You’ve streaked at more than 500 events, most famously during Super Bowl XXXVIII between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers. Have you always had a taste for adventure? In school I was the class joker. In my local bar I’m the crazy guy – the guy who likes to do things for fun. It’s just stemmed from there. I’ve just had this taste for doing crazy things, mostly just to make people laugh. I love to see people smile and laugh if I do something silly or tell a joke whatever it may be.
What made you do this for the first time? I went to Hong Kong in 1993 with a one-way ticket and £30 in my pocket. The energy there at that time in the early 90s was infectious, just unbelievable. The Rugby Sevens was happening there, a two-day event, and I drunkenly said in a bar one evening that anybody can streak. The owner of the bar dared me to do it the next day during the final. I was only talking through the alcohol. I had no intention, but the next day a guy came and dragged me out of the apartment. I went to the stadium and had a few beers, then I ran on and took the ball off the New Zealand All Blacks – who were the best team in the world at the time – and scored a try. The whole stadium went crazy. I sobered up in an instant. The police threw me out of the stadium and I came straight back in and did it again about a half hour later. I believe I’m the first person who’s ever streaked twice at the same event on the same day. What a debut.
And you were instantly hooked? It was just infectious. It was the adrenaline I got from that first day. I went crazy. There was a big Chinese football game on two days later and I agreed to go to that. I quickly realized that people really enjoyed watching me do this – this crazy mad streaking – so I decided I’d see when I came home to England if it would be the same here. There hadn’t been anyone streaking for nearly 20 years in the UK. So I did a big a football game, Liverpool v Everton, and it went down great again. A couple of months later I did press-ups in the penalty area at a Liverpool v Arsenal game and that’s when I got a football ban.
A ban? I wasn’t allowed to go to any stadiums for 12 months. That’s when I started doing golf, tennis, all the rugby events and such. Every time in every station at every sport, it’s the same reaction.
Are you recognized? Even if I’m not planning anything, if there’s a major sporting event in the UK, the police are pre-warned and they have security talks just on me. They carry photographs. That was all part of the adventure. Now I’ve got to get past people who are looking out for me. That’s when I started wearing disguises. I’ve even got into Royal Ascot, one of the biggest horse race weekends in the UK, dressed as a woman — thought I looked like the Undertaker from WWF. I don’t make a good looking woman, honestly.
Does the fear factor fluctuate according to the event? Streaking among the skinny stewards at Wimbledon must be different than a police state like the Super Bowl. Most definitely. Big soccer events are always scary. The biggest fear factor I had was for the Super Bowl and that started before I even left Liverpool. I went through every emotion in my head, the repercussions and the consequences. I was scared. I was worried about one of the players chasing me out and all the players jumping on top of me. That was my biggest fear because I suffer from a bit of claustrophobia. If they’d have all gone on top of me, there was a good chance I might die – I don’t know. I was even prepared to take a bullet in the leg from a sniper in the room. Remember, this was right after 9/11. The whole point of me doing the Super Bowl was to make people smile again.
Had you always eyed the Super Bowl? I was offered tickets to the Oscars that same year and said no. If I’m going to America to perform it had to the be the biggest event in the States. They said it was impossible and I said ‘Why? Who said it’s impossible?’ They said it just can’t be done.
Dare to dream. How much planning went into it? It was a year in the making. I’d tried the year before in San Diego. I’d arranged with a ticket broker over the phone for a $500 ticket, but when I arrived he wanted $5,000 and there was no way in hell. I was with friends and we didn’t even have that much money between us. I even got as far as the stadium on the tram, but the policeman on duty would not let me get off even though I said a friend had a ticket at the gate and I’d come all the way from England. He refused to let me off, so I’d made it all the way to the stadium just to be turned back, which was very disappointing. Of course I believe things happen for a reason. I wasn’t meant to do it that year because I was totally unprepared. I didn’t have a lawyer, I didn’t have any money, but now I had a whole year to plan for Houston. The next year I had front row tickets, I had a lawyer, and a referee’s uniform that I’d had sent to me from the States.
Wait, a lawyer? At this time I did have a sponsor. They said just have our name on your chest and we’ll get you the best and they did. They got me Richard Haynes, who was the No1 lawyer in Texas and one of the top six in the whole of the US. He was just unbelievable. I thought he was going to be some two-bit lawyer until I met him. You just knew you were in the presence of someone who was unbelievable. He said we go to trial, we plead not guilty: nobody told you you couldn’t go onto the field. There were no signs, no warnings. That was our argument.
Were there any close calls with security? Going into the stadium I had two sets of clothes on: my own clothes and the referee’s uniform underneath. Both sets had Velcro and could be easily torn away. As I’m getting frisked by security at the gate, he felt the Velcro on my trousers and asked what that was about. The only thing I could think of was I have a skin disorder and need to be able to put the cream on quickly – and he accepted that explanation! Then he lifted my top up and saw the referee’s uniform and asked about that. I said it was my lucky referee’s uniform and I wear it to every game. And he let me in. I looked at my friend and said this was meant to happen. If I can get through security with excuses like that, this will happen.
So what happened next? When we sat down at last, we had front row seats on the 50-yard line. The police and security were absolutely everywhere, and there was one security guard right in my direct line of where I planned to enter the field who stayed on his mark from two hours before the game started right up until the point when I needed to go on. He walked off his mark at the very moment I needed to go. It was like divine intervention.
