The tragedy of 9/11 altered America irreversibly. The sports world felt the immediate effect of the attacks, as the NFL canceled Week 2 of their season. That pushed everything back a week and led directly to the first February Super Bowl, which is now a yearly staple.
The immediate effect 9/11 had on Super Bowl XXXVI, meanwhile, had more to do with the fears felt throughout the world. Many artists were not touring as they planned after the attacks. Janet Jackson was actually slated to be that year's halftime entertainment, until she cancelled her winter European tour — which would have been the same setup she used for the Super Bowl. That also led to her backing out of the halftime performance.
The NFL quickly placed John Collins in charge of finding a replacement for Jackson. On October 25, he attended the U2 show at Madison Square Garden in New York. During their encore performance of "One," the band paid tribute to the fallen victims of 9/11 by projecting all their names on the MSG roof. As Yahoo reported, that's when Collins realized it — U2 had to play the Super Bowl.
The NFL executives were a bit apprehensive — could an Irish band really perform a fitting tribute to America? That, and U2's recent TV specials hadn't exactly been super ratings winners. But Collins got his wish, and U2 officially had the gig. The plan was to display the victims' names just as they did at MSG, this time on the roof of the Superdome. Only a few weeks before the performance, though, they hit a snag — the generator wasn't powerful enough to project to the roof. They changed the name crawl from the roof to a screen behind the band, but to many who saw it, it didn't look good. Even during soundcheck, just prior to the game, league executives were skeptical — the somber tone had one exec exclaim, "This is going to be the worst halftime show ever."
It wasn't. The reviews were glowing, even at a time where it all seemed "too soon." Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy called it "The greatest halftime show in the history of sporting events. Hands down." It is still recalled as a paramount moment in Halftime history, and a proper tribute at a time when America still didn't know how to grieve.
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