Super Bowl XXI was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
game between the
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...
(AFC) champion
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
and the
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ...
(NFC) champion
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
to decide the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) champion for the
1986 season. The Giants defeated the Broncos, 39–20, for their first Super Bowl and first NFL title
since 1956. The game was played on January 25, 1987, at the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
. It was the first of consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Broncos, who lost the Super Bowl a year later 42–10 to the Washington Redskins.
This was the Broncos' first Super Bowl appearance since the
1977 season. Led largely through the play of quarterback
John Elway and a defense that led the AFC in fewest yards allowed, the Broncos posted an 11–5 regular season record and two narrow playoff victories. The Giants, led by quarterback
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
, running back
Joe Morris, and their "
Big Blue Wrecking Crew
The Big Blue Wrecking Crew was the defense for the New York Giants during the 1980s that won two Super Bowl Championships and three NFC East Titles, the first in Super Bowl XXI in 1986 and the other in Super Bowl XXV in 1990. A 3-4 defense, it ...
" defense, advanced to their first Super Bowl after posting a 14–2 regular season record and only allowing a combined total of 3 points in their two postseason wins.
The game was tight in the first half, with the Broncos holding a 10–9 halftime lead, the narrowest margin in Super Bowl history. The only score in the second quarter, however, was Giants defensive end
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
's sack of Elway in the end zone for a safety. This began the Giants’ run of scoring 26 unanswered points through the third and fourth quarters. Denver would counter with ten additional points toward the end of the game to narrow their margin of victory. The Giants also posted a Super Bowl record 30 points in the second half, and limited the Broncos to only 2 net yards in the third quarter. Simms, who was named the
Super Bowl MVP, finished the game with 22 of 25 passes completed for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 25 rushing yards on 3 carries. His 22 out of 25 (88%) completion percentage broke both a Super Bowl and NFL postseason record.
The telecast of the game on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
was seen by an estimated 87.2 million viewers.
The large national audience saw an early appearance of the now-traditional
Gatorade shower
The Gatorade shower, also known as the Gatorade dunk or the Gatorade bath, is a sports tradition that involves players surreptitiously dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade mixed with ice) over the head of their coach (or occasi ...
, where players dump a cooler full of liquid over a coach's head following a meaningful win. The practice was first started by Giants players in 1985; it began to gain national attention during the 1986 season, when Parcells was doused after every win.
Background
NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XXI to Pasadena, California, on May 24, 1984, during their May 23–25, 1984 meetings in Washington, D.C. Fourteen cities were part of the bidding process, which was scheduled to award four Super Bowls (XXI,
XXII
22 (twenty-two) is the natural number following 21 and preceding 23.
In mathematics
22 is a palindromic number and the eighth semiprime; its proper divisors are 1, 2, and 11. It is the second Smith number, the second Erdős–Woods numb ...
,
XXIII, and
XXIV).
The bidding cities included:
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
,
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
,
,
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
, and
Tempe.
The Philadelphia host committee assembled what was considered a strong, but long-shot bid, hoping to win the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold weather city.
Minneapolis went above and beyond in selling their unsuccessful bid, even running a staging a
parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
in the lobby of the
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
hosting the NFL owners' meeting that included a woman on a
white horse
A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant ...
. To counter,
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
-owner
Leonard Tose launched a parade in the style of the
Mummers Parade
The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia. Local clubs (usually called "New Years Associations" or "New Years Brigades") compete in one of five categories (Comics, Wench Brigades, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades). ...
, featuring with musicians and
clowns
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in t ...
. Philadelphia ultimately came close to landing a Super Bowl at
Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for footb ...
, nearly approaching the needed number of votes to secure the game. The city's momentum was disrupted after the NFL owners passed a resolution calling for a future Super Bowl to be held in a Northern city with a domed stadium, affirming the league's interest in another cold weather city hosting the game, while undermining Philadelphia's ongoing effort to have the dome-less Veterans Stadium host a Super bowl.
The balloting for XXI took 13 ballots and over two hours to complete,
with Pasadena finally receiving the winning bid. XXII was also voted on, but the voting for XXIII and XXIV was postponed. This was the fourth time that Pasadena hosted the game, and the sixth time it was held in the
Greater Los Angeles Area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos won the
AFC West
The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...
with an 11–5 regular season record, largely through the play of quarterback
John Elway. In just his fourth season in the league, Elway made an impact to the team with his ad-libbing skills. During the regular season, he had thrown for 3,480 yards and 19 touchdowns, while also rushing for 257 yards, the third-leading rusher on the team.
