The Sporting Life:
The Public Professor’s Sports Column
It’s rare that a Super Bowl, such as the one that will be played this Sunday, boasts a relatively recent rematch of relatively recent champions. In fact, it has only happened once before: January 21, 1979, when the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII.
In that epic contest, not only were both teams seeking their third championship, but they were also duking out against each other for the second time in four years. The Steelers had bested the Cowboys in Super Bowl X.
In Super Bowl XIII then, both teams’ legacies were at stake.
Pittsburgh was looking to go a perfect 3-for-3 in Super Bowls over a five year period. Meanwhile, not only was Dallas angling for a repeat, having stomped Denver the year before, but they were also the unquestioned Lords of a the NFC; the Cowboys were representing that conference in the NFL title game for fifth time in eight years.
In this last Super Bowl to be played during the 1970s, the winner would be widely acknowledged as the unofficial Team of the Decade and one of the best clubs in NFL history.
The game lived up to its billing, and was one of the most dramatic of its time. Pittsburgh came out on top 35-31. The following year they defeated Los Angeles for a fourth title in six years, and are still considered the greatest of NFL dynasties.
For the Cowboys, it was
a disappointing end to a good run. They would not return to the Super Bowl for another fifteen years. And while the 1970s Cowboys of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach are still beloved by many as “America’s Team,” they are generally relegated to the second tier of greatness. Most now view them as perhaps no better than John Madden’s Oakland Raiders or Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins, which between them won three Lombardi trophies in four trips to the Super Bowl during the 1970s while playing in the tougher AFC.
Poor Cowboys. If they’d only won that one game, they’d be the team of the 1970s and perhaps the greatest of all time, not the Steelers.
In Sunday’s Super Bowl, the 46th such affair if you’re counting, legacies will also be on the line when the New York Giants and New England Patriots lock horns. For the Giants, it’s pretty straight forward. A victory would bring them a second title in five years and establish them as one of the dominant teams in this era of mild parity. Should they lose, they’ll seem more like a good team that has a knack for overachieving in the post-season.
For the Patriots, however, the equation is more complicated.
New England absolutely dominated the first decade of the 21st century. Head Coach Bill Belichick and Quarterback Tom Brady already have three rings and will end up in the Hall of Fame regardless of tomorrow’s outcome. So on the surface, this game seems to mean little if anything at all to
their already illustrious legacy. However, reading between the lines one finds a subtext of question marks.
Who are the real Patriots? Is it the team that looked unstoppable when they were on top, winning three titles in four years? Or is it the team that looks really good most of the time but hasn’t actually done much since being exposed as cheaters.
Oh yeah. That.
While the Patriots were winning all those Super Bowls, they were also breaking rules by secretly filming their opponents’ practices. When the scandal came to light in 2007, the league was so irate that it stripped the franchise of a number 1 draft pick and fined Belichick the most money allowable under NFL rules: half a million dollars.
Ouch.
Coincidentally, the very year they were exposed is the same year the Patriots and Giants first met in the Super Bowl. And as if Karma had written the script, the Patriots’ stab at the first ever 19-0 season went down in flames when the underdog Giants rose up and smote them in the name of decency and defense.
New England hadn’t won a playoff game since, until this season.
So if the Patriots win this Super Bowl, you have to tip your hat and acknowledge them as the dominant team of their era. They can put it all to rest.
But if they lose?
Yeah, that’s the sound of me chuckling softly.
If the New England Patriots lose on Sunday, every honest football fan in America will be entitled to question just how good they ever really were. Very good? No doubt about it. The best . . . I don’t know, who can really say at that point? After all, during this era the Steelers went to three Super Bowls and won a couple, presumably without cheating. And of course maybe the Colts, who’ve recently won one and lost one, would have more on their resume if New England hadn’t been filming practices of their ultra-sophisticated offense.
Just sayin’. As will many others.
So in the Court of Public Opinion, the Patriots’ legacy will be decided on Sunday. Afterwards, they will forever be perceived as one of the greatest football teams of all time, right up there with the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, or merely a very good team of second-rate greatness, a cheatier version of those old Cowboys, Raiders, and Dolphins clubs.
Go Giants.