 |
Former Steelers
WR Lynn Swann
|
The All-time Super Bowl team is a result of consultation with those who saw all or most
of the 34 Roman-numeral games, a consensus of key NFL observers and one man’s
opinion.
In making the difficult choices, sometimes an accumulated "mountain of
evidence" was just too much to ignore in the case of players with multiple games.
Other times, a one-game performance was just too brilliant to be overlooked. On balance,
it is felt that the all-time team is representative of the best of the best.
While there were some no-brainers, competition at most positions was quite intense. But
regardless of whom you may have picked, this team — with the players in their Super
Bowl prime — is a team of individuals who stepped up big time in the biggest game of
the season.
Two coaches were in more Super Bowls than Noll, and there were four in as many. But no
one won more than the Steelers’ low-profile, no-ego coach. Noll was a perfect
four-for-four. ’Nuff said!
| Offensive coordinator |
Mike Martz |
Before taking over as head coach of the Rams in 2000, Martz was the coordinator of what
many think is the most explosive offense in the history of the NFL. In Super Bowl XXXIV,
the Rams rang up 436 yards of total offense — 407 through the air, including the
game-clinching, Kurt Warner-to-Isaac Bruce, 73-yard TD bomb just after the Titans tied the
contest at 16 late in the game.
| Defensive coordinator |
Bud Carson |
In the Steelers’ first two Super Bowl victories (IX and X), neither of them
blowouts, the defense, coordinated by Carson, allowed 119 and 270 yards of total offense,
respectively. The "Steel Curtain" was truly heavy-metal in Super Bowl IX. With a
sickly Dwight White at defensive end and reserves playing much of the game for injured LBs
Jack Lambert and Andy Russell, Carson’s charges limited the Vikings to 17 yards
rushing.
Offense
Arguably the best quarterback to ever play pro football (although Johnny Unitas still
gets this corner’s vote), Montana was nearly perfect in his four Super Bowl
appearances. The MVP of three games (XVI, XIX, and XXIV), Montana’s name is sprinkled
liberally throughout the Super Bowl record book — highest passer rating (127.8), most
career completions (83), most consecutive completions (13), most yards (1,142), most TD
passes (11) and most attempts without an interception (122). Perhaps the most lasting
memory of Montana’s coolness, poise, and resourcefulness is his 11-play, 92-yard
drive that culminated in a 10-yard TD pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left in the
come-from-behind defeat of Cincinnati, 20-16, in Super Bowl XXIII.
In two Super Bowls, Davis established himself as the premier running back in the league
at the time and his team’s most important cog, replacing QB John Elway. Fighting off
the effects of a migraine headache, Davis came back from the bench to register 157 yards
and three touchdowns and earn MVP honors in a down-to-the-wire, 31-24 victory over Green
Bay in Super Bowl XXXII. The next year, with Falcons head coach Dan Reeves’
ill-conceived plan of stop-the-run-and-make-Elway-beat-us (he did), Davis still gained 102
yards on 25 carries.
A throwback to Bronko Nagurski, Csonka was equal parts power and determination. In
Super Bowl VII, climaxing the Dolphins’ perfect 1972 season, he battered the Redskins
for 7.5 yards per thrust (112 yards on 15 carries) in a game that, thanks to Garo
Yepremian, saw the Redskins alive until the very end. More than once Zonk took would-be
tacklers along for a ride. Although the Vikings were less formidable than the Redskins the
next year, Csonka wasn’t. Scoring two touchdowns, he racked up 145 yards on 33
carries, as members of the Vikings’ secondary seemed to be in a duck-and-cover mode
whenever the bulldozing fullback broke through the line.
Like Joe Montana, Rice makes the team by virtue of sheer numbers. In the three games
he’s played, Rice has been dominant. He holds the record for most career receptions
(28), most receptions in a game (11 — shared with Dan Ross), most career yards (512
— Lynn Swann is second with 364), most yards in a game (215), most career receiving
touchdowns (seven) and most receiving touchdowns in a game (three). That’s a
six-pack, folks! Rice earned Super Bowl XXIII’s MVP honors for his record-setting
215-yard performance. He also scored once.
After suffering a concussion as a result of a working-over given him by those gentlemen
of the Raiders’ secondary in the AFC championship game before Super Bowl X, Swann was
questionable going into the big game. The word on the street was, "Rough him up, and
he can be intimidated." When asked before the Steelers-Cowboys game if Swann would be
ready, a Steelers assistant just rolled his eyes. After a four-catch, 161-yard, one-TD
game, Swann left the Cowboys rolling their eyes. His juggling, falling-down reception is
still an NFL Films staple and a hook on which his many Hall of Fame boosters hang their
hat. They say, with considerable justification, "No one came up bigger in big games
than Lynn Swann."