Elway did not really have a particular receiver who caught most of his passes during the regular season, but wide receivers Mark Jackson,
Vance Johnson
Vance Edward Johnson (born March 13, 1963), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft.
Playing career
A 5'11", 174 lb. wide receiver, Johnson playe ...
,
Steve Watson
Steven Craig Watson (born 1 April 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player. He was formerly the manager of club Chester.
As a player, he was a right-back or midfielder. He played in the Premier League and Football ...
, and tight end Orson Mobley all combined for 136 receptions and 2,132 yards. Pro Bowl running back
Sammy Winder
Sammy Winder (born July 15, 1959) is a former professional American football running back who spent his entire professional career playing for the Denver Broncos, from 1982 to 1990. The son of a farmer, Winder played his high school football at M ...
was the Broncos' top rusher with 789 yards and 9 touchdowns, while also catching 26 passes for another 171 yards and 5 touchdowns. Halfback
Gerald Willhite rushed for 365 yards and 5 touchdowns, while also leading the team in receptions with 64 (for 529 yards and three touchdowns), and ranking third in the NFL in both punt return yards (468) and yards per return average (11.1). The Broncos also had a powerful offensive line, led by Pro Bowl guard
Keith Bishop.
The Broncos' defense led the
AFC in fewest rushing yards allowed (1,651). The defensive line was anchored by Pro Bowl defensive end
Rulon Jones
Rulon Kent Jones (born March 25, 1958 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is a retired American football defensive end.
Jones was drafted out of the Utah State University in the 1980 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He played his entire career in Denver. ...
, who recorded 13.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Denver's linebacking corps, led by three-time Pro Bowler
Tom Jackson and
Karl Mecklenburg, who recorded 9.5 sacks, was viewed as comparable to the Giants' Pro Bowl linebackers. Their secondary was led by Pro Bowl cornerbacks
Dennis Smith and
Louis Wright, along with
Mike Harden
Michael Harden (born February 16, 1959) is a former American football player. He played college football as a defensive back for the University of Michigan from 1977 to 1979. He then played professional football in the National Football League ( ...
, who intercepted 6 passes and returned them for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wright, Steve Foley, and Jackson, the last remnants of Denver's Orange Crush defense of the 1970s, all retired after this Super Bowl.
New York Giants
The Giants advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history, and were playing for their first league championship since they lost to the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
in the
1963 NFL Championship Game. The Giants were led by quarterback
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
, who threw for 3,487 yards and 21 touchdowns (but also 22 interceptions). Simms' main target was tight end
Mark Bavaro
Mark Anthony Bavaro (born April 28, 1963) is a former American football tight end who played for the New York Giants (1985–1990), Cleveland Browns (1992), and Philadelphia Eagles (1993–1994) in the National Football League (NFL). Bavaro was ...
, who caught 66 passes for 1,001 yards and 4 touchdowns. Although the Giants did not have one great wide receiver, they did have several good ones. Receivers
Stacy Robinson
Stacy Ladell Robinson (February 19, 1962 – May 8, 2012) was a professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Robinson's most notable game was in week 13 of the 1986 season, when th ...
,
Bobby Johnson
Robert Alan Johnson (born February 8, 1951) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Vanderbilt University, a position he held from the 2002 season until his retirement in 2010.
In ...
, and
Phil McConkey
Philip Joseph McConkey (born February 24, 1957) is a former American football wide receiver who played for the New York Giants (1984–1988), Green Bay Packers (1986), Phoenix Cardinals (1989), and San Diego Chargers (1989) of the National Footba ...
combined for 76 receptions and 1,307 yards.
However, running the ball was the Giants' primary offensive attack. Running back
Joe Morris finished the regular season with a then-franchise record 1,516 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, while also catching 21 passes for 223 yards and another touchdown. One reason for his success was fullback
Maurice Carthon, who provided Morris with excellent blocking and was the team's second leading rusher with 260 yards. Another reason was the play of their offensive line, led by Pro Bowl left tackle
Brad Benson
Brad William Benson (born November 25, 1955 in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is a former professional American football player. He was an offensive lineman with the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1978 to 1988 and was a pivotal membe ...
and right tackle
Karl Nelson
Karl Stuart Nelson (born June 14, 1960) is a former American football offensive tackle who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was a member of the 1986 Giants team that won Super Bowl XXI. ...
. On special teams, punter
Sean Landeta
Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...
made the Pro Bowl with an average of 44.8 gross yards per punt (2nd in the NFL), a net average of 37.1, and 24 punts inside the 20.
