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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 | Posted by Editor - Blog News Service

Super Bowl History

Vince Lombardi Trophy

Vince Lombardi Trophy

Origin:

The Super Bowl was created as part of the merger agreement between the National Football League (NFL) and its competitive rival, the American Football League (AFL). After its inception in 1920, the NFL fended off several rival leagues before the AFL began play in 1960. The intense competitive war for players and fans led to serious merger talks between the two leagues in 1966, culminating in a merger agreement announcement on June 8, 1966. One of the conditions of the AFL–NFL merger was that the winners of each league’s championship game would meet in a contest to determine the “world champion of football”. According to NFL Films President Steve Sabol, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to call the game “The Big One”. During the discussions to iron out the details, one of the AFL’s founders and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had jokingly referred to the proposed inter league championship as the “Super Bowl”. Hunt thought of the name after seeing his children playing with a toy called a Super Ball; the small, round ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The name was consistent with postseason college football games which had long been known as “bowl games.” Hunt only meant his suggested name to be a stopgap until a better one could be found; nevertheless, the name “Super Bowl” became permanent.

After the NFL’s Green Bay Packers convincingly won the first two Super Bowls, some team owners feared for the future of the merger. At the time, many doubted the competitiveness of AFL teams compared with NFL counterparts, though that perception changed with the AFL’s New York Jets’ defeat of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. One year later, the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings 23-7 and won Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, the last World Championship game played between the champions of the two leagues, as the league merger finally took place later that year.

The game is played annually on a Sunday as the final game of the NFL Playoffs. Originally the game took place in early to mid-January, following a 14-game regular season and playoffs. Over the years, the date of the Super Bowl has progressed from the second Sunday in January, to the third, then the fourth Sunday in January; the game is now played on the first Sunday in February, given the current 17-week (16 games and one bye week) regular season and three rounds of playoffs. This progression of the date of the Super Bowl has been caused by the following: the expansion of the NFL regular season in 1978 from 14 games to 16, the expansion of the pre-Super Bowl playoff field from eight to twelve teams, necessitating the addition of a third round of playoffs (also in 1978), the addition of the regular season bye-week in the 1990s, and the decision prior to the 2003 season to start the regular season the week after Labor Day, moving the start of the season to a week later than it had been (in 1997, for example, the regular season started on Sunday, August 31). Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle is often considered the mastermind of both the merger and the Super Bowl. His leadership guided the two competitors into the merger agreement and cemented the preeminence of the Super Bowl.

The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games and three of the five preceding NFL championships (1961, 1962, 1965). Following his death in September 1970, the trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and was first awarded as such to the Baltimore Colts at Super Bowl V in Miami. Super Bowl III was the first to be numbered. Super Bowls I and II were not known as such until the game’s third year and were named “The AFL-NFL World Championship Game” when they were played.

Game history

1966–1967: Packers early success

The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The Packers were led by quarterback Bart Starr, who was named MVP for both games. These two championships, along with the Packers’ NFL championships in 1961, 1962, and 1965 have led many people to consider the Packers to be the “Team of the 60s.” Green Bay is often referred to as “Title Town.”
1968–1980 AFL/AFC dominance

In Super Bowl III, behind the guarantee of Joe Namath, the New York Jets defeated the 18-point favorite Baltimore Colts 16–7. The win helped solidify the AFL as a legitimate contender with the NFL. And as it turned out, the 1970s were dominated by the AFC. Only one NFC franchise won a Super Bowl during the decade: the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas appeared in five Super Bowls and won Super Bowls VI and XII.
Perfection

During the 1970s, a majority of the Super Bowls were won by just two teams, the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning a combined six championships in the decade. Miami won Super Bowls VII and VIII. The first of these Super Bowl wins capped the only undefeated and untied season in the history of the NFL. The 2007 New England Patriots who went 16-0 during the regular season ended up losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants in historic and spectacular fashion.

The Steelers Dynasty

Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls between 1974 and 1980 (IX, X, XIII, and XIV) behind the coaching of Chuck Noll and play of Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, and Franco Harris—each receiving at least one MVP award—and their “Steel Curtain” defense led by “Mean” Joe Greene and Jack Lambert. The Steelers were the first team to win three and then four Super Bowls and appeared in six AFC Championship Games during the decade making the playoffs eight straight seasons. Nine players and three coaches/administrators that were on each of the championship seasons have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Pittsburgh is also the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls on two different occasions.
1981-1996: The NFC’s winning streak

NFC teams won fifteen of sixteen Super Bowls in this stretch, including thirteen in a row from 1984 to 1996.

