An off-the-field camera capture during a national championship football game became an iconic sports moment.
It happened seven years ago this January. Katherine Webb, an Auburn University undergraduate and a Miss Alabama USA, was sitting in the stands at a football game. In seconds, she became a national sensation. Here’s the set-up.
Webb was dating Alabama starting quarterback AJ McCarron. McCarron led the Tide to an 11-1 season’s record, and his team qualified to play for college football’s national championship. After beating Georgia in the national semi, the Tide faced Notre Dame in the championship game.
As UA took the lead, the cameras panned the stands. There they found Ms. Webb. The photo opp was too much for announcer Brent Musburger to pass up, and here’s what happened….
The Tide went on to trounce the Irish, 42-14, but that was only part of the story that night. After the game, ESPN apologized for Musburger’s extemporaneous comments.
The public? Many fans paid no attention to what some saw as a gaffe. Overnight the number of Webb’s Twitter followers jumped from 2k to (get this) 175k. Googling “AJ McCarron girlfriend” topped 1 million searches, and the YouTube video (shown above) had over 3 million views.
Webb took advantage of her national fame, making media appearances and appearing in a reality television series, Splash. And for the record, Webb told the media that she didn’t find Musburger remarks offensive.
Where is Katherine Webb today? She married McCarron, who’s still in football, playing as the backup quarterback for the Houston Texans. The couple has two children, and Webb loves being a wife and mother.
But on January 7, 2013, millions of eyes were riveted on Webb in what has become an iconic sports moment.
