Bounty Bowl II
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Bounty Bowl II was the snowball-riddled rematch of the infamous 1989 NFL Thanksgiving Day Bounty Bowl game in Dallas. In the earlier game, the Philadelphia Eagles were accused of placing a $200 bounty on Dallas Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas.
- For more details on this topic, see Bounty Bowl.
After rumors spread that Eagles coach Buddy Ryan had put a bounty out on Dallas kicker Luis Zendejas during the teams' first meeting two weeks prior, the notoriously raucous Eagles' fans were more than rowdy when the rematch was held in Philly.
CBS Sports touted the game as "Bounty Bowl II" and it lived up to its expectations as a media event. With NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue in attendance on gameday December 10, 1989, the Veterans Stadium crew didn't bother removing the snow that had piled up for several days. The volatile mix of beer, plentiful snow, the "bounty" and the intense hatred for "America's Team" (who were 1-15 that season) led to fans throwing everything within reach. Fans threw snowballs, iceballs, batteries, and more onto the field, pelting players, officials, cheerleaders, coaches, cameramen, broadcasters, policemen, and one another. Notable targets included back judge Al Jury knocked to the ground by a barrage of snowballs, Cowboys punter Mike Saxon targeted in the end zone, and Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson bombarded unmercifully with snowballs, ice, and beer as he was hastily escorted off the field by Philadelphia Police. Johnson later called the fans "thugs".
Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw worked the game for CBS, and they spent the afternoon denouncing Eagles fans and dodging snowballs aimed at the broadcast booth. Even the Eagles' players were not immune to the constant salvo of projectiles. As Eagles defensive lineman Jerome Brown stood on the players' sideline seats pleading for the fans to halt their reckless pandemonium, he merely became another raised target amidst the fans' crossfire.
Future Pennsylvania governor and fanatical Eagles fan Edward Rendell got caught up in the fallout from that game when he admitted to a reporter that he was involved in the bedlam. The then-former Philadelphia district attorney and future mayor had bet another fan $20 that the fan couldn't reach the field with a snowball; Rendell lost. [1] As a result of the chaotic melee, the team added security and banned beer sales for their last remaining home game of the regular season.
The Eagles won the game 20-10.
Followed by the "Porkchop Bowl."
