“Broadway Joe” Guarantees a Super Bowl Win
In the first two Super Bowls, the National Football League (NFL) routed the American Football League (AFL), with the Green Bay Packers winning both games. As the third Super Bowl loomed in January 1969, there was talk that the AFL teams were significantly weaker than their NFL counterparts. The NFL representative in Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts, went into the game a 20-point favorite over the AFL’s New York Jets.
A few days before the big game, the flamboyant and highly talented quarterback of the Jets, Joe Namath, told reporters that he guaranteed a Jets victory. Many assumed that his comments would infuriate the Colts and result in a massacre of Namath and his team. But the Jets stunned the sports world by dominating the Colts, 16-7. Two early Baltimore scoring opportunities fizzled, and Namath was brilliant in leading two long touchdown drives that demoralized the Colts. When the AFL merged with the NFL not long afterwards, it was allowed to remain a separate division within the league. Namath’s delivering on his guarantee was one of the great American football moments.
The Immaculate Reception
In December 1972 in the first round of the NFL playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers faced off against the Oakland Raiders. Although the Steelers had been in the league for 40 years, they had never won a playoff game. They had surprised experts by going 11-3 during the regular season, keyed by a suffocating defense known as The Steel Curtain. On the offensive side, rookie running back Franco Harris ran for more than 1,000 yards and strong-armed quarterback Terry Bradshaw provided charismatic leadership.
Entering the final minutes of the game, the Steelers had ground out a 6-0 lead with two field goals. Two great defenses had dominated the game. But with just over a minute left, backup Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler scampered 30 yards for a touchdown. The Steelers returned the kickoff to their 39-yard line but then misfired on three passing plays. It was fourth and 10 with 22 seconds left. Out of timeouts, Pittsburgh still had a chance at a winning field goal if it could get a first down and stop the clock. Oakland put on a massive blitz that Bradshaw narrowly avoided. He heaved a pass down the middle of the field toward halfback John “Frenchy” Fuqua. But Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum laid a massive hit on Fuqua just as the ball arrived, and the ball ricocheted back toward the line of scrimmage. Out of nowhere came Harris, and he scooped the ball off his shoetops and took off down the field, getting all of the way to the end zone for a winning touchdown so miraculous that the play was dubbed the Immaculate Reception. NFL Films has voted it first in its survey of the greatest moments in football history.
The Comeback
In the first round of the playoffs for the 1993-1994 NFL season, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Houston Oilers in an AFC wild-card contest. The Oilers had one of the league’s best offenses, with a run-and-shoot attack led by talented quarterback Warren Moon. Buffalo’s no-huddle offense was equally unconventional and almost as good; however, its starting quarterback had been injured at the end of the regular season. Backup quarterback Frank Reich would have to lead the offense in its first playoff game. Both teams had mediocre pass defenses, and so a high-scoring game seemed likely.
Houston raced to a 28-3 halftime lead, and many of the Buffalo fans headed home early. When the Oilers returned an interception for a touchdown just after the start of the third quarter, the Bills’ cause appeared hopeless. But Reich did not give up, having led one of the great college football comebacks of all time while at the University of Maryland. He drove Buffalo down the field against a relaxed Houston defense, and a touchdown made the score 35-10. But the drive was costly, as starting running back Thurman Thomas left the game with a bad hip. Bills coach Marv Levy gambled on an onside kick, and Buffalo kicker Steve Christie emerged with the ball from a huge pile of players. Four plays later a Reich TD pass to Don Beebe made the score 35-17. Houston tried to run the ball to eat up the clock, but soon had to punt, and the shanked kick set Buffalo up at midfield. Three completed passes, the last one to leading receiver Andre Reed, gave the Bills another touchdown. The Oilers’ meltdown accelerated as the Bills intercepted a pass at the Houston 23. A fourth-down gamble produced another Reich-to-Reed touchdown, and the score was 35-31 with the third quarter drawing to a close.
Houston finally was able to move the ball, but a botched field goal gave Buffalo the ball back, and the Bills drove for yet another touchdown on a Reed reception. Houston was able to tie the game on a last-minute field goal, and the game went to overtime. The Oilers won the toss but made a final, fatal mistake as Moon threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted at the Houston 39 and moved to the 24 on a penalty. A Christie field goal capped the biggest comeback in NFL history. The final was Buffalo 38, Houston 35. Sadly, the season culminated in one of the Bills’ four Super Bowl losses in the 1990s.
As an electronic scoreboards continue to light up.