My Sportsman Choice: Matt Chatham

By Bill Scheft

Matt Chatham made sure the second half of the Super Bowl wasn't delayed any further. Andy Lyons/Getty Images  Chris Stone: Red Sox Nation, you've earned this one  Paul Zimmerman: Boy Wonder brought Boston a title  B.J. Schecter: Red Sox captured Boston's heart  Richard Deitsch: The Babe had a big presence in '04  Rick Reilly: Big Papi did it all for the world champs  Jeffri Chadiha: A reward for reversing The Curse  Lisa Altobelli: Ramirez never took anything seriously  • Sportsman of the Year archive

A bank of commercials after MTV's Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, as smoke machine detritus lingered and risers were whisked off and light trellises toppled like the Saddam statue and that fake moon landing set was returned to the undoubtedly Toronto-based prop house from whence it came, as hundreds of millions of world viewers collectively rubbed their eyes and wondered aloud if they had really seen not just a breast but maybe the one non-altered body part of a Jackson family member left, the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers walked back onto the field at Reliant Stadium to, get this, play another half of football.

As the teams lined up for the kickoff, a man dressed like a referee in a soft-core porn flick stood next to Carolina's John Kasay and proceeded to strip down to socks, shoes, hat and a giant online casino tattoo. He flapped his arms and danced oddly about the teed-up ball like one of those people they tell you not to show fear around. For however long -- 30 seconds, a decade -- no one did anything.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver and blue. Someone launched himself at the flabby billboard and planted him on the turf before security raced in the way guys in windbreakers always do, cautiously late. None of us saw it at the time because that kind of stuff isn't supposed to be shown on television. Apparently, there's a one boob limit.

Within hours, almost lost in the Janet fallout, we all learned what had happened. Britain's Mark Roberts, the self-proclaimed World's Most Prolific Streaker, was convicted of criminal trespassing and faced six months in jail and a $2,000 fine, which his lawyers may have plea bargained down to $1,000 and three months in jail for Justin Timberlake. Do we care?

The game went on without incident, other than becoming arguably the most exciting Super Bowl in history. The man who knocked Roberts down, Patriots reserve linebacker Matt Chatham, was not credited with a special teams tackle. But this simple elegant act, the violent uprooting of entitlement to preserve the spectacle to which we are entitled -- a big game -- did not go unappreciated. Chatham was an essential grunt on the lunchpail-laden eventual world champions. But for many of us, his value was and is greater. The guy who said, "Enough. Play ball."

Enough. Sportsman of the Year.

Sports Illustrated will announce the 2004 Sportsman of the Year winner on FOX on November 28. Check back every weekday until then to read more Sportsman picks from SI writers.