But the Giants main strength was their defense, nicknamed The "
Big Blue Wrecking Crew
The Big Blue Wrecking Crew was the defense for the New York Giants during the 1980s that won two Super Bowl Championships and three NFC East Titles, the first in Super Bowl XXI in 1986 and the other in Super Bowl XXV in 1990. A 3-4 defense, it ...
". After giving up 31 points in a season-opening loss to the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
, the Giants had not given up more than 20 points in a game until the last game of the season, in a 55–24 win over the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
. The team ranked second in the NFL in fewest points (236) and yards (4,757) allowed. The Giants' defensive leader was
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
outside linebacker
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as an outside linebacker for the New York Giants ( 1981–1993) in the National Football League (NF ...
, who led the league with 20.5 sacks during the regular season, won the
NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...
for the third time in his career, and became just the second defensive player to win the
NFL Most Valuable Player Award
The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizat ...
(
Alan Page
Alan Cedric Page (born August 7, 1945) is an American retired judge and former professional football
He gained national recognition as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) during 15 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings an ...
was the first in 1971). At 6'3" and 245 pounds, Taylor was big enough to break through the offensive lines of many teams, but he still had enough speed to chase down running backs. The Giants' other starting linebackers,
Gary Reasons
Gary Phillip Reasons (born February 18, 1962) is a former American football linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), winning Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV as a member of the team. Since his retirement as a play ...
,
Carl Banks
Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Br ...
, and future Hall of Famer
Harry Carson
Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...
, did not get as much media attention as Taylor, but Carson had been selected to play in the Pro Bowl, while Reasons had two interceptions and Banks recorded 6.5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. Nose tackle
Jim Burt and right end
Leonard Marshall
Leonard Allen Marshall Jr. (born October 22, 1961) is a former American football defensive lineman who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Selected 37th overall in the 1983 NFL Draft, he spent the first ten seasons of ...
, who were also both selected to the Pro Bowl, anchored the defensive line. Marshall recorded 12 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 1 interception during the season. The Giants secondary was led by safeties
Terry Kinard
Alfred Terance "Terry" Kinard (born November 24, 1959) is a former American college and professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football ...
(4 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries) and
Kenny Hill (3 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries), along with cornerback
Perry Williams (4 interceptions).
With the play of their defense, the running attack led by Morris, and Simms' passing game, the Giants earned a 14–2 regular season record.
This is the only one of the New York Giants’ five Super Bowl appearances where they were favored.
Playoffs
Elway's ability to improvise on the fly, in part, helped Denver to make it through the playoffs, narrowly defeating the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
22–17, and the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
23–20, in the AFC Championship Game. The AFC Championship Game against the Browns was particularly significant because Elway displayed why many NFL experts thought Super Bowl XXI would be the first of many Super Bowls for him. In what became known as ''
The Drive
The Drive was an offensive series in the fourth quarter of the 1986 AFC Championship Game played on January 11, 1987, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns. Broncos quarterback John Elway, in a span of 5 ...
'', the Broncos started from their own 2-yard line, trailing 20–13, with 5:32 left to play. But in 15 plays, Elway led Denver 98 yards for a game-tying touchdown pass with 39 seconds left. The Broncos then won in overtime after Elway led them 60 yards in 9 plays to set up kicker
Rich Karlis
Richard John Karlis (born May 23, 1959) is a former American football placekicker who played nine seasons for the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions in the National Football League from 1982 to 1990. He played college football at ...
' game-winning field goal.
Meanwhile, the Giants went on to only allow a combined total of 3 points in their playoff victories over the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
, 49–3, and the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, 17–0, respectively. The dominating performances by the Giants' defense gave the team extra confidence going into their Super Bowl matchup versus the Broncos.
Super Bowl pregame news
Much of the pregame hype centered around the confrontation between Elway and Taylor, and whether or not Taylor would be able to hurry Elway's throws or sack him. The Giants had narrowly defeated Denver during the regular season, forcing four turnovers in a 19–16 win despite being outgained in total yards 405 to 262. This was the last Super Bowl until
Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...
in which both teams entered the game having never won a Super Bowl before.
As the
designated home team in the annual rotation between AFC and NFC teams, the Giants wore their home blue uniforms and white pants. The Broncos donned their all-white road uniforms.
The New York players in this game wore stickers with the number 38 on their helmets as a tribute to former Giants fullback
John Tuggle, who had died of cancer shortly before the start of the season at age 25. They also had patches on their uniforms as a memorial to former Giants defensive back
Carl Lockhart, who had died of
lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
at the age of 41 one month before Tuggle.
