This hungover, old as dirt backup became a Super Bowl legend
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- Опубликовано: 28 янв 2020
- Maybe you’ve heard this story. It’s been told a lot, although perhaps not like this. The upshot is that before the first ever NFL-AFL championship game (the precursor to the Super Bowl) a 34-year-old backup Green Bay Packers receiver named Max McGee stayed out really late drinking and partying. He figured he wasn’t going to play in the big game, so why not?
And then the first-string receiver got badly hurt. Suddenly a VERY hungover player was called upon to play championship-level football in front of thousands of people. Remarkably, he succeeded, scoring the first touchdown in Super Bowl history and putting up near-MVP numbers in a Green Bay victory.
If you have heard this story, it’s probably been with a chuckle of admiration, but we need to stop and think about how horrifying that must have been. Anyone who’s ever been asked to perform when they were ill-prepared or otherwise unqualified (as it turns out Clara very much has) knows how sickening that feeling must be.
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Hey! Thanks to those of you who noticed that we initially uploaded a draft version of this video.
To those of you who missed our mistake ... this is why you gotta subscribe! If you get notifications you can catch our screw-ups before we do!!!!!!!!!!!!
You didn’t put the photo last time
I just thought I was being told to search the pictures. I did. No ragrets.
@@shavturtle1213 yeah
I was gonna say, I wanna see the photo too!
love this video
Can't believe the NFL has us forget the fact that Vince Lombardi's head was actually the shape of the trophy smh
Jeeves Anthrozaur wait what
RajunCajun34 I’m not from the sixtys
@RajunCajun34 y r u geh
@RajunCajun34 And the award for Joke That Went the Furthest Over Someone's Head goes too...
@RajunCajun34 r/woooosh
Dude slays two flight attendants, didn't sleep, drunk af and still pulled off the game of his life. Epic.
That's our Max!
certified G
thats the bro legend attitude that they were talking about
"Slays"
That's prime douche bag bro speak.
@@trivialtrav shut your face snowflake
You missed the banter afterwards with the press. Many reporters knew, having seen him out on the town that evening, or were in the hotel lobby when he returned in the morning. Well impressed at the post game presser, they asked how he managed it. Max replied that he ran his route, looked up and saw double vision, two balls coming through the air towards him, but when he held up his hands, he noticed that he had 4 arms, and it wasn't a problem.
All you need is 4 arms. You could get so much done that way.
that is hilarious
Fun fact: he didn’t have 100 receiving yards that year. Total
Put a different way, at the time he had the 17th most receiving yards for a 34-year old
OC Beezilla nice channel💀
spybloom yeah but how many 34 year old players are there? 17?
Lucas Castilleja I will turn you into the gangs next mystery buddy
Cus he was 2nd string
This guy only had 4 receptions for 91 yards over the entire regular season. Pops off while hungover for 7 recs, 138 yards, 2TDs in the Superbowl
Google search: "does booze make you better at football"
and when his number was called, he didn't want to go in...but apparently he was partying all night in Hollywood, the eve of the game...
@@chrisrosevids He was so hungover he probably concentrated so hard on everything not to appear wasted.
should've been doing that the whole time....
@@chrisrosevids the first player ever caught for using a banned substance in the Olympics was for alcohol, it was considered performance enhancing for shooters because it steadied the hands. The guys name escapes me but he was one of those cross country skiers that stops to shot along the course
I feel like McGee didn't want to be out there and realized the quickest way off the field (without deliberately sabotaging his own team) was to just score.
It's like when you have to do something right as you wake up. You get up groggy, do the thing perfectly somehow, then go back to sleep.
They didn’t touch on the fact that it was a one handed catch on a ball way behind him. Even more impressive!
Yeah, and he wasn't even trying to catch that pass, he was just trying to break up a possible interception and he said the ball just stuck in his hand. Awesome.
Cameron Walter lol
Uncultured Barbarian lol x2
And without gloves or stick-um.
Wait what ..... is that guy who made that famous one hand rec play
Max McGee was the best man in my grandparents wedding.
