1998 NFL Thanksgiving Day Game: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions: This controversial call changed the game of football forever or at least the coin toss. The Steelers and Lions were tied and the game was sent into overtime. The coin was flipped midfield and, according to Steelers RB Jerome Bettis, he called tails. The coin landed tails side up and the referee declared the Lions the winner of the toss.
Confusion erupted. Bettis screamed at officials that the referee had gotten the toss result wrong. Referee Phil Luckett, the official who declared the toss, later told reporters that Bettis had called ‘’heads-tails’’ and Luckett, according to NFL rules, went with the first thing he heard out of Bettis’ mouth. The Lions went on to win in overtime and Steelers fans have never forgotten.
No one will ever know if Bettis said heads or tails first, but the rules regarding the coin toss have been since changed to avoid any further controversy
I think that controversial coin toss happened at the start of Super Bowl XL - which was played in Detroit.