Broadcasting
The game was broadcast in the United States by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and featured the broadcast team of
play-by-play announcer
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio wa ...
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...
and
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
.
Brent Musburger of ''
The NFL Today
''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest new ...
'' anchored ''
The Super Bowl Today'' pregame, halftime and postgame coverage. Helping Musburger were reporters
Irv Cross
Irvin Acie Cross (July 27, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American professional football player and sportscaster. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Philadelphia Eagle ...
and
Will McDonough
William McDonough (July 6, 1935 – January 9, 2003) was an American sportswriter for ''The Boston Globe'' who also worked as an on-air football reporter for CBS and NBC.
Biography
Newspaper career
The youngest of nine children of Irish immigran ...
and analysts
Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder,
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...
,
Joe Theismann
Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...
,
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
reporter
Charles Osgood
Charles Osgood Wood III (born January 8, 1933), known professionally as Charles Osgood, is an American radio and television commentator, writer and musician. Osgood is best known for being the host of ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', a role he held ...
and
Dan Dierdorf
Daniel Lee Dierdorf (born June 29, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former football offensive tackle.
A native of Canton, Ohio, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a conse ...
(in his final CBS assignment before moving on to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'' for the
following season; Dierdorf would return to CBS for the
1999 season). The game was also the first NFL game to be broadcast in
Dolby Surround
Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround.
Dolby Stereo (also known as ''Dolby MP'' or ''Dolby SVA'') was developed by Dolby in 1976 f ...
sound and in stereo. The game was also broadcast in Canada on
CTV and in the United Kingdom on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. The latter had commentary by
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...
and
John Smith. This was also the first Super Bowl to be telecast on commercial television in Asia, as the
GMA Network
GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
aired its first Super Bowl. This game also marked the first Super Bowl to be broadcast live in Rome.
In the teams' local markets, the game was also broadcast by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
stations in the New York City and
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
markets,
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...
2 in New York City and
KMGH-TV
KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-licensed translato ...
7 in Denver.
The postgame show was supposed to feature the song "
One Shining Moment
"One Shining Moment" is a song written by David Barrett that has become closely associated with the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. "One Shining Moment" is traditionally played at the end of CBS's and TBS's coverage of the champio ...
" but due to postgame interviews taking so long,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
never aired it. They ultimately changed the lyrics from "The ball is kicked" to "The ball is tipped" in time for the 1987 Final Four (in which
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
won its most recent national title to date), and the song has since then been played at the end of the network's annual
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
coverage (it is also played on
Turner Sports
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
when said game airs on that network due to alternating rights with CBS that first started in 2016). CBS also debuted the theme music (composed by Lloyd Landesman) that would later be used for their
college football coverage during this game (still used as of the 2020 season), as well as its open that was used through 1990.
This Super Bowl is featured in ''
NFL's Greatest Games
''NFL's Greatest Games'' is a series of television programs that air on NFL Network, ESPN and related networks. They are condensed versions of some of the most famous games in the history of the National Football League, using footage and sound ca ...
'' under the title ''Land of the Giants'' and was narrated by
John Doremus John Doremus (August 3, 1931 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma – July 6, 1995 in Naperville, Illinois) was an American radio personality, best known for his radio syndication of ''The Passing Parade'', a series of short stories of remarkable but relatively ...
.
Nationally on radio, the game was carried over the
NBC Radio Network
The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...
.
Don Criqui
Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster.
He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on De ...
served as play-by-play with
Bob Trumpy
Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is a former professional American football tight end who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 through 1977. He was a two-time National Football League Pro Bowler and a two-time American Footb ...
his color commentator. This was the last Super Bowl called by Criqui, as NBC Radio lost NFL rights following the season and he returned to his secondary play-by-play role on NBC television. Trumpy would call two more Super Bowls for NBC television (
Super Bowl XXVII
Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
and
Super Bowl XXVIII) as part of the network's No. 1 broadcast team. In the teams' local markets, the game was carried on
WNEW-AM in New York City with
Jim Gordon and
Dick Lynch
Richard Dennis Lynch (April 29, 1936 – September 24, 2008) was an American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. He was a one-time Pro Bowler in 1963, when he led the NFL ...
and
KOA-AM in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, with Bob Martin and Larry Zimmer.
Entertainment
The pregame show was a salute to California and featured the
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
group
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
and Canadian jazz fusion band
The Shuffle Demons
The Shuffle Demons are a Canadian jazz fusion band from Toronto.