Did he do an amazing job despite a terrible hangover? I mean, that would establish a pattern.
My dad was friends with Max and Paul Horning. I met them, and also met and talked with Vince Lombardi at a business event my dad put on. I have a photo.
Wisconsin was much more rural back then.
That's awesome.
Did Chi Chi's cater it? That was Max's cash cow baby. Seriously.
@@carefulcarpenterVince loved Wisconsin. He was the inspiration to many Catholics in Wisconsin and the UP.
RE: Iron Mountain, Michigan. Best friends Steve "Mooch" Marucci and Tom Izzo. They emulate Vince to this very day in every aspect of their personal and professional lives. Very down to earth people.
“He’s old as dirt”
Me: wow I wonder how old?
“He’s 34”
*me sitting here 35 years old: you mother......
I write Checks at the grocery store. So? 34 is old as dirt when it comes to football players
Andi Sanchez thanks for crushing my NFL dreams.
I'm gonna be 37 next month.
They all need an Awesome Kong backfist.
Children please....
Chico Dalianis I think you mean @man children”... 😂😂
Max McGee being hungover is the most Wisconsin thing to happen at the Superbowl
He could have been sick from eating raw meat like they do out there too.
most Tulane thing
It’s pretty adorable that they had to bring a box out so Clara’s feet didn’t dangle off the ground in the video
It almost looks like a Lord of the Rings style forced perspective shot to make her tiny
Yeah, I just really noticed that now - despite having seen this video a few times before.
Clara looks positively tiny.
The neglect to mention that McGee's first TD was a spectacular ONE-HANDED catch. Throw was well behind him as he was running across the middle. In telling the tale, McGee said he just put his hand out behind him and the ball stuck. What a legend.
He had to run 30-35 yards after the catch to score, which makes it even more remarkable.
@@milwaukeejt Yeah, he nabbed that ball out from behind him barely breaking his stride.
I suspect hearing that the ball stuck in his hand makes me believe Tom Brady was the ball boy that day!
"Elderly" Max McGee as he was sometimes known, did more in the Super Bowl than all season that year.
He did live pretty decently long though
Regular Season: 4 Receptions, 91 yards and 1 TDS; Super Bowl: 7 Receptions, 138 yards, 2 TDS
He stepped up when destiny called. Hero.
Max Mcgee is the founder of Chi-Chi's also
cool info also
Drew Price seriously
@@akllls617 Just Wikipedia'd it, and yup. It's true. Apparently, he was quite the restaurant buff. And when one considers his lifestyle away from the game, perhaps it's fitting that he'd stay in the restaurant business.
Also an early investor in Pizza Hut prior to Chi-Chi's. McGee made millions after his football career was over.
Everyone loves Chi Chi's.
Max was the color commentator on the Packer's Radio Network for years. Best moment (to me) was 1995 or '96. Play-by-play announcer Jim Erwin announced that Tampa Bay WR Alvin Harper was injured on the sideline. The trainer was taping his fingers, and accidentally cut Harper's finger when cutting the tape. Max, deadpan: "Good thing it wasn't a groin injury." A few seconds of silence was broken by Erwin finally failing to stifle his laughter.
WE LIKE SPORTS AND WE DONT CARE WHO KNOWS
kofie thank you for being on the ball and getting to this twice
FROM SHOOTING HOOPS TO THE SUPER BOWL
football football football
tennis
hockey
golf
I'm so glad people got the reference. I thought I was alone with my obsession of the Lonely Island
@@matthewkrager5754 "or as i call em, samberg and the other couplea fellas"
His teammates celebrated by dumping a bloody Mary on his head
Steve Jobs celebrated by dumping him in a bath full of clamato juice 😂
Haha...that would've been badass to see.
You made a video tangentially related to the Chiefs without Jon, I’m disappointed in you SB.
Waffles The Wookiee any vídeo without Jon is a wasted opportunity
"I looked up and I saw 2 balls."
"What did you do."
"Well, I had 4 hands so I caught both of them."
