Most Talked-About Tackle At Super Bowl Was Never Televised

Tampa FL

11 February, 2021

7:11 PM

Description

TAMPA, FL — One of the most talked-about tackles of the Super Bowl never made the CBS broadcast. Just minutes before the end of Super Bowl LV, a tattooed man in a bright pink garment that looked like a women's swimsuit and black shorts somehow evaded the army of security personnel at the game and sprinted out onto the field. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Clint Stearns said he reacted on instinct, channeling his days as a high school and college football player. Stearns, 30, has spent the past seven years with the sheriff's office. He's currently works with the District V street crimes division in Brandon. But while attending Plant City High School, he was a quarterback and safety for the Raiders varsity team where he was the team's rushing leader, threw for 710 yards and was named the Raiders' Most Valuable Player his senior year in 2008. He went on to USF where he played for the Bulls. Stearns said his love of the game has never waned, so he always signs up for volunteer shifts whenever there's a big football game in Tampa. The Super Bowl was no exception. Stearns watched most of the game from his station high up bleachers in Section 344 of the stadium. As the end of the fourth quarter approached, he got a call on his radio to come down to the field for crowd control during the presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Stearns said he was walking through the tunnel toward the field when the streaker, later identified as Yuri Andrade, 31, of Boca Raton, jumped over the fence at the north end zone and sprinted onto the field. Andrade ran past Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, raising his arms in victory, as radio sportscaster Kevin Harlan announced: "Someone is running on the field, some guy with a bra. He's pulling down his pants. Pull up your pants, my man." Stearns said all the advice his former football coaches gave him about tackling ran through his head as he reacted. Stearns said it felt eerily familiar when he dove for Andrade, tackling him to the ground as fellow law enforcement officers piled on top of him. "I definitely felt a little sore from the hit, but it was worth it," said Stearns. While Andrade was arrested and charged with trespassing, Stearns accepted some pats on the back from Bucs receivers Mike Evans and Antonio Brown. Andrade later admitted he'd run onto the field as a prank.