While Dan Ross’ 11-catch day in Super Bowl XVI set a receptions record that has
been equalled but never surpassed, the Bengals’ journeyman loses out to the
Cowboys’ Novacek. Novacek, Troy Aikman’s security blanket, accumulated more
numbers in three Super Bowls than Ross — understandably. Novacek made seven catches
for 72 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII, scoring his team’s first touchdown
on a 23-yard catch.
An undrafted free agent, Jacoby typified the famed Redskins’ "Hogs" on
the offensive line. The quiet giant is one of the reasons Joe Gibbs was able to win three
Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. It’s also why John Riggins was able to
resemble a speeding locomotive.
You could almost consider Shell and OG Gene Upshaw as one entry. They were so
formidable, opponents must have thought they were seeing double as Shell and Upshaw paved
the way for the Raiders’ weak-side (left) sweep. In Super Bowl XI, Shell, with
considerable help from his sidekick, led the way for the Raiders’ runners to gain 266
yards against the Vikings’ "Purple People Eaters" defense.
In three Super Bowls, two at guard (XVI and XIX) and one at center (XXIII), Randy Cross
was impressive. The lasting impression many have of Super Bowl XVI is the 49ers running
off the field at halftime, up 20-0, and Cross grinning from ear-to-ear. He had a reason.
He and his linemates were giving Joe Montana all the time he needed to dissect the
Bengals’ defense. In two other games, Cross was equally effective and protective.
If Larry Csonka seemed to roam at will in Super Bowls VII and VIII, Kuechenberg was one
of the main reasons. So dominant were Kuechenberg and his linemates, especially OG Larry
Little, at drive blocking, that Miami attempted only 18 passes in those two games.
While Webster split playing time with fellow ironman C Ray Mansfield in the first two
Steelers Super Bowls, Webster acquitted himself rather well, thank you, once the job was
his alone. Whether he was protecting Terry Bradshaw or opening gaping holes for Franco
Harris and Rocky Bleier — or simply making the proper line calls — Webster did
it in true Hall of Fame fashion.
Defense
When the Bears lined up in their fabled and feared "46" defense, crowding the
line, jumping in and out of gaps, it looked like they had more defenders than any offense
could block. In real-time, it was true. In Super Bowl XX, in just the first quarter, Dent
sacked Patriots QB Tony Eason and caused a fumble that was recovered by the Bears; tackled
RB Craig James for a five-yard loss; and caused another fumble recovered by the Bears. His
ferocious play the rest of the game earned him MVP honors, and he remains the only
defensive lineman to win the award outright.
"Hollywood Bags," as he was known to his Steelers teammates, made a big
impression in his first Super Bowl (IX). Looking more like the NBA’s Bill Russell,
Greenwood kept "rejecting" Fran Tarkenton’s pass attempts. The next year,
Greenwood sacked Roger Staubach three times. In two other games, he was consistently
effective, if not as spectacular.
In Super Bowl VII, Fernandez lived "a lineman’s dream." While always a
solid performer with the Dolphins’ "No-Name Defense," he was sensational
against the Redskins. He had eight solo tackles in Miami’s 14-7 victory — a
near-unheard-of number for a down lineman not named Joe Greene.
Not only was Greene the heart and soul of the Steel Curtain defense throughout his Hall
of Fame career, he continued that role in four Super Bowls — all Steelers victories.
In Super Bowl IX, "Mean Joe" keyed a defense that gave up a miniscule 17 rushing
yards for the game. On a fairly close call, Greene gets the nod over Super Bowl XII co-MVP
Randy White, who played more than one great game for the Cowboys.
More than the answer to the trivia question, "Who is the only player to win the
Super Bowl MVP from a losing team?" Howley was a strong performer in Super Bowls V
and VI. His two interceptions and forced fumble in Super Bowl V earned him MVP honors, but
he also had an interception in Super Bowl VI — a Cowboys victory. No player has ever
had more than the three career pickoffs Howley recorded.
Like Manny Fernandez, Martin rose to the occasion in Super Bowl XV. Helped by a Raiders
defense that shut down the Eagles’ running game, Martin could concentrate on the
passing game. He did that in a big way. Martin intercepted Ron Jaworski’s first pass
and picked off another pair for an encore. In the 1980 regular season, Martin had only two
interceptions.