-Max McGee (supposedly)
Nobody:
1967 Super Bowl starting Quarterback: Ima smoke me a cigarette
A L WHO????
@@liamryan7239 exactly
wow yall sure know your football
You have to talk about Doc Ellis' No-hitter while he was tripping on acid
Alice Ellis it would have been cool to see the footage, but the MLB deleted it cause they we’re embarrassed
YES
Dock
that sounds like hell but good for him lol
Literally the first thing I thought of. One of my favorite stories.
Max was described by Jerry Kramer as the most gifted natural athlete he'd ever known. Anything from ping pong to golf Max was a natural.
Actually it was the fear of getting Lombardi's shoe halfway up his ass that caused an adrenaline spike that contributed to the superb performance!
Appreciate “What do you do with a Drunken Sailor?” Instrumental as a subtler drunk guy reference
It’s up as she rises by Sam Spence, the composer for the old NFL films soundtracks. It’s on RUclips
Though it's an old pirate song....that's a Raider tune and I'm offended that it's used for Packers
@@robkitchen5344 No! They used that song in a ton of the OLD NFL Films! I would love to see some of those old 60's and early 70's films. Go Pack!
It begs the question, would he have performed as well if he'd obeyed the curfew and not been hungover. Not wanting to be the guy who screwed up and lost the game must've been a huge motivator.
....and he went on to co-found a dozen steak houses and a little place called Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant! ....also while hung-over.
Max Mcgee's touchdown was legendary! It was a one-handed catch that was WELL underthrown!
And way behind him too
When I was in the army I went to the beer hall one night and ended up having WAY too much. I stumbled back to my barracks about midnight. Got the usual 5 am wakeup and completely forgot there was a 12 mile regimental run. I've never had such an horrendous hangover in my life. The ONLY reason I didn't die was that I was able to time my beating head with my footfalls as I ran. It was impossible for me to sing the cadence so I just didn't. I remember at one point asking the guy next to me to please not yell so loud and he almost got sick from my breath. Yes,.. it was that bad. I didn't puke or fall out of the run. But it was hell. One of the worst things I ever did to myself. But I pulled it off.
Right on right on.
Every morning for us with the corp man
@@jakemac1396 That's badass. Build that mental toughness.
My first platoon sergeant once commented to us, "You aren't a real soldier if you can't do what you need to do while stone drunk. Do not drink and drive in my platoon." The man lived up to his word, too. I don't think I ever saw him sober on a field problem and everyone up to brigade was afraid of him. He started his career as a Marine LRRP.
@@Knight81976 That was when the more you drank,the better you were liked.I remember those days in Germany in the Army in 1974.LOTS of drunks,and hangovers.I don't think it is that way now,or I hope not anyway.
At Super Bowl I, a little-known quarterback named Elmer Bruker was on the sideline for the Green Bay Packers. He did not play.
He had good training as a college player at Tulane in New Orleans.
@@hankb1604 Nine years later with the Steelers, he was slated to start...but was injured during the coin toss.
@@Tubewings how do you get injured during the coin toss? Did he trip or something?
@@ramblingsunglassesguy I believe the coin landed on his head, as he was holding it when he was carried off the field on a stretcher.
@@Tubewings that makes...some sense
"I ain't as good as I once was but I'm as good once, as I ever was." Sums up Max on that day.
Putting Clara and Ryan on the same couch makes this whole video feel like one of those forced perspective optical illusion pictures.
Underrated comment
Didn't even mention that first Super Bowl touchdown catch was thrown way behind him when he was crossing the field and he basically reached behind him with one hand to catch it without slowing down and ran it in for a touchdown. It's legit one of the best catches in Super Bowl history.
As one of three grandchildren of McGee, I get a kick out of hearing other people surmise what he was like and how he must have felt. I can tell you, echoing Jerry Kramer, that he was a natural at everything he did. Though he had a "carefree" attitude, he never took anything for granted and helped out as many of his friends as he could (aka he used his popularity and sway to help Fuzzy Thurston keep his bar up and running for a long time). He did the crossword puzzle every single morning, made the best ribs I've ever had, and I miss him everyday. The catch is an example of his greatness, but it extends far beyond the game.
