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Missed Kick Secures Buffalo Player in Super Bowl Infamy
By JIM ARMSTRONG, AOL
You've got to give the Super Bowl credit. It hasn't always been kind to its participants, but at least it's been fair. For every Super Bowl hero who goes to Disneyland, there's a goat who'd like to go into the witness protection program.
That's the thing about the Super Bowl. It's the ultimate stage. When you screw up on Super Sunday, there's nowhere to hide. More than 800 million people watch the game. And that's just on Earth. There's no telling how many office pools they've got up there, beyond the pearly gates.
Not everybody can be Joe Montana on Super Sunday. For every Montana, there's a Scott Norwood. You remember Scott Norwood, don't you? What's that? Yeah, you're right. Dumb question. Of course you remember him. This is the Super Bowl we're talking about.
Until water polo becomes the national pastime, Norwood will be remembered for the most infamous kick in Super Bowl history. Not that he didn't have a lot of company with which to share his Super Bowl misery. Here's one man's list of the Top 5 goats in Super Bowl history:
1. Scott Norwood
All right, so maybe it isn't fair to list a kicker No. 1. Then again, it's not like his Bills teammates asked Norwood to make any tackles or throw any touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXV. Fact is, kickers aren't ever supposed to pick up the ball in the Super Bowl. Just ask Garo Yepremian.
No, Norwood's only task was to drill a 47-yard field goal with four seconds to play that would have given the Bills their first Super Bowl victory. Fourteen years later, they're still waiting for that elusive win.
The kick sailed wide right, landing Norwood in the history books. If only the Bills could have won the next year or the year after. But no. Norwood's pain grew more excruciating when Buffalo lost the next three Super Bowls by scores of 37-24, 52-17 and 30-13.
Moral to the story: When you have a chance to win the Super Bowl, you've got to cash in. Because you may never get another opportunity.
2. Thurman Thomas
What do you mean we're piling on the Bills? No way. I love Buffalo. Why, I've had so many chicken wings at the Anchor Bar, I've grown feathers.
It's just that Thomas's screw-up was so infamous, so monumental, so hysterical, he's got to be No. 2. With apologies to Yepremian, Thomas may have given the world the funniest moment in Super Bowl history.
Thomas spent most of the week before Super Bowl XXVI telling everyone that he didn't get enough respect, that he should be mentioned in the same breath with the great running backs in NFL history. When game time rolled around, he spent most of the Bills' first offensive series looking for his helmet.
All right, wise guy, who's the klepto who stole Thurman's lid? The scene has gone down in infamy in Super Bowl annals. To this day, Buffalo fans suspect Bluto and Flounder pulled off the caper, but we may never know. It remains one of the Super Bowl's great mysteries, along with Dan Reeves' game plans for Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV.
3. Fred Williamson
The younger generation may not recognize the name, but here's all you need to know: Williamson, a hard-hitting defensive back for the Chiefs, was the first trash talker in Super Bowl history.
He had this catchy nickname, The ******, derived from his penchant for whacking receivers with a forearm. He spent the days preceding Super Bowl I vowing to nail the Packers. The overrated, underachieving Packers. The three-time NFL champion Packers.
''I'm going to lay a few hammers on them,'' said Williamson. ''They're going to go back to the huddle with their heads ringing.''
Who knows? Maybe The ****** would have followed through with his prediction. Trouble was, he was knocked unconscious by the fourth quarter. Not that the Packers got wind of Williamson's comments, but, as he lay out cold on the Los Angeles Coliseum field, Fuzzy Thurston stood over him humming ''If I Had A ******.''
4. Earl Morrall
Joe Namath guaranteed the Jets would win Super Bowl III. If we had known how badly Morrall was going to play, maybe somebody would have believed him.
The Colts had dominated the NFL in 1968, thanks in large part to Morrall, a career backup who emerged into the league's MVP after an injury sidelined ****** Unitas. The Jets? They were the best team in some nickel-and-dime operation called the American Football League.
You know the rest of the story. Broadway Joe remains a legend to this day, so much so that he fully expected ESPN's Suzy Kolber to play tongue tag with him on the sideline during a game last season.
