15 Minutes of Infamy A controversial moment in the spotlight can leave a lasting memory--and change a life

Michael Pantazis

During a Bears-Packers Monday-night game in 1995, Pantazis jumped
off a concrete wall in the Soldier Field stands to snare an extra
point. He fell 25 feet onto an usher (who was not hurt) and
landed on highlight clips everywhere. "The other day strangers
recognized me and bought me drinks," says Pantazis, 35, a sales
manager for a Chicago moving company. "It's amazing how my life
has changed."

Jeffrey Maier

In Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series at
Yankee Stadium, Maier, then 12, reached over Orioles rightfielder
Tony Tarasco to snag Derek Jeter's fly ball and give New York a
game-tying home run. Next fall Maier (whose family turned down
SI's interview request) will enter Wesleyan, where he'll play
baseball. Says Wesleyan coach Mark Woodworth, who recruited the
Old Tappan, N.J., centerfielder, "He wants people to respect him
as a player."

Richard Jewell

On July 27, 1996, a pipe bomb concealed in a backpack exploded at
Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, leaving two dead and 110
injured. After it was leaked that the FBI suspected Jewell--a
security guard who had reported the suspicious backpack and began
evacuating the area--he was all but convicted in the press. Jewell
was cleared and won nearly $2 million in settlements from media
outlets, but his bitterness lingers. Says Jewell, now 39 and a
Senoia, Ga., police officer, "I still feel that the good I did
that night was taken away from me."

FIVE COLOR PHOTOS: COURTESY ABC (5)

COLOR PHOTO: TODD ROSENBERG

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN IACONO (LEFT)

COLOR PHOTO: CHUCK SOLOMON

COLOR PHOTO: WILLIAM BERRY/ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION/AP (FAR LEFT)

COLOR PHOTO: GREG FOSTER