Sports Then and Now

Larry Csonka rushed for 145 yards and two scores in Super Bowl VIII.

Welcome to Part 2 of the 50 Greatest Individual Performances in Super Bowl History.

In today’s section, the 40-31 performances are revealed.

40.  Dwight White-Defensive End, Pittsburgh Steelers, IX
White spent much of the week leading up to the Super Bowl in a hospital suffering from pneumonia, losing 20 pounds.

However, White suited up and started for the Steelers when they met the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX.

White made three tackles and was credited with the first safety in Super Bowl history as he helped “The Steel Curtain” hold the Vikings to 119 total yards, the fewest in Super Bowl history, as the Steelers won their first of four Super Bowls with a 16-6 win.

After the game, White went back to the hospital where he stayed for another 10 days.

39. Larry Csonka-Running Back, Miami Dolphins, VIII
Csonka set the then-rushing record for most carries and yards gained by a running back as he carried the ball 33 times for 145 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Dolphins’ easy 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings for the Dolphins’ second straight Super Bowl title.

Csonka became the first running back to be named Super Bowl MVP and the first running back to gain more than 100 yards in back-to-back Super Bowls(He had 115 yards in Super Bowl VII).

38. Franco Harris-Running Back, Pittsburgh Steelers, IX
Harris broke Csonka’s one-year record for most carries and yards gained by a running back as he carried the ball 34 times for 158 yards and scored the Steelers’ first touchdown, a nine-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the second half, to be named MVP in Pittsburgh’s 16-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
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Bart Starr was the MVP of the first Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is the ultimate stage for a NFL player to have a performance for the ages.

It does not have to be a superstar or future Hall-of-Famer, but role players or players that have been overshadowed throughout their careers can step in to the limelight and put together a game that fans watching on TV or in the stands will never forget.

With the help of Bob McGinn’s The Ultimate Super Bowl Book, I have comprised the 50 Greatest Individual Performances in Super Bowl History.

In this list will not only be players that won the Most Valuable Player award in the Super Bowl, but players from losing teams that gave put their teams on their back but fell just short of winning the Lombardi Trophy, through no fault of their own.

Also, there will be performances that could have been recognized as a MVP performance but were overlooked in favor of others.

In essence, just because there have been 44 Super Bowls, does not mean all 44 Super Bowl MVP winners on this list.

So with no further interruption, here are the 50 Greatest Individual Performances in Super Bowl History with today’s installment focusing on 50 through 41:

50. Roger Craig-Running Back, San Francisco 49ers, XIX
Craig became the first player in Super Bowl history to score three touchdowns in one game.

The versatile running back ran the ball 15 times for 58 yards and rushed for a two-yard touchdown run to go along with seven receptions for 77 yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers’ 38-16 win over the Miami Dolphins.

49. John Stallworth-Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers, XIV
Though he only caught three passes in the entire game, Stallworth made his presence felt in the fourth quarter of a tight contest with the Los Angeles Rams.

Trailing 19-17 early in the fourth quarter, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw launched a deep pass for Stallworth, who caught it beyond the hands of Rams safety Rod Perry at the Rams’ 32-yard-line, and ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown.

Following an Rams turnover and facing a 3rd-and-7, Stallworth caught another deep pass from Bradshaw, this time for 45 yards that put the Steelers at the Rams’22-yard-line and lead to the game-clinching touchdown, a one-yard touchdown run by Franco Harris.

Stallworth finished with 121 yards on three catches, averaging 40.3 yards per catch, in the Steelers’ 31-19 victory and fourth Super Bowl title in six years. Read the rest of this entry →

Peyton Manning led the Colts past Jacksonville, but they have to win their final two games to reach the playoffs.

With just two weeks remaining in the NFL regular season, there are still 20 teams which could conceivably end up winning the Super Bowl. Although this obviously shows just how competitive the NFL is, and more importantly how exciting the NFL can be, the fact remains that certain teams are still in a much better situation than others as they seek to reach the playoffs.

Super bowl betting pundits note that the Indianapolis Colts, despite enjoying a stellar season last year, are struggling to make the play-offs this time around after enduring a mixed season that has seen them hold an 8-6 record. As a result of this, the Colts know that their hopes of making at least the playoffs this season rest almost entirely on their star quarterback Peyton Manning displaying a run of top level performances for the rest of the regular season.

