The Super Bowl is the NFL’s premier event. Fans and analysts flock to the host city for the big game every year. It’s a special occasion for the players, as well, of course. And they do all they can to savor the moment and spice things up when they’re in town. One year for Matt Cassel, these efforts backfired.
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Cassel recounted the story on his Lots to Say podcast with co-host Bobby Jones. Ahead of Super Bowl XLII, the third-year pro attended a team dinner with most of his superstar teammates. And unfortunately, he ended up footing quite a hefty tab.
“We went to a Super Bowl party with a bunch of the group… we play the credit card roulette. We have 20 guys there. All the offensive linemen, a lot of the defensive players, our whole group… [Tom] Brady’s there. [Randy] Moss’s there. Every offensive lineman… this one meal, with all the starters. Boom: I get picked… so there goes my playoff bonus… it was like 20 grand.”
Cassel had a $435,000 salary that season. That’s not a small amount to normal folks, but it’s paltry by NFL standards. For comparison, Brady was making $12.5 million.
A seventh-round pick in 2005, Cassel was likely the lowest-paid player at the event. However, his unlucky draw isn’t close to the worst thing he experienced during that Super Bowl week.
Matt Cassel “gets wet” at ESPN Super Bowl party
When you’re playing in the Super Bowl, you’re hoping to give your head coach a Gatorade bath. If you happen to catch some stray splash from doing so, so be it. You’ve just won the Super Bowl; nothing in that moment is going to get you down.
That is not how things turned out for Matt Cassel. He was in line for the bathroom at ESPN’s Super Bowl party when a man tried cutting in front of him. Cassel told the man to “wait his turn.” Finally, Cassel got his turn to use the facilities. So did the man who tried jumping ahead of him in line. In retaliation for Cassel’s actions, the man reportedly purposefully [peed] directly on his leg.
Security tossed the man out of the party, but it was too late. Cassel was forced to walk around in the same pants the rest of the night. The Patriots then lost the Super Bowl 17-14 to the New York Giants two days later. With everything that transpired against him, it’s safe to say Cassel had far from the ideal Super Bowl experience.