Early career
The band were formed in 1984 by saxophonist Richard Underhill in collaboration with a variety of Toronto-area jazz musicians including Mike Murley, Dave Parker and ...
. Singer
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
performed the national anthem. The show was directed and choreographed by Lesslee Fitzmorris. The
coin toss
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
ceremony featured
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
defensive lineman
Willie Davis.
The halftime show was a "Salute to Hollywood's 100th Anniversary" featuring an introduction by
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
(who was only nine years younger than the
Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles) and a performance by the
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
high school drill teams and dancers.
As had been their tradition all season, upon securing their victory, Giants players celebrated by dumping a
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...
cooler on head coach
Bill Parcells
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...
. The 1986 Giants were the first team to initiate what has now become a standard post-game celebration, and the Super Bowl telecast enabled a large, national audience to first witness what has become commonplace.
Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms became the first athlete to appear in an "
I'm going to Disney World!
"I'm going to Disney World!" and "I'm going to Disneyland!" are advertising slogans used in a series of television commercials by The Walt Disney Company that began airing in 1987. Used to promote the company's theme park resorts in Florida and C ...
" television ad, being recorded shouting the phrase while celebrating the team's victory immediately after the game.
Game summary
First quarter
On the Broncos' first play after receiving the opening kickoff, quarterback
John Elway faked a handoff, then spun around and ran in the opposite direction for a 10-yard gain to the Denver 34-yard line. Then on third down, his 24-yard completion to receiver
Mark Jackson advanced the ball to the Giants' 39-yard line. However, the Giants' defense tightened up and halted the drive at the 30-yard line, forcing Denver to settle for
Rich Karlis
Richard John Karlis (born May 23, 1959) is a former American football placekicker who played nine seasons for the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions in the National Football League from 1982 to 1990. He played college football at ...
's 48-yard field goal to give them a 3–0 lead. Karlis's kick tied a game record for longest field goal set by
Jan Stenerud
Jan Stenerud (, ; born November 26, 1942) is a Norwegian- American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with Kansas City Chiefs. The first Norwe ...
of the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The tea ...
in
Super Bowl IV.
The Giants then took the ensuing kickoff and stormed right back on a 9-play, 78-yard drive. First, quarterback
Phil Simms
Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
completed a 17-yard pass to receiver
Lionel Manuel
Lionel Manuel, Jr. (born April 13, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver. He was drafted in the 7th round (171st pick overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, and played sev ...
. Then running back
Joe Morris ran for 11 yards to the Denver 41-yard line. The Giants then marched to the Denver 6-yard line with Simms' 18-yard pass to receiver
Stacy Robinson
Stacy Ladell Robinson (February 19, 1962 – May 8, 2012) was a professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Robinson's most notable game was in week 13 of the 1986 season, when th ...
, and then a 17-yard completion to tight end
Mark Bavaro
Mark Anthony Bavaro (born April 28, 1963) is a former American football tight end who played for the New York Giants (1985–1990), Cleveland Browns (1992), and Philadelphia Eagles (1993–1994) in the National Football League (NFL). Bavaro was ...
two plays later. Finally, Simms threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end
Zeke Mowatt
Ezekiel Mowatt (born March 5, 1961) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League who played for the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. He played college football at Florida State University, catching a total ...
, giving the Giants a 7–3 lead.
Denver kick returner
Ken Bell
George Kenneth "Ken" Bell (July 30, 1914 – June 26, 2000) was a Canadian photographer who served with the Canadian armed forces during the Second World War. As a Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, he participated in the Norman ...
gave his team great field position by returning the ensuing kickoff 28 yards to the Broncos 42-yard line. Elway's first two plays were a 14-yard completion to running back
Sammy Winder
Sammy Winder (born July 15, 1959) is a former professional American football running back who spent his entire professional career playing for the Denver Broncos, from 1982 to 1990. The son of a farmer, Winder played his high school football at M ...
, an 11-yard completion to tight end
Orson Mobley
Orson Odell Mobley (born March 4, 1963) is a former professional American football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons for the Denver Broncos after being drafted in the sixth round. He played in three Supe ...
, moving the ball to the New York 33-yard line. On the next play Elway called a screen pass for Winder, which he ran for a gain of nine yards before going out of bounds. Linebacker
Harry Carson
Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...
hit Winder after he stepped out, garnering a flag for a personal foul. Then, a second penalty was assessed to
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as an outside linebacker for the New York Giants ( 1981–1993) in the National Football League (NF ...
