It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that there have been 56 Super Bowls.
When I saw my first Super Bowl on television at the age of 11, I could recite the scores of all of the previous Super Bowls that had ever been played. Of course at that time there had only been three.
Super Bowl IV was played in New Orleans at old Tulane Stadium on Jan. 11, 1970.
Just a year earlier the New York Jets had pulled perhaps the biggest Super bowl upset of all time when they defeated the NFL Champion Baltimore Colts 16-7. This is the game that former Alabama great Joe Namath “guaranteed” his Jets would win. It was considered laughable at the time, but thanks to Namath, Larry Grantham, and Matt Snell the Jets did just that.
The first two Super Bowls saw Green Bay manhandle the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 on jan. 15, 1967 and then a year later roll over the Oakland Raiders 33-14.
With the AfL/NFL merger on the way, it would be the last time the AFL would play the NFL in the Super Bowl. Beginning the next season, the Colts, Brown and Steelers would join the AFL teams to form the AFC, while the remaining NFL teams would be the NFC.
The football purists were pulling hard for the Minnesota Vikings led by the likes of Joe Kapp, Carl Eller, Alan Page, Ron Yary, Gene Washington, and Mick Tingelhoff, while the Kansas City Chiefs led by head coach Hank Stramm, quarterback Len Dawson, defensive linemen Curley Culp and Buck Buchanan and linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier were considered underdogs by most.
I watched every play of Super Bowl iV, glued to the television in our living room from kick off until the final horn. In the end, the game wasn’t even close as the Chief’s beat the Vikings coached by the legendary Bud Grant by the score of 23-7. Dawson was the MVP by passing for a touchdown and 142 yards.
To be honest, as I was watching that game, I couldn’t even imagine that I would see parts or all of 52 more.
Over the next few years I was mesmerized by the likes of Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, and Jack Lambert of the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as the likes of Jim Plunkett, John Riggins, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
The game has changed, that’s for sure.
While Namath won the MVP for Super Bowl III with 206 passing yards, Dawson had his 142 in Super Bowl 4 and Staubach won the honor with 119 yards passing in Super Bowl Vi the numbers have been much different as of late.
Nick Foles of the Eagles passed for 373 yards and three scores in Super Bowl 52, Tom Brady 466 in Super Bowl 51, Kurt Warner 414 in Super Bowl 34 and Williams 340 in Super Bowl 22.
The game has changed much over the years, with the rules making it harder to defend against the lethal passing games NFL teams have during this era.
The days of hard-nosed defense being played by 210-linebackers is long gone.
I have to admit, I’m much more of a Major League Baseball fan than an NFL or NBA fan. But I still find myself drawn to the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals. Back in the 70s that’s all there was. That’s where the focus lied.
You watched the NBA finals in the spring, the World Series in October and the Super Bowl in January. Yep they were all played in January until Super Bowl 36.
Have there been better Super Bowls than Super Bowl IV? Certainly, In fact probably 40 better, but it will still be the one I will always remember.
We all have those “first” sporting events we will never forget and for me it’s the 1969 World Series and Super Bowl IV. Those are my sports firsts, what are you yours?
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss.
He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.
