(c)2004 National Football League; CBS Sports-Paramount Global; WTKR-E.W. Scripps Co.; ESPN-The Walt Disney Company/Hearst Corporation

This upload is a VHS transfer (recorded from Norfolk, VA CBS affiliate WTKR-TV 3) taken from Super Bowl XXXVIII between the New England Patriots (seeking their second Super Bowl championship in 3 years; led by eventual Coach of the Year Bill Belichick, New England overcame a 31-0 season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills after the Bills signed longtime safety Lawyer Milloy; who was a last-minute cut by New England) and Carolina Panthers (two years removed from the worst season in their short history, a 1-15 season in 2001 that saw the Panthers lose 15 straight after winning on opening day; with the Panthers rallying cry of "Keep Pounding" coming from linebackers coach Sam Mills {Mills - who finished his career as an original Panther - had been diagnosed with intestinal cancer; which ultimately claimed Mills' life in 2005}) at the Reliant (now NRG) Stadium in Houston, TX.

In one of the wildest Super Bowls (complete with the first points of the game not being scored until roughly 3 minutes remained in the first half; followed by a 24-point shootout in those final minutes before halftime); the Patriots (aided by kicker and original Panther John Kasay's kickoff following the game-tying touchdown on a pass from Jake Delhomme to Ricky Proehl {who as a member of the Rams caught the tying touchdown prior to the Patriots' game-winning drive in Super Bowl XXXVI two years earlier} going out of bounds) winning 32-29 off a game-winning 41-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri as time expired.

And all of that was nearly totally overshadowed by the halftime show (note; my family generally didn't record the halftime show); produced both by CBS Sports and on-again, off-again corporate sibling MTV; which ostensibly themed the show around a get out the vote effort titled "Choose or Lose"; though outside of some comments by Jessica Simpson there was very little evidence of that being the point. There were some controversial moments such as Kid Rock sporting a poncho made of an American flag that led to some (most notably; Zell Miller - a Senator from Georgia who was part of that near-extinct political animal known as conservative Democrat - felt was disrespectful) along with the scantily clad backups dancers for Nelly and P. Diddy (during the former's performance of "Hot in Here").

THAT was topped by the biggest controversy of the night; which had Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson performing together for the finale (which had Timberlake finish with "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song" as he ripped part of Janet's costume {depending on who you believe, there was supposed to be a part of a red lace bra displayed, but the audience before the cameras cut away saw...a good bit more as Janet's breast was exposed in front of over 100 million people watching}). Needless to say, this led to a huge uproar, with Jackson's career being particularly impacted by the "wardrobe malfunction" (not helping matters was this coming mere months after a second set of child molestation allegations against older brother Michael). Viacom (CBS and MTV parent company) ended up paying millions to settle claims of public indecency; the FCC for a time strengthened their enforcement of indecency policy and the NFL proceeded to blacklist MTV from any involvement in future halftime show productions while also deciding to play it safe for the next several Super Bowls by having mainly older acts performing.

Calling the action on CBS was Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms; with Armen Keteyian and Bonnie Bernstein reporting from the sidelines. Hosting the Super Bowl Today was Jim Nantz (also handling the Lombardi Trophy presentation) alongside Deion Sanders; Boomer Esiason (who was pulling double-duty, as he was also serving as a color commentator for Westwood One radio coverage alongside Marv Albert) and Dan Marino.

The national anthem was performed by Houston native Beyonce (who had recently struck out on her own after leaving Destiny's Child); while in memory of the astronauts who perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry exactly one year earlier, Josh Groban performed "You Raise Me Up".

At the end, there's about half of that night's SportsCenter dedicated to the Super Bowl

NOTES

1. This game marked the first time the Patriots played a Super Bowl outside of New Orleans; as well as the first Super Bowl for the Patriots as favorites

2. Total viewership was 144.4 million, a record up to this time

3. Vinatieri's winning field goal came despite two earlier misfires (one a true miss; the other a blocked field goal - at least in part owing to the Patriots being down to their third long-snapper in backup tight end Brian Kinchen)

4. The 4th quarter saw a still-standing record for combined points with 38.

5. Linebacker Mike Vrabel's 1-yard touchdown not only gave New England a 29-22 lead (following a 2-point conversion) after Carolina took their only lead of the game; it was the first time a defensive player scored a touchdown on offense since game XX; when William "The Refrigerator" Perry - a rookie defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears - crashed his way to a touchdown in that Super Bowl (against the Patriots) 18 years earlier

6. Tom Brady continued his trek from obscure backup forced into the spotlight to legend in the making with his second Super Bowl MVP; completing 32 of 48 passes (the 32 completions were a Super Bowl record; and the 48 attempts were the most ever thrown by the winning quarterback) for 354 yards and 3 touchdowns (vs. 1 interception) and a 100.5 quarterback rating.

7. Carolina's Jake Delhomme made a strong case for MVP honors in a losing effort; finishing with a higher rating that Brady (113.6) while throwing for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions (though committing a fumble early)

8. New England's Deion Branch and Carolina's Muhsin Muhammad became the first receivers from opposite teams to both gain over 100 receiving yards (Branch with 143; Muhammad with 140; both scoring a touchdown - Muhammad's touchdown coming off a Super Bowl record 85-yard pass from Delhomme)

9. Phil Simms would be the only holdover from the booth or sidelines to return for Super Bowl XLI (CBS' next turn). After this game; Greg Gumbel and "NFL Today" host Jim Nantz traded jobs, with Gumbel becoming NFL Today host (a position he held from 1990-93) while Nantz became the lead play-by-play broadcaster; though again by Super Bowl XLI, Gumbel had given way to James Brown; returning to CBS after being one of the many to move to FOX when FOX beat out CBS for NFC coverage starting in 1994, with Greg moving to the #2 play-by-play spot, displacing Dick Enberg to #3 (though Enberg was allowed to call Thursday night games on Westwood One radio as consolation). Armen Keteyian would be transferred to CBS News as an investigative correspondent, eventually going on to work for The Athletic as an anchor and executive producer; while the other sideline reporter, Bonnie Bernstein, eventually launched her own production company; Walk Swiftly Productions