10 of the Most Embarrassing Moments in NFL Playoff History

Each year the NFL playoffs bring with them the very finest that professional football has to offer, as the greatest players from the best teams put on a show that's a dazzling display of strength, speed and athletic prowess.

Unfortunately, at times that show becomes a comedy of errors (sometimes before it even begins), as demonstrated by the following 10 "highlights."

10. Eugene Robinson: Man of the Year

This is one of three moments from our little menagerie that occurred off the gridiron.

Just before Super Bowl XXXIII Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson received the Bart Starr Award, given annually to the player in the NFL who best "exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community."

Robinson was then arrested the night before the game for trying to solicit a prostitute who just so happened to be an undercover cop.

Um, oops.

9. Dan Marino Rides Off...a Cliff

I'm sure many quarterbacks envision leaving the game in a blaze of glory, riding off into the sunset after leading their team to a Super Bowl win.

I'm just as sure they don't imagine turning the ball over four times and getting the hook in a 62-7 divisional round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but that's exactly how quarterback Dan Marino ended his National Football League career in 2000.

8. We're Gonna Score...Or Not

As the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks gathered at midfield for the overtime coin flip of a 2003 Wild Card Round game, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck offered up a bit of mic'ed-up bravado when Seattle won the toss:

"We want the ball, and we're gonna score."

Well, Seattle got the ball, and Hasselbeck did have a say in the score, as his third-down interception was returned by Green Bay's Al Harris for a game-deciding touchdown.

7. Leon Letts One Go

Defensive tackle Leon Lett was a solid player who, over the course of his 11-year career, was occasionally prone to doing something inconceivably boneheaded on the football field.

The "best" of these may have come during the Dallas Cowboys' blowout of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, when a showboating Lett had the ball punched from his hands just before reaching the goal line by Bills wide receiver Don Beebe, turning a sure Dallas touchdown into a Buffalo touchback.

6. Um, Has Anyone Seen Barrett?

On the eve of the Oakland Raiders' date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII, center Barrett Robbins suddenly went AWOL from the team, leaving fans and teammates outraged.

After Robbins was found incoherent and rumors of a Tijuana trip and tequila-fueled drinking binge circulated, he was benched for the game, and he was out of the NFL altogether not long after.

Robbins has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and his struggles with both that and substance abuse have led to repeated run-ins with the law in recent years.

5. "The Fumble"

First off, allow me to preface this by saying that Earnest Byner was a fine running back that rushed for over 8,000 yards and scored 56 touchdowns throughout a solid NFL career.

However, his fumble near the goal line against the Denver Broncos in the 1987 AFC Championship Game still gives Cleveland Browns fans nightmares 25 years later.

Great...now I'm not sleeping tonight.

4. The Tuck Rule Game

Look, I'm not even going to try to explain the rule, because it still makes me dizzy all these years later.

The gist of it is, late in the fourth quarter of a 2002 playoff game between the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady fumbled but didn't, the Raiders recovered but didn't, and somehow it ended up being New England that moved on to play in and win Super Bowl XXXVI.

Ask a Raiders fan. I'm sure they'll gladly break it down for you.

3. Stanley Wilson Falls Through the Crack

The Cincinnati Bengals were undoubtedly edgy headed into their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII, so teammates just attributed it to jitters when running back Stanley Wilson told them he had to run back to his room to grab his playbook before a team meeting.

Turns out those jitters were just Wilson jonesing for a fix, as Cincinnati running backs coach Jim Anderson found Wilson later in his hotel room, on the bathroom floor, out of his mind on crack.

Wilson didn't play in the Bengals loss and was later banned from the NFL for life.

2. A No-No for Garo

Praise all that's good that YouTube exists in our world, because the written word just cannot do justice to the botched field-goal attempt by Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian in Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins.

The touchdown it led to was Washington's sole points in a Dolphins victory that capped the only perfect season of the Super Bowl era, but that play still remains quite possibly the most embarrassing moment in NFL playoff history.

1. The 1940 Title Game

Well, except for this one.

I think that "embarrassing" is a pretty apt term for describing being blown out 73-0 in the National Football League championship game, which is the shellacking the Chicago Bears laid on the Washington Redskins in 1940.

After being called "quitters" by Redskins owner George Preston Marshall before the game, the Bears more than doubled the Redskins in total yardage and intercepted a mind-blowing eight passes, returning three for touchdowns.