And then you made your move. The adrenaline at that time was just pumping. The biggest noise I’d ever heard to that point was that very first time in Hong Kong. That noise was never replicated until I’m dancing naked on the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. I felt like I was on there for so long. It felt like minutes before the chase happened. It was just surreal: I was dancing in the middle of the field at the Super Bowl and nobody was coming after me. I thought, “What the hell is going on out there?” expecting people to chase me straight away, so I had to come up with all these dance moves. I’m glad they started coming after me when they did because I was running out.
What do you think causes the hesitation? Why so often are you not chased immediately? The element of surprise – going on as a referee – is what made it possible. As soon as I disrobed, I think the players thought the referee has gone crazy straight away. As I’m dancing in circles around the ball, I’m looking at the police and they all looked confused. They didn’t know what the hell was happening for nearly a minute. If I’d have run off naked, I wouldn’t have gotten 10 or 15 yards. The element of surprise and confusion adds to the whole performance, the adventure.
What happened next? The police were going to let me go after a half hour, but the head of the NFL came running down. They’d spent millions and millions of dollars on security at the Super Bowl and I beat them all and they didn’t like it. At all. So they wanted the book thrown at me. The NFL even appeared in court against me. The head of the Reliant Stadium, the head of the NFL, a top policeman from Houston: they were going all out to get me sent to jail. I want to know where it says in the law books it’s illegal to make people laugh.
And what happened at the trial? I got a $1,000 fine, but I’d been paid $1m to do the Super Bowl. It was crazy because my lawyer turned out to be a woman – Richard Hayes assigned his right-hand lady, Sharon Levine, who’s sadly not with us anymore. The prosecutor was a lady, the judge was a lady, the jury were 12 women. So the state of my life was in the hands of all these ladies, who found me guilty. But when the courtroom was cleared and it was just me, the prosecutor, my lawyer and the judge, all the jurors went into the jury room and all you could hear was laughter. The judge said to me, “Mr Roberts, in all my years on the bench, I have never heard laughter coming from the jury room. Would you please escort me into the room?” And she linked my arm, we walked in and everyone was cheering and laughing and even the judge started to laugh. It was cool, one of those experiences that you never forget.
That’s it? A $1,000 fine? I wanted to get back to the States in 2006 to travel, but I was stopped in Newark and turned around and sent back to the UK. The Super Bowl was only a misdemeanor, but because I’ve got a police record now in the States, I’m told I need to apply for a visa at the embassy in London. There’s still a chance I might not get in. I love the States, you know. I’ll be deeply disappointed if I can never go back to the US again.
Is there a perfect time to streak? It has to be when the game is not in play, because you dont want to change the course of the game. So it’s usually just before kickoff. It’s the beginning of the second half and everyone is watching. Before the ref blows his whistle, that’s the time to go. Not like that one absolute idiot who’s trying to copy me in Spain. He does it with his clothes on during the game.
Jimmy Jump? Yeah, he’s an idiot. He is. He ruins games. He changes the course of the match.
How do you ensure you get your clothes back? Usually when I run onto the pitch or the field, I rip my clothes off when I’m on. So the first thing the police or security do is grab my clothes, give them to me and tell me to put them back on. This happens 90% of the time. Occasionally I’ve had to leave and travel from city to city – you know those blue paper suits the police give you? – I’ve had to wear those a few times to come home. But in general I get them back straight away.
But not always. Once in Spain I didn’t. I streaked at a Barcelona-Real Madrid match in Madrid and the police took me to the station. At half one in the morning they said I could go. I asked if I could have my clothes and they said security had thrown them into the spectators. I’d told nobody I was going to Spain and my passport, my phone and my money were all in my clothes. So now I’m naked at half one in the morning in the middle of Madrid, but I found my way home.
How? Well I’m running naked through the streets just to keep warm initially not knowing where I’m going. This Spanish guy stopped me so I explained my situation. The only place I thought to go was the Holiday Inn near the Bernabeu where I’d picked up my ticket. The Spanish guy gave the taxi driver his last 20 euros for me to get back to the hotel. When I walked in, everybody had watched it on TV. They lent me a t-shirt and shorts, let me stay in a room, lent me 200 euros to get home and I made it back.
The cost of tickets to some of these events alone must add up. How do you account for it? It’s who you know I suppose. Over the years I’ve got to know a lot of ticket brokers. There’s one in particular – he’s like a best friend – and if it’s a big event he’s normally there and he gives me tickets for free. I met him actually at the 2002 Champions League final. The very first time we met, he gave me a ticket for £20 when the face value was £60. That was the time I scored the goal against the Germans. Since then we’ve been really good friends. If it’s in another country, sometimes I’ll have a sponsor. As long as I have their name on my chest, they’ll pay the costs.
Do you ever research the penalties in the countries where you streak? No, I go in blind. Usually what I’m attempting has never been done before, so it’s uncharted territory. There’s no precedent, so I just have to put faith in the hands of the police when I get there. Ever single country I’ve been to – I think I’ve streaked in 22 countries – it’s been the same. I’ve been treated the same by the police every time. The police are great. especially in England. They absolutely love it. They chase me laughing their heads off. The police after the Super Bowl when I went to jail, they took my mugshot and then duplicated it, asked me to sign it for them and their girlfriends.
It’s not really a violent crime, is it? It’s not a crime, really. If you look at in the whole sense of things it’s just a bit of fun. Which makes it more appealing for me because it is supposed to be illegal. If it was legal, everybody’d be doing it. People are scared of consequence, you see. If you cancel out the fear, you can do anything.
Mark Roberts is launching the first worldwide Streaker League later this year, where fans can upload streaks to a website to be officially recognized and nominated for a series of annual awards. For more information visit TheStreaker.com.
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