Image via Complex Original
Sports celebrations—like Internet speed and white rappers—have made an incredible improvement over the course of a generation. Twenty years ago today, Cowboys defensive linemen Leon Lett infamously fumbled the ball while showboating his way to the end zone during Super Bowl XXVII. The Buffalo Bills' Don Beebe's swat resulted in a touchback and secured Lett's place in the Sports Fails Hall of Fame.
The notorious gaffe is a hilarious reminder of how lame sports used to be back when, you know, guys didn't land a back flip for making a free throw or bust out "The Dougie" after a six-yard run. But with innovations like disrespectful showboating and slam dunk facials, you also get the occasional slip-up. In honor of Lett's blunder, check out the 25 Biggest Celebration Fails of All Time.
Written by Sean Evans (@seanseaevans)
RELATED: The 25 Most Disrespectful Sports Celebrations of All-Time
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25. Mark Madsen Acts Like a Jackass
Athlete: Marc Madsen
When: 6/18/2001
After winning the NBA title in 2001, the Lakers' victory parade was interrupted by team afterthought Mark Madsen. In playing to every white stereotype, dude clowned about to House of Pain like a drunken frat guy at Lollapalooza.
24. Trinity Squash Player Loses It
Athlete: Baset Chaudhry
When: 2/21/2010
After winning their 12 consecutive national title, Trinity College's team captain screams into the terrified face of a kid half his size. This celebration is almost awesome, but it borders on felony assault.
23. Vernon Davis Gets Rejected by the Goalpost
Athlete: Vernon Davis
When: 9/9/2012
After scoring a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers, Davis went to his go-to move. But the goalpost was having none of it, and sent that shit back to whence it came. It’s never a good thing to spaz a dunk on national television. Just ask JaVale.
22. Poker Player Celebrates Win, then Loses
Athlete: Dwyte Pilgrim
When: 9/23/2010
Dwyte Pilgrim had a 90 percent chance of winning a multimillion-dollar pot after the flop. Known as the "Muhammad Ali of poker," Pilgrim starts high-fiving his friends in the crowd and celebrating his win. Then, the river gave his opponent a runner-runner hand and the $5.6M pot. Oops.
21. Leon Washington Gives the Finger
Athlete: Leon Washington
When: 12/5/2010
With only the kicker to beat, Seahawks return man Leon Washington throws his index finger in the air while taking a kick to the house. But he didn't account for the pretty insane wheels of Panthers punter Jason Baker.
20. Dwayne Rudd Loses His Head
Athlete: Dwayne Rudd
When: 9/8/2002
With 10 seconds remaining in the game, the Browns clung to a 39-37 lead in their 2002 season opener. After appearing to sack Cardinals quarterback Trent Green on the game's final play, Browns linebacker Dwayne Rudd threw off his helmet in celebration.
Two problems: One, Green was able to successfully lateral the ball before he was down. And two, ripping your helmet off is a personal foul. The ball was advanced to the 17-yard line after the penalty and the Cardinals knocked down a game winning field goal as time expired. More proof that God hates Cleveland.
19. Kendrys Morales' Celebrates His Way Onto IR
Athlete: Kendrys Morales
When: 5/29/2010
After hitting a walk-off grand slam, Angels cleanup man Kendrys Morales jumped on home plate in celebratory bliss. Unfortunately, he landed awkwardly on his leg and blew out his ACL. See kids, safety first. Always slide, even on your homers.
18. "Who Do You Think You Are? I Am."
Athlete: Pete Weber
When: 2/26/2012
Pete Weber's approach to bowling is a lot like a chain saw's approach to haircuts; unpredictable and usually in a bad way. After winning a game with a strike he completely loses his head and, during his inexplicable rant, screams "Who do you think you are!? I am." We'd like to give Weber the benefit of the doubt and say that he probably just misquoted Rene Descartes. But, in reality, we know he's an unhinged weirdo and was just screaming to scream.
17. Soccer Player Loses Finger During Lame Stunt
Athlete: Paulo Diogo
When: 12/7/2004
After one his teammates scored a goal, Portugese soccer player Paulo Diogo climbed a fence. His lame celebration turned into an enormous fail when, while jumping down, he left his finger attached to aforementioned fence. If you lose a body part while reveling in the achievement of someone else, automatic fail. Automatic.
16. Memphis Cheerleader Goes H.A.M.
Athlete: Marina Barrett
When: 2/28/2011
After winning the 2011 UDA College Nationals (and presumably shotgunning a 12-pack of Red Bull), a University of Memphis cheerleader gets waaaay too excited. She needs to take a tranquilizer or something. Chill. The. Fuck. Out.
15. The Failed Rim Job. Ayo!
Athlete: Unknown
When: Unknown
After completing a dunk that at least one kid on every high school basketball team can pull off, this clown tries some stupid hang stunt and gets caught in the rim. The most pathetic dunk contest ever is delayed while a rescue crew sets up a ladder to rescue him. They should've left them up there so he could repent his sins.
14. Punters Get Taunting Penalties Too
Athlete: Brad Wing
When: 10/8/2011
After breaking away from the defense on a fake punt, LSU punter Brad Wing could have cruised into the end zone. Instead, he opted to taunt his way across the goaline by staring back at the Florida defense and putting his arms out. He became the first victim of the NCAA's new taunting rules, which are enforced from the spot of the infraction. Wing's touchdown was wiped off the board. LSU's offense took the field. And LSU's punter went back to being, well, just a lame punter.