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing! Did he talk about the super bowl much?
Max was my dad’s cousin
I’m 54 now and in those pictures he looks easily my age! I can’t believe how old he looked. I googled him and they had pictures of him on that day - and he looked like death warmed over!!
That’s what I wanna be remembered for someday...
Get strung up and still win a ring? Yes!
Edmonton Boy First one, they didn’t have em
Baseball season is almost back! Talk about Dock Ellis’ LSD no hitter
Brandon Laird Dock LS-D no hitter
Thiz comment aged like a fine wine
@Mdmchannel that's bs you dont see different people while tripping
@Mdmchannel no that is bs. It isnt able to create people. Stop cappin
I was thinking about that one too.
Did Clara's team actually have to forfeit the game? She never said if they found out. I need to know this!
THANK YOU
And, if not, now that she's confessed to the world, will they go back in the record books and make them forfeit now, a la the NCAA?
Following
I actually have played under those rules, I was in the same district as her school (Walter Johnson, she went to Walt Whitman, what ever) those rules are not enforced I have skipped a lot of classes and played with no repercussions it’s mostly the team that enforced itself but coach me having good grades never found out so yea it was interesting I understand the first time it happened I was nervous a bit but a few a few days passed nothing happened
@@coleholland9414 just like sitting waiting for your coach to single you out and say this A-hole cost us our win because they skipped class
This is why Ben Roethlisberger was so good when he was dealing with broken bones and injuries during his prime.
And raping women
@@brokenking5044 and fumbling the snap in a playoffs game
Bless your voice, please do all the beef history from now until the end of time! Don’t change it!
I see your music choice, SB Nation.
What better way to celebrate this era of the NFL
Great video, as always
Damn, he should’ve been blitzed for the entire season, he wrecked that defense with his drunken sway.
If I don't even know what I'm about to do how could you possible know?
Truly a tactical play by this man.
What makes you think he wasn't?
imagine how offputting it'd be to line up against someone who looked like they might hurl at any second...
These random little known stories are the most fascinating and interesting videos to me.
If only they presented them in an interesting non boring actually entertaining way rather than 3 boring losers having an embarrassing conversation about a story none of them really know anything about.... yes so interesting
Love this channel, have watched almost all the videos.
This ladies voice is killing that.
Love the use of "Drunken Sailor" in the background lmao
The first touchdown in a super bowl was a behind the back one handed catch by an old drunk party animal backup in the 60s who could barely see. Only in America
My whole soccer team showed up like that for the first game of every tournament. Fortunately so did the opposition.
SB Nation, you've managed to take a story that I'm aware of and make it even more interesting. Kudos!
Glad to have him as my profile picture!
Max McGee is legendary for this in the state of Wisconsin. :D
True story. I knew Max McGee. When I asked him about this story, he said everything these folks described. I'll add one thing: He was sitting next to Paul Hornung on the bench; they were making plans for Hornung's upcoming wedding in Beverly Hills. And that's when Lombardi yelled for him to get ready to go into the game. By the way, how many players on the KC Chiefs defense became all-pros or Hall of Famers? (Buch Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Fred Williamson had great careers; their CBs had 10 INTs each that year in the pass-crazy AFL.) Great story, for sure.
I'm Max McGee and I slept with your wife and mother
My father knew McGee very well. We lived very close to Lambeau(close enough that our old house was demolished to build a new parking lot years ago). He knew most of those guys back in the day when seeing Packers around GB, DePere etc...was nothing out of the ordinary. Fuzzy Thurston, McGee, Gregg and a couple others used to have a few "highballs" at the same neighborhood tavern my Dad would go to after work almost every day for his two beers. After they won SB I, they all showed up the next week and "rang the bell" a few times. Had a bunch of food brought in and promised that if they won again next year...they'd do the same. Guess what???? They did!lol! McGee was a long time voice for GB football and was a real hoot!
