When Bill Walsh took his San Francisco 49ers to their first Super Bowl in 1982, he tried to break the tension–and the ice in Detroit–by putting on a bellhop uniform and greeting his players at their hotel.
Because the 49ers won their first of five Super Bowl titles that year, it’s a wonder Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden and Oakland’s Bill Callahan didn’t offer to carry every player’s bag Monday when the Bucs and Raiders arrived for Super Bowl XXXVII.
Ordinarily the most important coaching decisions are made on the field. In Super Bowls, they could be made on a bus or at curfew. Cincinnati’s Sam Wyche always will wonder why he didn’t have a chaperone with fullback Stanley Wilson to keep him away from drugs the night before Super Bowl XXIII. He was going to be a big part of the game plan, but he obviously couldn’t take the pressure.
Atlanta coach Dan Reeves didn’t think he had to baby-sit safety Eugene Robinson the night he solicited an undercover cop he thought was a prostitute. Robinson had received an award from a religious group the same morning.
The glare can last more than one week. Bears coach Mike Ditka still second-guesses himself for not thinking about letting Walter Payton score instead of William “Refrigerator” Perry.
Rarely is a spotlight brighter than the one that will follow Gruden this week. He is the first coach to leave one team and go to another and have both in the Super Bowl the next season.
Last year, St. Louis coach Mike Martz was outwitted by New England’s Bill Belichick in what was considered an upset at the time, less so as time passes. This is the game that makes and breaks reputations.
Some of the more memorable decisions:
XXXVI: Patriots 20, Rams 17
Martz played into Belichick’s hands after falling behind 14-3 in the first quarter and refusing to have patience with Marshall Faulk and his running game. Although Belichick played five, six and seven defensive backs, daring Faulk to run, Martz called on Faulk only 10 times in the first half while QB Kurt Warner threw 20 passes, including a long incompletion on third-and-1 from the 50-yard line.
When the Patriots got the ball with only 90 seconds left and no timeouts after the Rams had tied the score 17-17, Fox commentator John Madden suggested they sit on it and go for overtime. Instead, Belichick ordered Tom Brady to go for it, and the QB completed two passes to set up Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning 48-yard field goal.
XXXIV: Rams 23, Titans 16
What if Titans coach Jeff Fisher had ordered quarterback Steve McNair to make sure he threw that last pass into the end zone? Kevin Dyson was stopped at the 1-yard line by Mike Jones on the final play.
XXXII: Broncos 31, Packers 24,
With 1:47 remaining and the score tied 24-24, the Broncos drove to the Packers’ 1. After a timeout, Terrell Davis scored easily. Packers coach Mike Holmgren later admitted telling his players to allow the score to put the ball into the hands of quarterback Brett Favre for a last-minute drive. The Packers got to the Broncos’ 35 with 1:04 left, but on fourth down, linebacker John Mobley knocked away Favre’s pass to Mark Chmura.
XXV: Giants 20, Bills 19
Giants coach Bill Parcells controlled the ball against the favored Bills for 40 minutes 33 seconds, playing keep away from the no-huddle attack.
XXI: Giants 39, Broncos 20
With the Giants trailing 10-9 starting the third quarter, Parcells faced fourth-and-half a yard from his 46. He sent in reserve quarterback Jeff Rutledge with the punt team. After standing over center forever, Rutledge sneaked two yards and the Giants went on to score 17 points in the quarter.
XX: Bears 46, Patriots 10
Coaches can’t even escape scrutiny when they win big.
“The most disappointing thing about the game was Payton not getting a touchdown,” Ditka said. “On the play Perry scored, I guess they wanted to switch backs and give it to Payton. That’s when I started hollering they were in the wrong formation. They shifted and Perry took it in. After the game, had I been Walter I would have been mad at me too. That’s what I said, and that’s how I felt.”
Quarterback Jim McMahon still blames himself for not defying Ditka and giving the ball to Payton.
XVIII: Raiders 38, Redskins 9
The Redskins were down 14-3 with 12 seconds left in the half at their 12-yard line, and normally conservative coach Joe Gibbs decided to let QB Joe Theismann throw a screen pass instead of kneeling. Linebacker Jack Squirek intercepted for a score.
“I felt like I was in a dream,” Squirek said.
XVII: Redskins 27, Dolphins 17
Trailing 17-13 with a little more than 10 minutes left, Washington faced fourth-and-1 at the Miami 43. Gibbs sent John Riggins off left tackle, and he broke the run for a touchdown.
XVI: 49ers 26, Bengals 21
Not only did Walsh carry bags, he scripted plays. On the 49ers’ first touchdown drive, he had Joe Montana hand off to running back Ricky Patton, who handed to wide receiver Freddie Solomon, who pitched to Montana, who threw to tight end Charle Young for 14 yards–just like you draw them up in the back yard.
XV: Raiders 27, Eagles 10
Walsh may have been influenced by how Eagles coach Dick Vermeil handled his team the previous year in New Orleans, where the Raiders cruised Bourbon Street to Vermeil’s horror while the Eagles hunkered in a bunker outside of town.
“I didn’t see us jumping up and down and flying and swarming,” Vermeil said.
He meant in the game.
XII: Cowboys 27, Broncos 10
With the Broncos closing in on a 20-3 lead to make it 20-10 in the third quarter, Dallas coach Tom Landry had lost running back Tony Dorsett to a knee injury and discovered quarterback Roger Staubach had broken the tip of his right forefinger, drastically affecting his throwing.
So Landry called on left-handed fullback Robert Newhouse to throw an option pass to Golden Richards that went for a clinching 29-yard touchdown. New-house never thought the play would be called, so he had coated his hand with Stickum and had to try to lick it off.
“I was nervous,” said New-house, who hadn’t thrown a pass in five years.
X: Steelers 21, Cowboys 17
With 1:22 to play, Pittsburgh coach Chuck Noll ran instead of punting on fourth down from the Dallas 39 because he was afraid of a block. The Steelers had blocked a Dallas punt for a safety earlier. The Cowboys drove for two first downs, but Glen Edwards intercepted Roger Staubach’s last pass.
“I couldn’t figure it out,” Steelers linebacker Andy Russell said. “But don’t ask me to second-guess the fellow.”
VII: Dolphins 14, Redskins 7
Miami coach Don Shula started Bob Griese at quarterback instead of Earl Morrall, who had led 11 straight victories while Griese was injured during the perfect season.
“I preferred to have Morrall in reserve, because we couldn’t be sure what Bob would do because of his inactivity,” Shula explained.
VI: Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3
At 1:30 a.m. one night before the game, Shula was watching a tape of his team’s 21-0 victory over Baltimore in the AFC title game when his home phone rang. Shula thought it was “some nut.”
It was President Richard Nixon, who recommended a down-and-in pattern to Paul Warfield. The next day it was national news. Still, Shula followed Nixon’s advice, although the play was common to their repertoire. Warfield caught only four passes for 39 yards
“They made sure under any circumstances we wouldn’t be able to catch that pass,” Warfield said.
The following year, Nixon sent Shula a telegram and promised not to call any plays if Miami made it to the Super Bowl again.
III: Jets 16, Colts 7
Behind 7-0, Shula stayed with starter Morrall to start the second half although he considered turning to Johnny Unitas, who was recovering from injury. When Tom Matte fumbled the first snap of the second half and the Jets went up 10-0, Shula decided Morrall deserved another chance. By the time Unitas got in, the Colts were down 13-0 in the game that turned the Super Bowl into a phenomenon.
