If you’ve watched the Super Bowl through the years, your mind might vaguely recall Harrison Ford in a Dr. Seuss segment that surely was a dream of some kind. Well, if you’re like me, you might be surprised to learn that it was not a dream. It was real.
On February 5, 2006, ABC aired Super Bowl XL. For those who are not experts in Roman numerals, that’s Super Bowl number 40, which leads me to humorously remind you that the most American of games numbers itself with a system from Ancient Rome.
On that day, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their fifth Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, and they did it at the expense of the Seattle Seahawks who, at the time, were left Lombardi-less, though they did win their first Lombardi several years later. Quite honestly, the game itself was mediocre and will never be ranked amongst the best Super Bowls ever.
Played in Detroit, fans gathered around the television to watch the big game, and once the player introductions and the National Anthem concluded, only the coin toss remained before the actual game got underway — except ABC had a strange little surprise.
In one of the most oddly-timed segments in Super Bowl history — considering that there was literally a six-hour pregame show on ABC — those watching on American television were suddenly witnessing a a Dr. Seuss book come to life with Harrison Ford spouting the “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” poem.
It was meant to remind the players that this was what they dreamed of as a kid. They grew up imagining their Super Bowl dreams and now they were living it, though none of those players were actually watching television at that time. It was cute. It was weird. It was unique. It also had guest appearances from former Super Bowl MVP’s including Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Franco Harris, Joe Montana, and Jerry Rice.
Once this bizarre little segment ended, ABC immediately switched to announcers Al Michaels and John Madden in the booth and then, about two minutes later, they went to the coin toss.
Personally, I would have preferred an offbeat “Green Eggs and Ham” read-along, but perhaps ABC made the right decision, though there was no specific reason why they had chosen to endear us with a Dr. Seuss poem anyway. A retro NFL Films poem spoken by John Facenda would’ve been perfect for football fans, or Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones whipping up a tailgate, but my memory of Dr. Seuss at a Super Bowl has now been confirmed and now, well, I got places to go.