The Biggest Game Trailer Uncovers The Wild Legend Of Hungover Max McGee, Scorer Of The First Touchdown In Super Bowl History
Key keywords: Super Bowl first touchdown, Max McGee, Hungover Max McGee, The Biggest Game trailer, 1967 Super Bowl I, Green Bay Packers legend, Super Bowl history moments, Vince Lombardi
The newly released trailer for the upcoming sports documentary series *The Biggest Game* has sparked widespread excitement across NFL fan communities, as it pulls back the curtain on one of the most absurd, beloved unscripted legends in professional football history: the story of a severely hungover Max McGee scoring the first touchdown in Super Bowl history.
It was January 15, 1967, the date of the very first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, later retroactively rebranded as Super Bowl I, hosted at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. At the time, the matchup was far from the global cultural event the Super Bowl is today; tickets cost just $12, and the stadium did not even sell out for the historic game. McGee, a 34-year-old veteran wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers nearing the end of his 11-year career, had barely seen playing time during the 1966 regular season, logging only 4 receptions for 91 yards all year. Convinced he would not take a single snap during the championship against the Kansas City Chiefs, McGee spent the entire night before the game out on the town with teammate Paul Hornung, drinking heavily and returning to his hotel room barely an hour before the team was scheduled to depart for the stadium.
When kickoff arrived, McGee was still noticeably hungover, sitting on the bench without his own helmet (he had left it locked in the locker room, assuming he would not need it) and joking with sideline staff that he was in no physical shape to play. That changed just seven minutes into the first quarter, when starting receiver Boyd Dowler suffered a serious shoulder injury on a running play, and famously no-nonsense head coach Vince Lombardi yelled for McGee to take the field. McGee reportedly tried to warn Lombardi he was not game-ready, but Lombardi brushed off his complaints and ordered him to line up.
On his very first target from Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, McGee pulled off a spectacular one-handed 37-yard catch and ran it unchallenged into the end zone, securing the first touchdown in Super Bowl history. He finished the game with 7 receptions for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, playing a core role in the Packers’ 35-10 blowout win over the Chiefs.
The *Biggest Game* trailer features never-before-seen archival footage of McGee laughing about the incident in interviews before his 2007 passing, firsthand accounts from his surviving teammates, commentary from leading NFL historians, and rare audio clips of Lombardi discussing the game shortly after the final whistle. The first episode of the series, which centers entirely on McGee’s legendary unexpected performance, is set to premiere on all major streaming platforms on January 12, 2024, just weeks ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Featured Comments
As a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan who grew up listening to my grandpa tell this story, I got actual chills seeing the clip of McGee joking about his hangover in the trailer. None of my friends believe me when I tell them the first ever Super Bowl TD was scored by a guy who could barely stand up an hour before kickoff, I can’t wait for the full documentary to drop so I can prove I’m not making it up.
This is exactly the kind of underrated sports history content we need right now. So many people only care about the halftime shows and million-dollar ad spots during the Super Bowl now, but stories like McGee’s are what turned the game from a random league matchup into a cultural phenomenon in the first place. I already set a reminder for the premiere.
Wait, this is actually real? I thought this was a fake meme I saw on TikTok last year! I had no idea the first Super Bowl touchdown scorer was hungover, this documentary is gonna make me look so smart when I drop this fact at our Super Bowl LVIII watch party next month.
I’ve covered the NFL as a beat reporter for 12 years and I still learn new tiny details about this story every time it gets brought up. The trailer’s clip of McGee admitting he still can’t believe he pulled off that one-handed catch while half-drunk is already my favorite sports moment of the year so far.