, who was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for picking up and throwing the first flag.
Carson's penalty was assessed for twelve yards, half the distance to the goal from the spot of the dead ball, and Taylor's was for half the distance from that spot, resulting in a first down at the Giants' 6-yard line. On third down, Elway scored on a quarterback draw to regain the lead for the Broncos. Karlis added the extra point for a 10–7 score.
Second quarter
On Denver's first drive of the second quarter, Elway dropped back to pass from his own 18-yard line on third down. The Giants' pass rush forced him to scramble out of the pocket, but it gave him time to find receiver
Vance Johnson
Vance Edward Johnson (born March 13, 1963), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft.
Playing career
A 5'11", 174 lb. wide receiver, Johnson playe ...
, who was wide open, for a 54-yard completion. Elway then moved the Broncos down the field further and after a third down completion to
Steve Sewell
Steven Edward Sewell (born April 2, 1963 in San Francisco, California), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 1st round of the 1985 NFL Draft. A 6'3", 210-lb. running back from the Univer ...
, the third time Denver converted on the drive (Elway found Mobley for a second first down after the Johnson play), they had the ball on the New York 1 with a chance to go up by 10.
Needing a stop, the Giants stood their ground. First, Elway tried a
run-pass option, but Taylor broke through the line and tackled him for a one-yard loss. Carson stopped fullback
Gerald Willhite on the next play for no gain on a run up the middle, and
Carl Banks
Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Br ...
chased down Winder as he attempted to score on a sweep, tackling him for a four-yard loss. After losing five yards in three plays, Karlis tried to salvage the drive with a field goal, but he missed from 23 yards, giving him the record for the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history.
The Giants picked up a first down on the first play of the ensuing drive as
Mark Bavaro
Mark Anthony Bavaro (born April 28, 1963) is a former American football tight end who played for the New York Giants (1985–1990), Cleveland Browns (1992), and Philadelphia Eagles (1993–1994) in the National Football League (NFL). Bavaro was ...
caught a pass from Simms for twelve yards on the first play from scrimmage. Simms followed that up with an eight-yard completion to
Stacy Robinson
Stacy Ladell Robinson (February 19, 1962 – May 8, 2012) was a professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Robinson's most notable game was in week 13 of the 1986 season, when th ...
, and two plays later Morris picked up a first down with a short run. The drive stalled there, and the Broncos got the ball back on their 15. Elway was sacked on the first play of the ensuing drive, setting up a second down. What followed was one of the more crucial calls of the game.
With the ball on the Denver 13, Elway found
Clarence Kay
Clarence Hubert Kay (born July 30, 1961) is a former professional American football player. A 6'4", 237-lb. tight end from the University of Georgia, Kay was selected by the Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American footbal ...
for a gain of 25 yards and an apparent first down. However, referee
Jerry Markbreit
Jerry Markbreit (born March 23, 1935) is a former American football referee in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game. Markbreit officiated football games for 43 seasons. F ...
conferred with his crew and reversed the call, determining that Kay had not controlled the football before being tackled. However, the discussion among the crew continued for some time before NFL Director of Officiating
Art McNally
Arthur Ignatius McNally (July 1, 1925 – January 1, 2023) was an American football executive who was director of officiating for the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1991. Before becoming director of officiating—succeeding Mark ...
paged umpire Bob Boylston; this meant that, for the first time, the newly introduced
instant replay system would be used in a Super Bowl.
The crew then waited while McNally and the officials in the replay booth took a second look at the play. They ruled that the play would stand as called, as an incomplete pass. Indeed, there were no conclusive replays that the officials could find that indicated Kay caught the pass. CBS, however, was able to find one that the officials had not seen; the production crew found a reverse angle shot of the play that proved conclusively that Kay caught the pass cleanly. The network broadcast this replay toward the end of the first half.
The Giants managed to capitalize on the next play as Elway, under pressure, retreated into the end zone and was tackled there by veteran defensive lineman
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
, giving up a safety and cutting the Broncos’ lead to 10–9. The defense, however, was able to hold the Giants to a three-and-out on the drive following the ensuing free kick.
With 1:09 left in the half, Elway started from his own 37-yard line. On second down, he completed a 31-yard pass to receiver
Steve Watson
Steven Craig Watson (born 1 April 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player. He was formerly the manager of club Chester.