The 49ers lead the NFC domination of the 1980s

The most successful franchise of the 1980s was the San Francisco 49ers, who won four Super Bowls in the decade (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV). They were known for using Bill Walsh’s west coast offense. The 1980s also included the 1985 Chicago Bears who finished the season with an 18–1 record (a feat accomplished the prior year by the 49ers), and two championships for the Washington Redskins. The Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders were the only AFC franchise to win a Super Bowl in the 1980s, winning Super Bowls XV and XVIII. The remaining Super Bowl from the decade was won by the New York Giants following the 1986 season.

The Cowboys dominate the early 1990s

The Dallas Cowboys became the dominant team in the NFL in the early 1990s. After championships by division rivals New York and Washington to start the decade, the Cowboys won three of the next four Super Bowls. With Super Bowl XXIX, the 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowls. The Cowboys also won their fifth title ( Super Bowl XXX ) in the decade and appeared in four NFC championship games as well, winning with both a balanced offense and dominant defense. The 49ers and the Cowboys faced each other in three consecutive NFC championships. As both teams began to lose their dominance late into the decade, another NFC powerhouse, the Green Bay Packers, led by three time MVP quarterback Brett Favre, emerged, winning Super Bowl XXXI following the 1996 season.

The early 1990s also featured the Buffalo Bills, who became the only team to date to appear in four consecutive Super Bowls. However, they lost all of them.

1997–Present: The AFC Rises Again

In Super Bowl XXXII, quarterback John Elway led the Denver Broncos to an upset victory over the defending champion Packers, snapping the NFC’s 13-game winning streak, and beginning a streak in which the AFC would win nine of the next twelve Super Bowls. The Broncos would go on to win Super Bowl XXXIII the next year, over the Atlanta Falcons, in Elway’s final game before retiring. After an NFC win by the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, the AFC continued its winning ways, with wins by the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots.

The Patriots dominate the early 2000s

The Patriots became the dominant team through the early 2000s, winning the championship in three of the first five years of the decade. In Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady led his team to a 20-17 upset victory over the Rams. The Patriots also went on to win Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX. They lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants in 2008 becoming the only team to go 18-1 and not win the the Super Bowl. (Had they won they would have been the first team to finish a season 19-0 and also join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to have perfect seasons.)

Beside the Patriots’ championships, other AFC Super Bowl wins were logged by Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLI and Pittsburgh, which won Super Bowls XL and XLIII. With this most recent championship, the Steelers became the only team with six Super Bowl victories.

Twenty-five out of forty-two Super Bowls have been played in one of three locations: New Orleans, Louisiana (nine times), the Greater Miami area (nine times), and the Greater Los Angeles area (seven times). These three “big” hosts are then followed by Tampa, Florida and San Diego, California: San Diego has hosted three games, and Tampa has hosted four.

The Current NFL policy is to hold Super Bowls only in cities which have an NFL franchise. The last time the Los Angeles area hosted the game was Super Bowl XXVII in 1993. The league’s two teams vacated the city in 1995: the Raiders moved back to Oakland, California, and the Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

No team has played the Super Bowl in their home stadium. The closest have been the San Francisco 49ers who played Super Bowl XIX in Stanford Stadium rather than Candlestick Park, and the Los Angeles Rams who played Super Bowl XIV in the Rose Bowl rather than the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The only other Super Bowl venue which wasn’t the home stadium to an NFL team at the time was Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas and the Rose Bowl: the Houston Oilers had played there previously, but had moved to the Astrodome several years prior to Super Bowl VIII. The Orange Bowl was the only AFL stadium to host a Super Bowl, II and III. It is also the only stadium to host consecutive Super Bowls. Tulane Stadium was the first of three Super Bowl venues to have been demolished: it was torn down in 1979. The others are Tampa Stadium (demolished in 1999) and the Miami Orange Bowl (demolished 2008).

Only three Super Bowls have been played in northern cities; two in the Detroit area (Super Bowl XVI at Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, and Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit), and one in Minneapolis (Super Bowl XXVI). However, all three were played inside domed stadiums. There has never been a Super Bowl scheduled to be played outside in cold temperatures. Super Bowl XLVI will also be played in a northern city, Indianapolis, Indiana. The new Lucas Oil Stadium has a retractable roof, which presumably will not be retracted when the game is played in February 2012.

On March 5, 2006, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, a “cold weather” city, was awarded the rights to host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015. However, the game was contingent on the successful passage of two sales taxes in Jackson County, Missouri on April 4, 2006. The first tax would have funded improvements to Arrowhead, home of the Chiefs and neighboring Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball team. The second tax would have allowed the construction of a “rolling roof” between the two stadiums. However, the second tax failed to pass. With increased opposition by local business leaders and politicians, Kansas City eventually withdrew its request to host the game by May 25, 2006. Before that, Super Bowl XLIV, slated for 7 February 2010, was withdrawn from New York City’s proposed West Side Stadium, also to have been a retractable roof facility, because the city, state, and proposed tenants New York Jets could not agree on funding. The game was then awarded to Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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