When A Fan Runs Onto The Field At The Super Bowl, This Is The Punishment

Each year we gather together in front of the television, surrounded by friends and loved ones and gigantic bowls of dip, to celebrate the time-honored tradition of seeing who will streak at the Super Bowl. According to American Heritage, the hallowed custom dates all the way back to the winter of 1973, when college students made the fad so popular that simply running onto the field naked wasn't crazy enough. The University of Georgia saw a mass streaking incident in which over 1,500 birthday-suited students participated, and others had to up the ante by parachuting naked in order to turn heads their way.

Super Bowl LV was no exception to this tradition, though it was a pretty unambitious showing. In the fourth quarter, a fan dressed in a hot pink thong one-piece bathing suit somehow wiggled his way past security and interrupted the game just before the Kansas City Chiefs were about to snap the ball. The official TV footage cut away from the prankster, but fans in the stadium had their phones and Twitter accounts ready to document his every juke and spin before being taken down without making it into the end zone. One fan tweeted, "We have a STREAKER!!! The spin move was electric!" And meme account @NFL_Memes took a jab at Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who admittedly had a rough go of it: "That streaker just picked up more yards than the Chiefs offense has all night." But, all joking aside, what's going to happen to the Super Bowl LV streaker now?

Although fans seemed to enjoy the streaker's dash across the gridiron, the security guards and state police chasing him down didn't find it funny in the slightest. (Neither did Bucs QB Tom Brady, who was ready to receive his record seventh Super Bowl ring and fifth MVP award.) The onesie-clad streaker's fate is now in the hands of Florida authorities, and according to Complex, he could receive anything from a light slap on the wrist to some serious jail time. He most surely spent the night in jail, and will probably be banned from Tampa's Raymond Jay Stadium for the rest of his life. Had the big game been played in Ohio, though, he'd be facing up to six months in prison and a fine as high as $1,000.

But even Ohio's streaking laws pale in comparison to New York City's "Calvin Klein" law. The New York Post reports that the law was created in 2003 after the world-famous fashion designer walked right onto the court in the middle of a Knicks game to whisper something into Latrell Sprewell's ear. Breaking the Klein law will get you up to a year in jail and a huge fine that could be as much as $25,000. Those who run onto the field also risk physical injury, as there are no fouls for roughing the streaker when the police go to take him down. But the biggest deterrent remains the lifetime ban from the venue, so if you're a diehard fan, just keep your clothes on and your buns in the bleachers.

Those thousands of nude college students from the 1970s would be shaking their heads at the so-called "streaker" who interrupted Super Bowl LV. Not only was the guy not naked, he didn't even fully rock the one-piece swimsuit he had on. He wore black shorts over it. And neither did he do it for the simple joy of baring his cheeks to the world. As Vulture reported, the guy did it as a publicity stunt for a Russian porn star named Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, who also sent a leotard-clad "streaker" out into the field during the 2020 Super Bowl. Vulture writer Halle Kiefer lamented, "So, yeah, we didn't think you could desecrate the time-honored tradition of showing your bare a** on live television, but in the future, please, everyone just streak for personal reasons and/or the honor."

TMZ Sports also wasn't having the guy's mediocre prank. It called him an "idiot streaker" and derided him for not even being able to make into the end zone. "The worst performance of the Super Bowl goes to the moron who got in the field and tried to make a run for the end zone ... AND BLEW IT ON THE 1 YARD LINE!" It is still unclear what kind of punishment the streaker or Zdorovetskiy will get, if any, but they've definitely been harshly excoriated in the court of public opinion. Come one guys, if you're gonna streak, do it right.