Contrast this to the predicament facing the Jets, had enjoyed a brilliant start to the season only to see their hopes of grabbing the AFC East crown dashed after they failed to maintain their form when it came to the crunch, leaving them destined for a wild card spot.

However, the most exciting division according to those looking at the Super Bowl betting odds regularly (despite the poor level of football that has been on show this season) has clearly been the NFC West, which could end the season with the division champion experiencing a season that falls below the .500 mark which is normally the minimum requirement for reaching the playoffs.

Whoever ends up making the playoffs this season, the one thing that is for certain is that it is going to take a massive change in form for either the New England Patriots or the Atlanta Falcons not to end the season contesting the Super Bowl.

In Some places, the Rugby Six Nations Championship is bigger than the Super Bowl.

You’d be forgiven—if you are American—for thinking that the entire sporting world fell into awed silence as the brouhaha that is Super Bowl swept along everyone with even the faintest of pulses.

And of course this year’s spectacle had the extra wow factor of an emotional New Orleans back-story: underdog, triumph over adversity, not a dry eye in the house.

For many on the other side of “the pond,” though, that New Orleans back-story was the front story, too, because American football remains an impenetrable anachronism for most of us…well for this particular correspondent, anyway!

So last weekend, our focus was rather more Euro-centred. While the padded up and helmeted Superbowl heroes began their campaign to the predetermined rhythm of the broadcasters’ advertising breaks, its stripped down, bare-knuckled equivalent—the Six Nations Championship—was just getting under way.

This is a competition where deep-rooted loyalties have been determined by the history books, with the English the common foe. It may be hundreds of years since a king Edward or a king Henry strode into Scotland or Wales, Ireland or France, but an unspoken resentment still simmers in the veins.

That complex tapestry of history, married with the visceral sport that is rugby union, makes the Six Nations championship one of the most intense and compelling competitions in sport.

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Max McGee scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history.

Since the first Super Bowl was played in January 1967, the game has annually provided a stage for some of the best players of all-time to showcase their greatness in front of what is typically the largest television audience of the year.

All-time greats from Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Franco Harris and Larry Csonka to John Elway, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Tom Brady have used the Super Bowl as a platform to confirm their greatness and cement a Hall of Fame career.

However, one of the charms of the Super Bowl has always been that in addition to being a showcase for all-time greats, it is also an annual opportunity for players with far less career pedigrees and no chance to get into the Hall of Fame without a ticket to also dazzle the world and forever put their name into the history books.

It all began with the first Super Bowl, when the initial touchdown was caught by 34-year old receiver Max McGee, who had caught four passes the entire regular season and was famously out carousing the night before the game.

Over the ensuing 43 years, the legacy of the Super Bowl has been built not just on the backs of all-time greats, but also on the backs of average players who chose the biggest stage of all to play their best.

Below we look at 10 players who had in most cases average or below average careers, but who played their best with the lights at their brightest. Read the rest of this entry →

The outcome of Super Bowl XX was never really in doubt as Walter Payton and the Bears dominated the Patriots.

Wow, has it really been 24 years?  Jan 26, 1986. Super Bowl XX, at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tony Eason and the New England Patriots, against Jim McMahon and the Chicago Bears.

After watching the Super Bowl on TV as a kid, I couldn’t believe I was actually there to cover the big game in person. It was just my second year in television so I was still a little wet behind the ears.

At the time, I was working for Channel 9, WMUR TV in Manchester, N.H. and was in the Big Easy as part of the media contingent covering the Patriots.

That year the Pats were actually a surprise Super Bowl suitor given the teams they had the beat to get there.  After finishing the regular season with a record of 11-5 and in third place behind the Dolphins and Jets in the AFC East, New England’s ticket to New Orleans consisted of three wildcard road wins against  the Jets (26-14), Raiders (27-20) and Dolphins (31-14).

Ironically, Miami was the only team that season to beat the Bears, who arrived on Bourbon Street with a gaudy record of 18-1, following play-off wins over the Giants (21-0) and the Los Angeles Rams (24-0).

Yep, back to back play-off shutouts, but no surprise really when you consider at the time the Bears where in the record books as one of the best defenses ever in league history.

That year, the Bears, “46 Zone” defense, allowed the fewest points (198), total yards (4,135), and fewest  yards rushing (1,319). They also led the league with thirty-four interceptions. Read the rest of this entry →