Every time there is a championship team in the NFL or NCAA, the next big moment is the ‘Gatorade Shower’, with which the players celebrate in a very strange way, with their coach, when they wait for him to be distracted to pour the bucket with cold drinks on top, either simple water or the traditional energy drink
The players sneak up on the coach from behind with a cooler full of Gatorade, usually in one of the team’s colors, and pour it over his head.
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Last year, this honor went to Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LXVIII and to Jim Harbaugh with the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA to achieve their first national championship since 1997 and also with an impressive perfect record of 15-0.
But what is the origin of this happy joke?
According to league historians, this tradition began in the 1984 season, although it is not clear who did it first in two separate events:
The first theory is that the idea came from player Jim Burt of the New York Giants, who threw the bucket of Gatorade at his coach, none other than the intimidating coach, Bill Parcells. While the second theory points out that the coach who was bathed was another of the great sideline dictators, Mike Ditka, when he was in charge of the great team of the Chicago Bears
Whichever was the first of the Gatorade baths, it is clear that in addition to a celebration, it is a way to return a little of the cruelty with which coaches as disciplinary as these, handled their teams. In both cases, the players knew that there would be no reprisals against them for a prank against their coaches
However, this celebration is such a special moment that it has spread to other professional sports around the world to celebrate an outstanding victory
The last coach to be bathed in the NCAA and what color was the drink used against him?
In January 2024, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh came close to making history on the subject of the ‘Gatorade shower’ when the Wolverines began to celebrate their national title with a resounding 34-13 win over Washington, which gave them time to plan the moment
Harbaugh made history with the Wolverines for the first title in decades for this prestigious university. When his team’s players approached him to bathe him, one of them approached to congratulate him and, incidentally, distract him so he could bathe him. However, the shrewd coach immediately noticed and immediately took two steps forward, standing in front of his ‘attackers’, who were trying to empty a bucket of water on him.
The moment went viral on social media, due to Harbaugh’s agility in dodging danger
However, he could not avoid a second attack and, during the celebration, they managed to execute a new attempt, but with blue Gatorade.
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