Getty Image
There are obviously more than a few professional athletes out there with an affinity for mind-altering substances, but they’re usually not going to partake when they’re playing a game. However, Cowboys linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson is a very notable exception thanks to what transpired during Super Bowl XIII.
The Dallas Cowboys selected Henderson in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1975 after he made a name for himself (and earned the nickname “Wild Man”) while playing at Langston University, a small HBCU in Oklahoma.
Henderson not only lived up to that nickname after arriving in the NFL but eventually managed to earn a new one: “Hollywood,” which stemmed from the larger-than-life personality he showed off both on and off of the football field.
He was more than happy to take advantage of the perks that came with playing football for a living, but he also was unable to resist some of the trappings that tended to accompany a celebrity lifestyle in the 1970s—namely doing a lot of cocaine.
When the Cowboys punched their ticket to Super Bowl XII against the Broncos in New Orleans in 1978, Henderson devoted a good chunk of the week leading up to the contest hitting the proverbial slopes with Richard Pryor and Marvin Gaye, although he was able to abstain for a couple of days before Dallas walked away with the Lombardi trophy.
However, that was not the case when they got the chance to defend their title against the Steelers the following year.
Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson had a spray bottle filled with water and cocaine on the sidelines during Super Bowl XIII
Henderson quickly picked up where he left off after the Cowboys triumphed in the Big Easy, and his love of booger sugar caught up to him by the time the postseason rolled around the following year.
In 1979, Super Bowl XIII was held at the Orange Bowl in Miami, which meant Henderson got the chance to spend a couple of weeks in America’s Cocaine Capital while taking advantage of his connections with “Colombian drug dealers [who] were just giving me stuff.”
It’s unclear if Henderson was under the influence when he decided to give the Steelers some bulletin board material prior to the showdown, but he did cause a bit of a stir in the press when he fired some shots at Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw by claiming he “couldn’t spell cat if you spotted him the ‘c’ and the ‘a.'”
On the day of The Big Game, Henderson also found himself dealing with a slight issue courtesy of the deviated septum he’d developed thanks to his cocaine habit. That led to him devising a plan in the hopes of keeping it in check during the contest, which involved whipping up a solution of water and cocaine in the spray bottle he stashed in the pants of his uniform before heading out onto the gridiron.
Henderson maintains he “was only using it for medical purposes to ease the pain, not to get high” and helped himself to a snort prior to the game and once again during the second half.
While it’s safe to assume the effect of the initial dose had worn off by the time the second quarter rolled around, he did make a mark by wrapping up Bradshaw and helping to force a sack that led to one of his teammates running into the end zone to give Dallas a 14-7 lead.
Unfortunately, his efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Steelers from walking away with the 35-31 victory, and Bradshaw added insult to injury by declaring “Ask if he can spell M.V.P.” after winning the award thanks to his performance.
It was really all downhill from there for Henderson. Cowboys head coach Tom Landry grew increasingly tired of his (partially drug-fueled) antics before he was cut by the team in 1979, and after a brief stint with the Oilers, he signed with the Dolphins in 1981 after entering rehab to address the issues he decided to publically address.
Unfortunately, he succumbed to a career-ending neck injury prior to the start of the season. He eventually started doing crack cocaine and entered a downward spiral that led to him being arrested on some disturbing charges, and he spent more than two years in prison after striking a plea deal.
That incident was the impetus for his decision to get sober, and after being freed, Henderson decided to use his story as a cautionary tale while working as an anti-drug advocate while also pursuing the charity efforts he’s been involved with since winning $28 million in the Texas lottery in 2000.