The Superdome blackout during Super Bowl XLVII nearly cost the Ravens a championship. Linebacker Terrell Suggs seems sure it wasn’t an accident.
The outspoken Suggs has backed the initial suspicions of former teammate Ray Lewis, who said he believed the blackout was planned to prevent a blowout win over the 49ers. Suggs added he believes commissioner Roger Goodell was personally involved in it.
“I was like ‘Vegas, parlor tricks,’ you know what I mean?” Suggs said in an ESPN interview. “I was like, ‘Ahh, Roger Goodell, he never stops, he always has something up his sleeve.’ He just couldn’t let us have this one in a landslide, huh?”
ESPN’s Lisa Salters was taken aback by the outrageous claim, asking Suggs to confirm what he had stated.
“I thought he had a hand in it,” Suggs said. “Most definitely, he had a hand in it.”
When the lights went out in New Orleans early in the third quarter, the Ravens were leading, 28-6. After a delay of more than half an hour, the 49ers reeled off 17 unanswered points to make the game competitive.
Suggs went further in his theories, claiming Goodell didn’t want the Ravens to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs against the Broncos. Baltimore won that game in double overtime, 38-35.
“We walk out of the Denver game, and linebackers are warming up on their sideline, and who do we see talking with John Elway? And it’s like, ‘Hmmm,’ ” Suggs said. “I thought, ‘Your commissioner is supposed to be neutral. He ain’t supposed to be on one side or the other, he’s supposed to be in the box.’ I saw him on their sideline and I was like, ‘Huh, I know who he’s going for.’ I think he definitely has his favorites.
“You’re the commissioner of this league and you’re supposed to make sure everything is being played on an even playing field. I definitely don’t think he’s doing a good job, and I don’t think he should be making 10 million a year. That’s just my personal opinion.”