and speaking with the blokes, ‘Keep in mind, Pittsburgh.’”
The groups initially have been advised the sport would resume in about quarter-hour and that everybody ought to stay on the sector. They heard the identical chorus — quarter-hour — once they checked in later.
“The longer it went, you needed to get your self again in teaching mode,” Martindale stated. “It was like, ‘Holy s—, we now have to start out stretching.’ We knew we have been in hassle. I do know analytics say there’s no such factor as momentum, however that’s bulls—. The lights going out modified the momentum of the sport. We have been killing them when the lights went out. We had an older group than them and it actually took us some time to get unfastened once more and get going.”
Mentioned 49ers security Donte Whitner: “Soccer is a sport primarily based on momentum. And each time you’ve a lull like that, it’s alternative for the group that’s not enjoying nicely to regroup and recuperate.”
He stated linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman mentioned technique. Justin Smith, the elder statesman of the protection, made positive everybody stayed targeted and calm.
“I bear in mind vividly listening to Dashon Goldson proceed to say, ‘Not at the moment. Not at the moment. We’re too good. We’re too nice of a protection,’” Whitner recalled. “And what he was referring to was, ‘Let’s not make the straightforward errors that may beat us.’”
The blackout formally final 34 minutes and appeared to result in an enormous momentum swing for the 49ers. (Jamie Squire / Getty Photos)
On offense, Roman made solely a fast go to to the locker room at halftime. The 49ers had scored solely two discipline targets at that time and he wanted to remodel the complete sport plan. Roman spoke briefly to the gamers, then approached Harbaugh.
“I simply stated, ‘Hey, Jim, I’ve gotta get upstairs and get issues found out,’” Roman stated.
He was again within the coach’s sales space earlier than Beyonce started her present and felt good in regards to the alterations he’d made.
“Then they returned the kickoff and it was like the value of poker has modified even larger,” Roman stated. “It was like, ‘Oh my God. Now we’re in fairly a gap.’”
He made much more changes after the stadium misplaced energy. The radio headsets connecting him and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to the sideline didn’t work and in reality have been one of many final issues to return on-line earlier than the sport resumed.
So Roman bounced performs and concepts off of receivers coach John Morton. The 49ers would run the ball often to maintain Lewis and the Ravens protection trustworthy. In any other case, they’d assault by way of the air.
“We have been gonna be ultra-aggressive,” Roman stated. “We had a lot expertise on the group, it was solely a matter of time.”
He was proper. The 49ers punted instantly after play resumed however scored on a 31-yard Kaepernick-to-Crabtree go once they obtained the ball again. Then they scored on their subsequent three possessions, chopping Baltimore’s result in 31-29 with just below 10 minutes to play. It was as if the blackout had created two distinct video games.
“It was like a monitor meet from that time ahead,” Roman stated.
However whereas the Ravens scored as soon as extra — on a Justin Tucker 38-yard discipline aim — the 49ers offense obtained slowed down deep within the crimson zone within the ultimate minutes.
San Francisco appeared to have an excellent shot for a go-ahead landing after Gore’s 33-yard run to the 7-yard line with 2:39 to go. That carry, nonetheless, left Gore — the most effective short-yardage runners within the NFL — winded and his substitute, LaMichael James, was stopped for a 2-yard acquire on first down.
A quarterback keeper that doubtless would have scored a landing was worn out when Jim Harbaugh known as a timeout to keep away from a play-clock violation. When the final of three throws to Crabtree within the nook of the top zone sailed over the receiver’s head, the Ravens knew they’d lastly halted San Francisco’s momentum and held on for the win.
“If we’d have misplaced that sport, I’d have walked away saying, ‘It was as a result of the facility went out and the lengthy delay,’” Martindale stated. “We have been simply killing them in any other case.”
Mentioned Roman: “Sadly, it simply wasn’t sufficient. That was a weird day in our lives, for positive.”
Regardless of being the lone face and the voice for the Tremendous Bowl broadcast for a couple of unsure minutes, Tasker stated he didn’t obtain a lot consideration following the sport. As an alternative, his cellphone began blowing up six days later when “Saturday Night time Dwell” — with Taran Killam enjoying Tasker — spoofed the blackout with a chilly open.
“That’s after I knew I’d lastly made it,” Tasker stated with fun.
(High photograph: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Photos)
