Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs says that he thinks Roger Goodell was behind the Super Bowl blackout.
The stadium went dark early in the third quarter of the game when the Ravens had just taken a 28-6 lead over the 49ers. Jacoby Jones had just returned a kick 108 yards for a score. The game was delayed 34 minutes followed by San Francisco scoring 17 unanswered points.
"I was like Vegas, parlor tricks, you know what I mean?" Suggs said. "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?"
According to ESPN Ray Lewis brought up a conspiracy theory on the "America's game" documentary series that the blackout could have been plotted to help the 49ers get back into it. Suggs' mind was set on Goodell.
"I thought he had a hand in it," Suggs said. "Most definitely, he had a hand in it."
Suggs believes this based on his belief that Goodell favors some teams over others. He recalled in the Ravens' game against the Broncos that when he came out of the tunnel he saw Goodell "laughing it up" on the sidelines with John Elway.
According to Sports Illustrated Suggs had this to say about that occurrence: “It’s like, ‘Hmmm.’ I thought, your commissioner is supposed to be neutral,” Suggs said. “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.”
Whether Suggs' accusation be true or not, it is still just a theory. Does the commissioner of the NFL pick favorites?