The Super Bowl is upon us. The media is salivating on media row for any tidbit of bulletin board material. Players have thrown their cell phones in the dumpster to avoid cousins that are asking for last minute tickets to the game. And I am sitting here thinking about all the Super Bowl moments that I have enjoyed over the years. I have only missed watching one of these world championship games and that was due to a power outage. We had to listen to the 49ers rout Miami in 1985 on the radio. Here are my top ten favorite moments from the greatest show on earth. This is my personal list, so feel free to share your favorites.
- The moment that Super Bowl I kicked off. It was not a great game. There were only about two camera angles from what I could tell from watching a replay on the NFL Network last Saturday. The halftime show likely consisted of a high school marching band. But the game was set up and played. That first step has led to the monster event that we get to enjoy as a national holiday each year.
- Joe Namath’s prediction of a win for the lowly AFC conference got lots of attention and luckily they actually won the game. This moment gets credit for the Super Bowl being perceived as a true decider of the NFL Champion. The NFC was no more an automatic victor.
- Desmond Howard saved Brett Favre’s legacy in Super Bowl XXXI. The kick returner was the difference in the game and won the MVP trophy. He scored on a 99 yard kickoff return and ended the night with 244 yards returning the football. Patriots win this game if the Pack doesn’t have that secret weapon.
- Donovan McNabb’s meltdown in the last few minutes of the Super Bowl versus the Pats was one for the ages. A team is going to struggle when the leader is allegedly throwing up on the field just before a last chance drive to take the lead. Joe Montana was spotting celebrities in the stands before his 92 yard march versus the Bengals back in the day. That cool factor separates the great from the good.
- In one of the more suspicious couple of plays from a Super Bowl, Neil O’Donnell threw two interceptions directly to Larry Brown of the Cowboys. I’m not saying that O’Donnell was throwing the game on purpose, but Bill Cowher should have choked the guy on the sideline after the second pick.
- Tom Brady and the Patriots began a drive that leads to a last second field goal to beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. It was the beginning of a dynasty that is still intact 13 years later. I remember John Madden saying how it was a mistake for the Pats to try to go for the win in regulation. Turns out that having guts paid off for Belichick and company.
- Scott Norwood missed a field goal that could have given Buffalo the win against the Giants. Instead it sailed wide and the Bills lost that Super Bowl along with three more in a row. Who knows how things may have changed in the next three years if he had hit the FG.
- David Tyree’s unbelievable catch kept the Giants alive in the fourth quarter against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Eli Manning is the luckiest QB in Super Bowl history, having had two impossible catches by his wideouts to help him to a win in two separate Super Bowls.
- Marcus Allen’s cutback run against the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII was the best run ever in the big game. Allen put on a show that night that will never be forgotten by me. The Redskins had no answer for him and this one run broke their backs.
- Joe Montana ripping the hearts out of Bengals fans in Super Bowl XXIII. He calmly took his team 92 yards for a touchdown to take the lead with 34 seconds left. The greatest QB in history made the best comeback in Super Bowl history with this drive. Tom Brady has led his team to some last second championships, but has always needed a field goal to help him out. Montana got a TD in the toughest of situations.