It’s fall. The rain is cold, the leaves are falling, the sun is shy and football season is in full swing.
Bad weather is becoming more and more frequent, which inspired me. Here are the football matches played in the most extreme conditions.
Monday Night Mud Bowl
This prime-time game from the 2007 season has gone down in history for the wrong reasons.
Due to torrential rains, the ground of Heinz Field was almost impassable for the Dolphins and Steelers.
The ball even remained planted in the ground on certain punts!
Poor conditions plagued the show, and not nearly it ended 3-0 for the Steelers, the lowest score in the Super Bowl era.
Here are the highlights of this “big” game:
The “Monsoon” Bowl
A measly 20% chance of precipitation? Game on, you will say.
Getty Images
The 20% literally fell on the heads of the Jaguars and the Panthers, in this clash in 2011.
A real deluge. Winds, driving rain, almost no visibility.
Associated Press
Carolina defeated the Storm, and the Jaguars, by a score of 16-10.
The Freezer Bowl
Imagine the time you’ve had the coldest in your life, multiplied by 1000.
That’s probably how the Chargers and Bengals players felt on that freezing day in Cincinnati in 1982.
Already it was around -22 degrees celsius, the wind didn’t give the players any chance, the temperature felt would have even approached -50 degrees!
The poor Chargers must have missed the hot California sun. In addition to a good frostbite, they had a broken heart, Cincy grabbed the AFC Championship by winning.
The Ice Bowl
If the wind froze everyone at the Freezer Bowl, it’s nothing compared to the mythical Ice Bowl.
One of the most famous games in NFL history, pitting the Cowboys against the Packers in 1967.
This NFL Championship duel (pre-NFC), played as the temperature dropped to -44°C, caused countless problems for players, fans and officials on site.
Associated Press
We gave up the whistles, since they stuck to the lips of the referees. The terrain heating system crashed, causing frost. A supporter even sadly died in the stands.
In these extreme conditions at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, led by quarterback Bart Starr, won a ticket to Super Bowl II, winning 21-17.
The Pickle Juice Game
Andy Reid has more than one trick up his sleeve, it was the case, even early in his career as head coach.
In just his second season as an Eagles pilot, Reid has found a way to stave off heatstroke: pickle juice.
In a match played in a grueling 37°C heat in Dallas, the mustachioed advised his players to drink the said juice, in order to thwart dehydration and cramps.
Definitely, it worked, the Eagles crushed the Cowboys 41 to 14!
Andy Reid/Associated Press
The Snow Bowl
Several games were impacted by snowstorms, but this one was particularly memorable.
In a setting reminiscent of the North Pole, the Eagles beat the Lions 34-20.
Getty Images
The beauty of a photo in the heat of the action, in the middle of a blizzard. The players on the field had to feel like children in a schoolyard.
Brent Celek/Getty Images
In any case, Brent Celek seems to have had great pleasure!