As a player, he was a right-back or midfielder. He played in the Premier League and Football ...
and then an 11-yard pass to Willhite, giving the Broncos a first down at the Giants 21. They moved the ball to the New York 16-yard line, which resulted from a penalty on
Jim Burt for jumping offsides, but the Giants forced two incompletions. The last of these saw Elway lead tight end
Orson Mobley
Orson Odell Mobley (born March 4, 1963) is a former professional American football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons for the Denver Broncos after being drafted in the sixth round. He played in three Supe ...
too far on a throw to the end zone and cause him to collide with the goal post.
Despite having missed a relative chip shot field goal on his last attempt, Karlis was called upon again to try to extend the Denver lead. Despite having made all but one of his attempts inside of forty yards during the regular season, Karlis once again pulled the kick to the right and the drive ended with no points. Karlis later admitted his two misses in the first half were devastating to the Broncos. "Both times I didn't get my hips all the way through the kicks. I was steering the ball, and I know better than that. I felt the team unravel after that. I really hurt them."
Third quarter
In the second half, the Giants dominated the Broncos, outscoring them 30–10 with four touchdowns and a field goal on their first five possessions.
The Giants took the opening kickoff in the third quarter, but faced fourth down and one yard after their first three plays. New York sent their punt formation out onto the field. Parcells had entertained the possibility of running a fake punt and sent
Jeff Rutledge
Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterba ...
, his backup quarterback, onto the field to line up as a third blocking back along with
Maurice Carthon and
Lee Rouson
Cecil Lee Rouson (born October 18, 1962) is a former professional American football running back. He played a total of seven seasons for the NFL's New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. He was selected as the NFL Special Teams Player of the Year i ...
. Parcells said his reasoning was that if the Broncos were not going to pick up on Rutledge being used as a decoy for a potential fake, he would take advantage. As he had thought, Denver paid no attention to Rutledge, and he moved under center while punter
Sean Landeta
Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...
split out as a receiver and Carthon and Rouson lined up in a split back set behind him. Rutledge then took the snap from center and ran a quarterback sneak to the New York 48-yard line for a first down. On the next play, Simms completed a 12-yard pass to Morris, and then followed it up with a 23-yard completion to Rouson. Three plays later, Simms finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bavaro to give the Giants a 16–10 lead. The Broncos were forced to punt on their next drive, and receiver
Phil McConkey
Philip Joseph McConkey (born February 24, 1957) is a former American football wide receiver who played for the New York Giants (1984–1988), Green Bay Packers (1986), Phoenix Cardinals (1989), and San Diego Chargers (1989) of the National Footba ...
returned the punt 25 yards to Denver's 36-yard line. The Broncos managed to keep the Giants out of the end zone, but New York kicker
Raúl Allegre
Raúl Enrique Allegre Rodríguez (born June 15, 1959) is a Mexican former football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, and New York Jets. He played college football at th ...
kicked a 21-yard field goal to increase their lead to 19–10.
Denver was again forced to punt on their ensuing possession. Afterwards, Simms completed a 17-yard pass to Manuel at the Broncos 45-yard line. Two plays later, the Giants executed a
flea flicker
A flea flicker is an unorthodox play, often called a " trick play", in American football which is designed to fool the defensive team into thinking that a play is a run instead of a pass. It can be considered an extreme variant of the play actio ...
play for a long gain. Simms handed off to Morris, but before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Morris pitched the ball back to Simms. With the ensuing pass, Simms found McConkey, who was wide open at the Broncos 20-yard line. After eluding one tackler, he was upended just before he reached the goal line, throwing his hands up in mock frustration after being stopped at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Morris scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, increasing New York's lead to 26–10 and essentially putting the game away.
Fourth quarter
Elway barely avoided a turnover by recovering his own fumble on the last play of the third quarter, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, he threw an interception to Giants defensive back
Elvis Patterson. After that, Simms completed a 36-yard pass to Robinson. Four plays later from Denver's 6-yard line, Simms threw a pass to Bavaro in the end zone. The pass bounced off Bavaro's fingertips, but fell right into the hands of McConkey for a touchdown, extending the lead to 33–10.
The Broncos, now playing for pride, finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession, advancing the ball 74 yards in 13 plays. Elway completed 5 of 6 passes for 46 yards and rushed for 14, while Karlis finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal, making the score 33–13. But New York recovered his ensuing onside kick attempt and stormed right back for more points. Rouson ran twice for 21 yards, and then Simms ran for a 22-yard gain. On the next play,
Ottis Anderson
Ottis Jerome Anderson (born January 19, 1957) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Miami, wh ...
scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants a 39–13 lead after Allegre missed the extra point.
