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February 3, 2004
Super Bowl Notebook
Red-faced Tagliabue promises changes after Jackson debacle
COMPILED BY JOHN DELL
• Before NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue introduced Tom Brady, the Super Bowl MVP, yesterday morning he took the time to lash out at MTV, which produced the halftime show.
Toward the end of the show, after Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake had finished a song, Timberlake ripped off part of Jackson's costume to reveal her right breast.
"I thought it was an embarrassment, to put it mildly," Tagliabue said. "We will change our policy and the (halftime show) process before the next Super Bowl."
Joe Brown, the NFL executive vice president of communications, said after the game that its unlikely MTV will produce another halftime show.
"We were extremely disappointed by moments of the MTV-produced halftime show," Brown said.
• While the NFL was embarrassed by the incident, in which Timberlake apologized for afterward, Brady, the Patriots' quarterback. had a different take on what happened.
"I didn't see the halftime show," Brady said. "I heard about it. I wish I would have seen it, so maybe I'll get to see it on replay."
• The other bizarre moment in Sunday's game took place when a man, wearing just a G-string, got onto the field just before the second half started. He walked slowly onto the field wearing a referee's uniform but ripped it off and started dancing around the football right before the Panthers were set to kick off.
The man who was arrested was identified as Mark Roberts, 39, who is from Britain.
Roberts danced for about 20 seconds while the players watched. But as the man was running away from security, Matt Chatham of the Patriots leveled him. Security hauled him off the field in handcuffs.
"I thought the tackle on the streaker was the best part," Brady said.
• Wide receiver Steve Smith of the Panthers, who caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Delhomme late in the first half to tie the game at 7-7, said that the Patriots' defense did a lot of different things in the first half.
The Panthers had just one first down in their first seven possessions and had no yards on offense up that point.
"We expected a lot of man coverage, and they were not running a lot of man coverage (in the first half)," Smith said. "We expected physical defense in the secondary, and it wasn't all that physical. There were a lot of things done that kind of threw us off at the beginning.
"They threw new wrinkles in, and you know all teams hit and miss."
Smith, one of the most outspoken Panthers, was asked if Sunday's loss was the most disappointed he's ever been. "I will let you answer that one," he said.
• The Panthers scored 29 points even though they had the ball just 21:02. As it turned out, all 61 points were scored in the second and fourth quarters.... In the modern day of the NFL, where free agency and salary caps are the norm, Coach Bill Belichick of the Patriots was asked if his team is a modern-day dynasty. "I wouldn't want to get into that," he said. "I heard that term being thrown around last year, and it didn't work out that way."... Jake Delhomme's 323 yards passing was ninth best in Super Bowl history. Not bad considering he was 1 of 9 for one yard late in the second quarter.... Because the Panthers' defense was on the field a long time, Coach John Fox was asked if his team may have gotten tired late in the game. "I don't think it was a matter of gas," he said. "The Patriots are a good football team. Unfortunately, they had the ball last."
• John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com