McGee's first touchdown was apparently against Kansas City's defensive back Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, who's had a good career as an actor for decades. Williamson appeared in an episode of Star Trek (The Original Series) and the film versions of M*A*S*H and From Dusk til Dawn. He was also a staple of blaxploitation movies like Black Caesar, it's sequel Hell Up In Harlem and the Black Cobra series.
I remember him he was in From Dusk tl Dawn and I'm Gonna Get You Sucka
B list actor
He also had one of the if not the first of the "spectacular catches" in the superbowl
I remember living in a world where 34 was "old as dirt."
Thanks for sharing this. Max is my 3rd cousin on my dad's side of the family.. His dad Bob McGee and my great-grandmother Effie Warren were siblings.
"When it's third and ten, you take the milk drinkers. I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time." -Max McGee-
True Nords drink mead.
That's sounds like something Ken stabler would say
The chief Keef of the 60s
I like that they’re playing “drunken sailor” in the back
NFL Films used that music in nearly all of their highlights films back then.
NFL Films music by it does sound piratey sometimes
With a name like Max McGee you know he’s destined for great things.
If this were ECW the chant would start now
If the Sandman played Football moment
E c dub
He had a day after he had a night
Max McGee had great hands. One of his touchdowns was when he reached back for an under thrown pass and pulled it in with one hand right in front of the defensive back who had good coverage on him.
I have never enjoyed sports, but I am loving these videos.
Really, all sports?
I guess you could say Max McGee became a very assimilated Wisconsinite over the course of his career.
Oddly.... for those of us who actually were AROUND then and watched the game (B/W of course) , there was ZERO mention of Max's debilitating condition !! He was simply.... Crafty Veteran, Max Magee.... HERO !!!
A couple of things. First, love the use of NFL Films covers of “Drunken Sailor”, probably the best and most often use in various ways by NFL Films. Second, Barr Starr completes 16 passes in 23 attempts, meaning he likely targeted McGee at least 1/3 of the time.
Great story, but I just watched the video of that game and he was wearing what appeared to be his regular helmet. If he went into the game wearing a lineman's helmet, he had changed it by the time he caught that first TD pass (which was an incredible catch, btw).
A similar story: Ralph Houk told Mickey Mantle that he would have the day off, so the Mick tied one on the night before. He overslept and made it to the park in the eighth inning, massively hungover, nauseated, head throbbing. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Houk sent Mantle up to pinch hit, and he promptly hit a walkoff home run. The crowd went bat guano, and as he crossed the plate, he said to Roger Maris, who was on base ahead of him, "Those people have no idea how much I deserve that applause."
Imagine Max not catching that Td .....
‘Told y’all to leave me on bench’
The part I love the most is him saying "I was so hungover that when they threw it to me I saw two balls and didnt know which one to catch, luckily enough I saw 4 hands so it was easy to grab!"
One of the best radio announcers ever as well
While in the Navy were were on liberty overseas but had our PT test the next day so we weren't going to drink but maybe a couple beers. I was 20 so that didn't work out. Got back late and pretty much didn't get any sleep so went to do my pushups, situps, and mile and a half run in an inebriated state and kind of nervous. Turned out I had my best score that morning. Like I said...20 years old. This was 1989 as well, things were much more lenient than todays Navy.
The only thing I can relate this to is my jr year I was on jv soccer and decided to smoke a joint before a game cuz it was JV and I wasn’t starting. Coach decided I was a better fit if I started. That was fun
Most of my varsity football team came to games high and still balled out, I never understood that.
I play in a semi pro baseball league every summer and most of the college kids get blazed out of their minds before games. It's pretty normal, just calms em down. Bullpen pitchers are always high I swear.
i remember watching this game in 1967. funny thing was everyone was worried that Paul Hornug was going to be out of it. he was a bigger party animal than Max Magee. Hornug is the guy in the background of the photo of Magee.
