Super Bowl A to Z

Awful L.A. attendance, zany 'zebras' and everything in between

A is for Attendance. It was 61,946 in Los Angeles, meaning there were almost 40,000 empty seats in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum for Super Bowl I. Good luck finding an empty one in San Diego.

B is for Tom Brady. The then-unknown quarterback replaced injured Drew Bledsoe early last season, leading the Patriots on an improbable journey to Super Bowl XXXVI for their first NFL championship.

C is for The Catch. If Dwight Clark hadn't leaped in the end zone and come down with the ball, Dallas and not San Francisco would have gone to Super Bowl XVI and Joe Montana wouldn't have become a legend -- for a little while longer.

D is for Dollars. Want to advertise during the telecast? It will run you $66,666 -- per second.

E is for Enigma. Duane Thomas refused all interviews in 1971. After rushing for 95 yards as Dallas beat Miami in Super Bowl VI, CBS' Tom Brookshier cornered him and asked, "Are you really that fast?" Thomas' reply: "Evidently." End of interview.

F is for Freezing. The NFL doesn't like its corporate guests doing that at the Super Bowl, which is why only two have been played in cold-weather cities, Pontiac, Mich., and Minneapolis. Three years from now Detroit will be the third.

G is for Gambling. You can bet on who will win and by how much, how many points either or both teams will score, passing yards by the losing quarterback ... almost anything. The American Gaming Association estimates legal and illegal bets could hit $6-billion. Yes, billion.

H is for Homefield: No team has played a Super Bowl at home, though San Francisco came close, beating Miami in Super Bowl XIX just down the road in Stanford.

I is for Ice Bowl. If Bart Starr doesn't sneak 1 yard into the end zone to beat Dallas in 13-below Green Bay on New York's Eve in 1967, the Packers don't go to Super Bowl II and maybe Vince Lombardi doesn't become a legend. Okay, maybe he does. Probably. Absolutely.

J is for Jewels. Green Bay coach Lombardi designed an unpretentious little ring with one simple diamond for his first Super Bowl champions. A decade later Raiders owner Al Davis set the new standard: a gargantuan, gaudy, jewel-encrusted ring. The NFL contributes $5,000 toward the cost of each ring; owners usually add thousands more.

K is for Kickers. Adam Vinatieri of the Patriots nailed a last-play 48-yarder to beat St. Louis 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI. He will be linked to that forever. Scott Norwood missed a 47-yarder on the final play of Buffalo's 20-19 Super Bowl XXV loss to the Giants. That is his legacy.

L is for Los Angeles. It hosted two Super Bowls, its teams won two, then it lost both teams (Raiders back to Oakland, Rams to St. Louis) and now has none. And do you remember where the Chargers played in 1960, the AFL's first season? Yes, L.A.

M is for Art Modell. In 1996 he moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore and renamed them Ravens. Four years later they won Super Bowl XXXV. Cleveland's new Browns, like the older edition, still are waiting to play in one.

N is for Joe Namath. The Jets were 18-point underdogs to Baltimore in Super Bowl III. Broadway Joe guaranteed a victory, backed it up by beating the Colts 16-7 and legitimized the entire AFL.

O is for Oakland, the last AFL team to lose a Super Bowl. Somebody had to be. But consider this: The Jets beat the Raiders for the 1968 AFL crown the next season and went on to win Super Bowl III. If Oakland had beaten the Jets, how would we remember Namath?

P is for Philadelphia. Coach Dick Vermeil's Eagles arrived in New Orleans as tightly wound as a Boy Scout knot. They had endless practices and serious bed checks while the Raiders were, well, the Raiders. Their best pregame workouts were in the French Quarter. Then they whacked Philly 27-10 in Super Bowl XV. So much for clean living. The Eagles haven't been to a Super Bowl since.

Q is for Quarterback. If you're wondering who is supposed to be the star of the Super Bowl, 19 (in 36 games) have been its MVP. A distant second: running backs (7).

R is for Ring. As a Redskins rookie, Keenan McCardell spent 1991 on injured reserve. But when Washington won Super Bowl XXVI, he got a championship ring -- the only Buc with one. Joe Jurevicius and Lomas Brown (Giants, XXXV) and Tom Tupa (Patriots, XXXI) came up one win short.

S is for Screenplay. Coach leaves for new team. Unknown assistant guides team to championship game, which his predecessor couldn't do. Across the field, coach he replaced. In Hollywood, this is called melodramatic. In San Diego, justice.

T is for Tampa, the only city to host NFL and USFL championship games the same year. On Jan. 22, 1984, Oakland beat Washington 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII. Twenty-five weeks later, Chuck Fusina, formerly a barely-used backup Buc, quarterbacked the Philadelphia Stars past Arizona 23-3. Who says Philly doesn't have a pro football championship? Okay, semipro.

U is for Underdogs. Nine of the 36 have won their Super Bowls outright. Four lost but covered the spread. One game was a push (Green Bay -14 beat New England 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI).

V is for Vince Lombardi Trophy, seven pounds of sterling silver valued at $12,500. You hear multimillion-dollar athletes say, "It's not about the money." In this instance, they mean it.

W is for Doug Williams. He quarterbacked the Bucs into the playoffs three times (once within a game of the Super Bowl), left after acrimonious negotiations with team owner Hugh Culverhouse and wound up a Super Bowl winner with Washington. The Bucs wound up with 14 straight losing seasons.

X is for Super Bowl XVII. Also XXV ... and XXXV, the three times, until today, Tampa Bay got closest to the Super Bowl, so to speak. The first (Raiders 38, Redskins 9 in Tampa Stadium) and third (Ravens 34, Giants 7 in Raymond James Stadium) were laughers -- or cryers, depending on your favorite team or which one you ... well, it involves money changing hands. The middle one was the Giants-Bills 20-19 down-to-the-last-play thriller at the Big Sombrero, the closest final score ever.

Y is for Steve Young. Remember what we said about Doug Williams? The Bucs discarded Young, too, after drafting Vinny Testaverde in 1987. They got second- and fourth-round draft picks from San Francisco. The 49ers got a future Hall of Famer.

Z is for Zebras. One official's flag (or lack of one) played havoc with the end of the Giants-49ers playoff game, and the Steelers still are steaming about the running-into-the-kicker penalty that set up Tennessee's winning field goal. No wagering, please, but what are the odds Super Bowl will XXXVII be decided by a yellow hankie?