Ed Benkin - The First 50 Super Bowls: How Footballs Championships Were Won

ED BENKIN

Foreword by
MIKE CURTIS

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3072-4

2018 Ed Benkin. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover photograph of the Vince Lombardi Trophy by Jerry Coli (Dreamstime)

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To my wonderful daughters, Lauren and Jessica,
who inspire me every day with their smiles,
their generous hearts and their love

I would like to thank my literary agent and longtime attorney, Lloyd Z. Remick, Esq., of Zane Management and his staff of attorneys who made this publication possible with all of their hard work.

I would also like to thank the host of media relations staffs across the National Football League along with various NFL alumni organizations who helped me coordinate more than 100 interviews for this extraordinary project.

Lastly, I would like to thank NFL Films, whose ability to tell the stories of the Super Bowl has left a lasting impression on generations of football fans.

When I first began playing pro football, there was no Super Bowl. However, the Super Bowl was born thanks to a rivalry between two leagues.

I was a proud member of the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League for most of my career. I came to Baltimore in 1965 even though I was also drafted by Kansas City of the American Football League. I chose the NFL and eventually became a linebacker after being drafted as a fullback. The Colts had several NFL rivals, but the rivalry between the NFL and the AFL was footballs biggest battle. The leagues began getting into bidding wars for players and the competition was just as fierce off the field as it was on the field.

In 1966, the two leagues finally made peace and agreed to a merger. It would also give the leagues an opportunity to go head-to-head before the merger was completed four years later. When the idea of a championship game between the leagues top teams frist came up, it wasnt even called the Super Bowl. It was called the AFL-NFL World Championship game.

The Green Bay Packers represented our league proudly in the first two games as they made the NFL the true world champion. We would have our opportunity to represent the NFL in Super Bowl III and were expected to win easily against the New York Jets. Unfortunately, we became the victims of one of sports biggest upsets, as the underdogs from the AFL came away victorious.

The pain from that loss still lingers, but the game changed the Super Bowl forever. The media attention, coupled with the drama of the outcome, made it the most important game in pro football since the Colts beat the Giants for the 1958 title. The Super Bowl would become the most hyped sporting event in America and would grow to what is almost an unofficial national holiday.

Today, the Super Bowl is not only pro footballs biggest game, but it is an event followed by millions of people. Even non-football fans remember where they were when special Super Bowl moments occurred. Today, the Super Bowl is one of the most watched television events in the world and the game of football has grown thanks to its popularity. Todays players continue to make memories that last a lifetime for fans across the world.

The Super Bowl is also part of American culture. A look back at Super Bowls is a time warp through the generations. Fans of past Super Bowls during my time now get to share their Super Bowl memories with the generations that followed. The Super Bowl has also featured some of the greatest teams ever to play the game. Teams such as the Packers of the 60s, the Steelers of the 70s, the 49ers of the 80s, the Cowboys of the 90s and the Patriots of the new millennium have taken their place among Super Bowl dynasties.

Some players become famous simply because of one play in a Super Bowl. Such was the case with our kicker, Jim OBrien, two years after we lost to the Jets. The Super Bowl also has its superstars as the best of the best rise to the occasion when the game is on the line.

The players and coaches who have told their Super Bowl stories give every reader a chance to go inside the game and inside the locker room. There are also stories about some of the amazing events surrounding the big game along with personal stories of players dealing with both victory and defeat.

The Super Bowl has come a long way since its early days when two proud leagues battled to see who would be the champion of pro football. Todays Super Bowls feature the best from the AFC and NFC as millions of people around the world watch the final chapter to a season. However, it all began with the story of two leagues and men who played with pride and passion for the game.

As for me, I was able to experience the thrill of winning a Super Bowl two years after our defeat when the Colts beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl V. I was fortunate enough to make an interception at the end of the game which helped set up our game-winning field goal. While some Super Bowls are more memorable than others, every Super Bowl has its share of stories written by the men who played and coached the game.

I hope you enjoy this look back at 50 years of Super Bowl memories. I was proud to be a Baltimore Colt and to be one of the many who would help pave the way to making the Super Bowl Americas biggest sporting event. The game may end, but the memories last a lifetime.

Mike Curtis played 14 seasons in the NFL (19651978) for the Baltimore Colts, the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Redskins.

My introduction to football came on a rainy day in Orchard Park, New York.

I lived in the Buffalo area from age three to 12. When I was five years old, I went to my first NFL game in September of 1974. The Buffalo Bills took on Joe Namath and the New York Jets on a stormy and windy day at Rich Stadium. Thanks to Mother Nature, neither team completed a pass until the fourth quarter. Buffalo won, 1612.

While there were less stormy trips to other games, my passion for the NFL grew rapidly. It remained when I returned to the Philadelphia area in 1981. As pro football continued to skyrocket as Americas favorite game, my passion for history carried over to the world of pro football. Hearing the voice of John Facenda with his brilliant work on NFL Films quickly drew me into the quest for knowledge of the story of the NFL. One story which caught my attention from the beginning was the Super Bowl.

In the days when the likes of cable TV and ESPN were in their infancy, there were often regular showings of highlights from Super Bowls past. To see how the game grew from a war of leagues to the most watched sporting event in the country is a remarkable story. As each Super Bowl passed, I could remember watching the games with family and friends and understood how the Super Bowl was also a journey of generations.