The emotional leader of the Steelers, Lambert was effective before and after the
whistle. In Super Bowl X — he missed a considerable amount of IX — Lambert put a
WWF Smackdown move on the Cowboys’ Cliff Harris after Harris taunted Roy Gerela on a
missed field-goal try. It gave the swagger back to Pittsburgh. In Super Bowl XIV, just as
it appeared that the upstart Rams would overtake the Steelers, Lambert dropped into pass
coverage and intercepted a pass at the Pittsburgh 14-yard line.
One of the major reasons Fran Tarkenton’s ring finger is unencumbered by Super
Bowl jewelry is Brown. The bump-and-run pioneer not only did a great job covering Vikings
receivers in Super Bowl XI, but he ran himself into the record book with a 75-yard
interception return for a touchdown. Brown was solid in Super Bowl II for the Raiders as
well. He narrowly beat out the 49ers’ Eric Wright, who was all over the field in
Super Bowl XVI — intercepting a pass, knocking down several other Bengals throws and
making tackles.
NFL observers are fond of saying, "Two-thirds of the earth’s surface is
covered by water — the other third by Mel Blount." It might be only a slight
exaggeration. Before Deion Sanders "took away half a field," Blount matched up
with the opposition’s best receiver and seldom gave him much to crow about. No Super
Bowl wide receiver ever caught more than four passes against Blount & Co.
It would have been just as easy to name Lott as an All-Super Bowl cornerback, as he
started two games at safety and two at cornerback. He was a presence anytime he was on the
field in his four Super Bowl appearances. In Super Bowl XIX, Lott broke up a potential Dan
Marino-to-Mark Clayton touchdown pass in the endzone. In Super Bowl XXIII, his monster hit
on the Bengals’ Ickey Woods got the Niners going in the right direction.
In the tightly contested Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 victory that kept the Dolphins perfect
(17-0), Scott came up large. He made two interceptions and was awarded the MVP trophy. One
of his interceptions was key in preserving the victory. With Washington perched at the
Miami 10, he made a pick in the endzone, killing a Redskins drive. Scott’s fielding
and returning of punts also was a factor in the close game.
Specialists
Other kickers have had their Super moments. It’s said that Jan Stenerud’s
48-yard field goal early in Super Bowl IV put the Vikings into a state of shock — the
Chiefs were a threat to score any time they crossed midfield. But for drama and pressure,
none tops O’Brien’s 32-yard, game-winning kick in Super Bowl V. O’Brien was
a rookie who also played wide receiver. He was facing overtime, as well as ridicule from
his Colts mates, if he missed. He didn’t, and the Colts won 16-13 in the final
seconds.
In Super Bowl IV, Wilson’s punting was what Jan Stenerud’s kicking was —
an intimidation factor. Wilson’s four punts against the Vikings averaged 48.5 yards.
On the few occasions the Vikes’ defense pinned the Chiefs deep, the thunder-footed
Wilson kicked them out of trouble. His two-game average is a best-ever 46.5 yards on 11
kicks.
In Super Bowl XVII, Walker’s 98-yard kickoff return gave the Dolphins a 17-10
lead. It wouldn’t hold up, but Walker’s two-game, 283-yard total is still a
Super Bowl record for career kickoff-return yards. His 47.5-yard average (also in Super
Bowl XVII) is an existing record too. The Steelers’ Larry Anderson’s five
returns for 162 yards in Super Bowl XIV offers stiff competition, as does Stanford
Jennings’s 93-yard TD return in the Bengals’ near-upset of the 49ers in Super
Bowl XXIII.
It would have been equally fitting to place Howard on this team as a kickoff returner.
His 99-yarder broke the Patriots’ collective back in Super Bowl XXXI. But it was his
punt returns of 32 and 34 yards that were pivotal in his being the only special-teams
player to win a Super Bowl MVP award.
Jim Campbell has been an observer of the pro football scene for half a century,
including stints with the Hall of Fame, NFL Properties and NFL Alumni.
For a complete guide to this year's Super Bowl, you can purchase a copy of Vol. XV, No.
29 (dated Feb. 1, 2001) of Pro Football Weekly, now on sale at newsstands and
bookstores across the country. Or you can subscribe online to PFW's print
edition, or subscribe by calling 1-800-FOOTBALL (1-800-366-8225) and charging your
subscription to a major credit card. |
