By Woodrow Carroll
Super Bowl LVI at 5:30p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13 in Englewood, Calif. will pit the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams in what promises to be a good game. Why shouldn’t it be a good game? We have two teams that qualified for the playoffs and made it to the championship game.
With a history of more than 50 years, the Super Bowl has become the source of legendary tales, mostly true stories with a touch of embellishment at times.
The Super Bowl name came later. The first Super Bowl officially was titled, The AFC-NFC World Championship Game. The game was played in the Los Angeles Coliseum, January 15, 1967. The Green Bay Packers (NFC) and Kansas City Chiefs (AFC) were opponents. The Packers won, 35-10.
Logistics had to be ironed out.
Both NBC and CBS television networks carried the Packers-Chiefs game because the two leagues had contractual agreements from prior to the merger in 1966 that were in place. On offense, the Chiefs used the Spalding football and Green Bay went on offense with the NFL-approved Wilson football. The Packers’ Willie Wood returned an interception 50 yards that set up a Green Bay touchdown, so the brand of football made no difference.
McCafferty was the Baltimore Colts head coach when Baltimore beat the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13, in Super Bowl V in 1971.
Of all the Super Bowl winning coaches, McCafferty’s name resonates the least. A field goal in the waning seconds by the Colts’ Jim O’Brien gave Baltimore the victory.
Super Bowl V was not a sparkler. The Cowboys’ Chuck Howley was presented the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award of the game. It was the only the only time a player from a losing team has been accorded the honor. There were penalties and miscues galore.
McCafferty was in his rookie year as an NFL coach, having replaced soon-to-be legendary Don Shula. Sadly, plenty went wrong for him!
The Colts stumbled out of the gate two years later and McCafferty was out as the head coach in Baltimore. He was hired not long later to be the head coach of the Detroit Lions and was the coach one season prior to suffering a fatal heart attack at age 53.
The Bengals this year are in the Super Bowl for the third time with previous appearances in Super Bowl XVI and SB XXIII.
Super Bowl XVI opponents were the Bengals and San Francisco 49ers. The game was played at the Pontiac Silverdome, home of the Detroit Lions, the first game was held in a cold weather locale.
The 49ers defeated the Bengals, 26-21, with Frisco quarterback Joe Montana the MVP.
Cincinnati out-gained San Francisco, 356 to 275 in total yardage and it was the first time for the losing team in a Super Bowl.
Factoid! Batavia product Ken Anderson was the Bengals quarterback in Super Bowl XVI in 1982. From Batavia High to Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. to the 67th pick in the 1971 NFL draft, Anderson played 16 seasons in the NFL, all with the Bengals.
Growing up in Batavia, Anderson went to Augustana with playing basketball. He and basketball legend Dan Issel were neighbors. Few honored professional athletes grew up as neighbors. Anderson’s 16 years and Issel’s 15 years in professional pieced basketball were remarkable! Issell, a 6-9 center and power forward twice was all-America with the University of Kentucky and played nine years in the American Basketball Association and six years n the National Basketball Association. He was a prolific scorer.
Likely the only surprise in Super Bowl LVI would be a dull or one-sided game. The NFL playoffs have been entertainment-packed. This year’s game should be more of the same excitement.