Denver finally scored a touchdown when Elway found Johnson on a 47-yard bomb later on, which was the 100th recorded Super Bowl touchdown. However, by that point, the game had become so far out of reach that it did not do much good. Elway would eventually be replaced by
Gary Kubiak
Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Denver Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position ...
, who took a sack to end the game, and the Giants were victorious in a 39–20 rout of the Broncos.
As the final seconds of the game ticked away,
Harry Carson
Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...
, continuing the recent trend started by the Giants, gave head coach
Bill Parcells
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...
a
Gatorade shower
The Gatorade shower, also known as the Gatorade dunk or the Gatorade bath, is a sports tradition that involves players surreptitiously dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade mixed with ice) over the head of their coach (or occasi ...
, going as far as to take off his jersey and pads and sneak behind Parcells with a Rose Bowl security team shirt on. Thanks in large part to this particular Gatorade dunking, a tradition of sorts was formed that continues to this day. In addition,
Brad Benson
Brad William Benson (born November 25, 1955 in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is a former professional American football player. He was an offensive lineman with the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1978 to 1988 and was a pivotal membe ...
and
Bart Oates
Bart Steven Oates (born December 16, 1958) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. He played center for the Giants from 1985 to 1993 and with the 49ers from 1994 ...
drenched Simms with a cooler of ice water; "I think it was very appropriate to cool the guy down", Oates explained, "as hot as he was in the game."
Simms finished with a passer rating of 150.92, the highest for one game in Super Bowl history.
Morris was the top rusher of the game, gaining 67 yards, and added another 20 yards on 4 receptions. Robinson was the Giants' top receiver with 3 catches for 62 yards. Bavaro caught 4 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. McConkey caught 2 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, returned a punt for 25 yards, and even got to make a contribution after the game, discovering a dropped police pistol on the field and turning it over to a stadium security guard. Defensively, while the Broncos managed to bottle up Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks had 14 tackles, 10 of which were unassisted and four of those for negative yardage, while
Leonard Marshall
Leonard Allen Marshall Jr. (born October 22, 1961) is a former American football defensive lineman who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Selected 37th overall in the 1983 NFL Draft, he spent the first ten seasons of ...
had two sacks and forced a fumble. Elway finished the game with 22 out of 37 pass completions for 304 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. He also was the Broncos' leading rusher in the game, with 27 rushing yards and a touchdown on 6 carries. Denver's Vance Johnson was the top receiver of the game, with 5 receptions for 121 yards, an average of 24.2 yards per catch, and a touchdown.
The Giants' victory in Super Bowl XXI marked the second time in four months that the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
had won a championship in a major professional sport; three months before, the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
had won the
1986 World Series.
Box score
Final statistics
Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl XXI, Super Bowl XXI Play Finder NYG
Super Bowl XXI Play Finder Den
Statistical comparison
Individual statistics
1Completions/attempts
2Carries
3Long gain
4Receptions
5Times targeted
Records set
The following records were set in Super Bowl XXI, according to the official NFL.com boxscore,
the 2016 NFL Record & Fact Book
and the Pro-Football-Reference.com game summary.
Some records have to meet NFL minimum number of attempts to be recognized.
The minimums are shown (in parenthesis).
Turnovers are defined as the number of times losing the ball on interceptions and fumbles.
This is also the first, and only time in history, an NFL game ended with a final score of 39–20.
Starting lineups
Source:
Officials
* Referee:
Jerry Markbreit
Jerry Markbreit (born March 23, 1935) is a former American football referee in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game. Markbreit officiated football games for 43 seasons. F ...
#9-second Super Bowl (XVII)
* Umpire: Bob Boylston #101 first Super Bowl
* Head Linesman:
Terry Gierke No. 72 first Super Bowl
* Line Judge: Bob Beeks #59 fourth Super Bowl (XIV, XVI, XVIII)
* Back Judge:
Jim Poole No. 92 first Super Bowl
* Side Judge: Gil Mace #90 second Super Bowl (XVIII)
* Field Judge: Pat Mallette #82 first Super Bowl
* Alternate Umpire: Hendi Ancich #115 worked Super Bowl XXIV
References
Bibliography
Super Bowl official website*
*
*
* https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198701250den.htm Super Bowl XXI box score and Large online database of NFL data and statistics
from
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
(Last accessed September 28, 2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Bowl 021
Super Bowl
New York Giants postseason
Denver Broncos postseason
American football in California
Sports competitions in Pasadena, California
1986 National Football League season
1987 in American football
1987 in sports in California
20th century in Pasadena, California
January 1987 sports events in the United States