I played college volleyball at penn state. We had a match once on Sunday in the spring vs Ohio state. That Saturday just so happen to be the first real day of spring and both teams had no matches.... the entire town was throwing down, funnest day I’ve had out there. Both teams were partying. The match the next Sunday afternoon was the worst volleyball I’d seen at that level. Guys we’re throwing up in match and you could visibly see guys with the shakes. Now you don’t see Sunday games in ncaa volleyball all thanks to the 2014 penn state and Ohio state men’s volleyball programs. 😁some people can play well hung over others don’t Hahahaha this dudes a legend.
A drunk receiver winning the Super Bowl is the most Wisconsin thing ever.
I actually watched that game live.
reminded of one of the great moments in Buffalo Bills history - in the 1992-1993 playoffs, Jim Kelly's backup leads a 32 point comeback against the Oilers. Kelly had gotten injured the last game of the regular season. Frank Reich (now Colts HC) was sober as far as we know. Dock Ellis was not. He pitched a no hitter for the Pirates while he was on LSD (by his story, he got high thinking it was the day before gameday)
Known as "elderly Max" and a real partier, he was still very agile and looked like he caught those passes (one with one hand) with ease.
High school Clara is adorable! 😄
SB Nation is a magical place where Half-Giants, Halflings and a Maia (Jonbois the Red) all work and I love it!
I played Semi Pro Football (should be called Extended Amateur League Football) until I was 62 years old. I had a 24 yard Kickoff return in that game. Loved it and if given the chance would play again at 70-71 years old. Turn 71 in July this year.
The Kings-Timberwolves game should be a rewinder someday
Two things... 1: Secret Base, if you call 34 "Old as Dirt" and Brady just won another Super Bowl at 43... You have no idea what old is... 2: It does not matter what type of defense the Chiefs had, a 37 yard touchdown catch and run, is still a pain in the ass to run when you are hungover. Anyone who played in beer league hockey tournaments knows what it feels like to play with a hangover.
Hey SB Nation I just finished the last one of your videos and have now watched every single one you have posted can you please post five a day so I can keep it up thanks
One of my all-time favorite sports stories! 😃😃😃
Wait, I think Clara and I went to the same high school!
Dating myself, I saw the game on the tube. Yeah Max was good. KC defensive backs were weak. Fred "the hammer" Williamson was burned several Times. "The hammer" went on to have a minor film career.
I liked the NFL films music you guys had going on. Just wished you guys showed Max McGee's crazy catch in that game
The NFL films version of "Drunken Sailor," no less.
Bwahahahhaha!! Love this story! Sounds like something a college kid would do, not a 34 year old !! LOL Years ago, on TV, I remember watching an NFL Films episode where an old player being interviewed about some championship game recalled how at practice the day before the game, his team were playing volleyball. You just gotta love stories like that, just to get a good laugh. Thanx for this video!!
So you tell me that totally hangover player has scored first touchdown man that is gangsta
This came out 20 minutes go? Wow. I’m about 34 hours too early
I spent the weekend with Max McGee's ,his girlfriendgirlfriend n my wife in his condo at McCormick Ranch, Arizona believe it was 1980 at that time didn't really know who it was. It was great to have that opportunity.
And in the modern age, men like this still exist. I’ve personally witness my fellow US Marines partying and drinking until the sun comes up, reporting to morning PT completely drunk, and run the 5-10 miles and do all the calisthenics as if nothings wrong.
Omg his hairline. Like geez hes 34 and he looks like a mid 50 year old guy.
My grandfather was around the same age during the late 60s. He looked a lot like Max McGee with that hairline.
You have to understand that the standard haircut was the buzz cut. It made the receding hairline stand out. Trust me, as a child back then, I got plenty of these haircuts.
My friend went on a week long bender before his SATs, went in with a massive hangover and managed to score 1350/1600.
How much of a nerd am I that I knew Max McGee's name before I clicked on the video?
(thanks to one of my favorite books as a kid, George Vecsey's "Super Bowl", a history of the game through SBXX.)
Plus, the catches were great catches, particularly the one where pass was behind him. Lombardi was a great coach because he knew how to handle “party” players such as McGee and Hornung. He did NOT treat everyone the same, he knew how to get the most out of each player.
I’m not drunk, I’m from Wisconsin!