13. Shattering Hockey's Glass Ceiling, Or Wall as it Were
Athlete: Henrik Andersen
When: 11/17/2009
While celebrating a goal, Leksand's Henrik Andersen chest bumps the glass and flies right through it. Sometimes these things don't require a whole lot of explaining.
12. The Dreaded Premature Celebration
Athlete: Riccardo Russo
When: July 2012
With a three length lead, a Yamaha Team Italia racer pumps the breaks and celebrates after crossing the finish line. Unaware that there was still one more lap to go, a boastful Ricardo Russo is passed by pretty much everyone else on the track.
11. The Blind Berlino
Athlete: Melaine Walker
When: 8/25/2009
Jamaican sprinter Melaine Walker celebrates winning her sprint by hopping on the back of the 2009 World Championships mascot, Berlino. Either Berlino's eye holes need adjusting or he's blind as shit because he sprints full boar into a cart full of hurdles. When keeping it real goes wrong.
10. The Worst Touchdown Dance. Ever.
Athlete: Kerwin Bell
When: 2000
In the worst case of taunting in the history of sports, some clown from the Canadian Football League tries to son a cornerback and instead spikes the football into his own nuts. Things get worse from there as he grabs himself in pain and gets shoved to the ground by the very college football castaway he was trying to show up.
9. A Biker's Tough Finish
Athlete: Unknown
When: Unknown
Because he didn't blood dope, this cyclist bites it just before the finish line. Pathetically, he tries to get back on his bike, but it's all for nothing. And in the rain, no less. If you're having a bad day, this video will put things into perspective. Life could be worse.
8. Gus Frerotte Headbutts a Wall
Athlete: Gus Frerotte
When: 11/24/1997
A lot is made of football's culture and administrative compliance when it comes to traumatic head injuries, but rarely does anyone fault the stadium's structural engineers. Those walls are hard as hell. Ask Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte who, after scrambling for a score, head butted the stadium wall and suffered a concussion.
7. Why You Play it Out
Athlete: KK Partizan (Serbian basketball team)
When: 4/25/2010
KK Partizan hits a three-pointer with one second left to take a two-point lead on their Serbian basketball rival Cibona. As the team celebrates on the floor, Cibona fires a desperate full court shot at the buzzer. You probably know where this is going.
6. Always Watch Your Back
Athlete: Khalid Askri
When: 9/8/2010
After appearing to stop a penalty kick, Moroccan goalkeeper Khalid Askri begins kissing the logo on his shirt and pumping his chest. As he walks away with his back to the goal, the ball keeps rolling. SMH.
5. The Fragile Gramatica
Athlete: Bill Gramatica
When: 12/15/2001
After hitting a 40-yard field goal in the first half of a regular season game to put the Cardinals up 3-0 (let that all soak in for a second), Bill Gramatica jumped around like a jerk and blew out his ACL. It's probably the most pathetic moment in sports history.
4. Lindsey Jacobellis Loses Gold
Athlete: Lindsey Jacobellis
When: 2/17/2006
With a 50-yard lead in the women's snowboardcross final, Lindsey Jacobellis attempted a back-side method over the second-to-last jump. Usually, we'd applaud the woman for needlessly showing up her international opponents on the global stage, but, unfortunately, she fell flat on her waterproof pants. Switzerland's Tanja Frieden zipped by Jacobellis to secure the gold medal, while the U.S. favorite crossed the finish line in second with more powder on her face than Scott Storch during All-Star Weekend.
3. Leon Lett's Super Bowl Fumble
Athlete: Leon Lett
When: 1/3/1993
Before YouTube made it possible to completely disgrace a professional athlete, Leon Lett was the JaVale McGee of football. He was talented but a totally concussed idiot with half of a degree from the prestigious Emporia State. During Super Bowl XXVII, he picked up a fumble. While sprinting down the field, he held the ball out like he was carrying a shopping bag (because that was just getting cool back then), and had it knocked out of his hand by a hustling Don Beebe.
The ball went through the back of the end zone, resulting in a touchback, giving possession to the Buffalo Bills. Lett and the Cowboys would get the last laugh, winning the game by 35 points and Lett would say afterward that he was distracted "watching the Jumbotron" and tried to pull a "Michael Irvin."
2. The Play
Athlete: Stanford University band
When: 11/20/1982
Was anyone on the Stanford band a scholarship athlete? Nope. But 144 of them were in a position to make a tackle on an infamous play that cost their team a win against the University of California.
With four seconds remaining and Stanford up 20-19, Cal began a desperate lateral play with time expiring. After, presumably, recording decent SAT scores, but totally unaware of how a football game ends, the Stanford band inexplicably walked onto the field. Cal cut through the horn section and into the end zone.
1. Roller Blader Gets Cocky
Athlete: Alex Cujavante
When: 10/30/2010
Speed skater Alex Cujavante entered the home stretch of the 20,000 meter eliminations as a virtual lock to win. With an enormous lead, all he really needed to do was coast. Even after looking back to see an opponent gaining on him, Cujavante slowed down to bask in the warm heat of inline skating glory. And, just before he crossed the finish line, South Korea's Sang Cheol Lee zipped by him. Just a jackass showing off, while losing a race that nobody cares about. The greatest celebration fail of all-time.