Morrall? He completed 6 of 17 passes for 71 yards and suffered three interceptions. By the time the Colts won their first Super Bowl two years later, they had joined the Jets in the AFC.
5. Fran Tarkenton
If it hadn't been for those annoying teams in the AFC, Tarkenton would be known as the greatest quarterback that ever was.
When he retired after the 1978 season, he held NFL records for passing attempts, completions, yardage and touchdowns. Not only that, he played in three Super Bowls in the span of four years.
He just didn't win one.
Before Jim Kelly came along and lost four straight Super Bowls, Tarkenton was the Quarterback Who Couldn't Win The Big One. He was Sinatra during the season, but, when January rolled around, he turned into Weird Al Jankovic. Tarkenton lost Super Bowls VIII, IX and XI, during which he combined for one touchdown pass and six interceptions.
How integral is winning the Super Bowl in determining a player's legacy? Look no farther than Tarkenton. He had all those records and played in all those Super Bowl appearances, but had to wait eight years before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
By JIM ARMSTRONG, AOL
You've got to give the Super Bowl credit. It hasn't always been kind to its participants, but at least it's been fair. For every Super Bowl hero who goes to Disneyland, there's a goat who'd like to go into the witness protection program.
That's the thing about the Super Bowl. It's the ultimate stage. When you screw up on Super Sunday, there's nowhere to hide. More than 800 million people watch the game. And that's just on Earth. There's no telling how many office pools they've got up there, beyond the pearly gates.
Not everybody can be Joe Montana on Super Sunday. For every Montana, there's a Scott Norwood. You remember Scott Norwood, don't you? What's that? Yeah, you're right. Dumb question. Of course you remember him. This is the Super Bowl we're talking about.
Until water polo becomes the national pastime, Norwood will be remembered for the most infamous kick in Super Bowl history. Not that he didn't have a lot of company with which to share his Super Bowl misery. Here's one man's list of the Top 5 goats in Super Bowl history:
1. Scott Norwood
All right, so maybe it isn't fair to list a kicker No. 1. Then again, it's not like his Bills teammates asked Norwood to make any tackles or throw any touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXV. Fact is, kickers aren't ever supposed to pick up the ball in the Super Bowl. Just ask Garo Yepremian.
No, Norwood's only task was to drill a 47-yard field goal with four seconds to play that would have given the Bills their first Super Bowl victory. Fourteen years later, they're still waiting for that elusive win.
The kick sailed wide right, landing Norwood in the history books. If only the Bills could have won the next year or the year after. But no. Norwood's pain grew more excruciating when Buffalo lost the next three Super Bowls by scores of 37-24, 52-17 and 30-13.
Moral to the story: When you have a chance to win the Super Bowl, you've got to cash in. Because you may never get another opportunity.
2. Thurman Thomas
What do you mean we're piling on the Bills? No way. I love Buffalo. Why, I've had so many chicken wings at the Anchor Bar, I've grown feathers.
It's just that Thomas's screw-up was so infamous, so monumental, so hysterical, he's got to be No. 2. With apologies to Yepremian, Thomas may have given the world the funniest moment in Super Bowl history.
Thomas spent most of the week before Super Bowl XXVI telling everyone that he didn't get enough respect, that he should be mentioned in the same breath with the great running backs in NFL history. When game time rolled around, he spent most of the Bills' first offensive series looking for his helmet.
All right, wise guy, who's the klepto who stole Thurman's lid? The scene has gone down in infamy in Super Bowl annals. To this day, Buffalo fans suspect Bluto and Flounder pulled off the caper, but we may never know. It remains one of the Super Bowl's great mysteries, along with Dan Reeves' game plans for Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV.
3. Fred Williamson
The younger generation may not recognize the name, but here's all you need to know: Williamson, a hard-hitting defensive back for the Chiefs, was the first trash talker in Super Bowl history.
He had this catchy nickname, The ******, derived from his penchant for whacking receivers with a forearm. He spent the days preceding Super Bowl I vowing to nail the Packers. The overrated, underachieving Packers. The three-time NFL champion Packers.
''I'm going to lay a few hammers on them,'' said Williamson. ''They're going to go back to the huddle with their heads ringing.''
Who knows? Maybe The ****** would have followed through with his prediction. Trouble was, he was knocked unconscious by the fourth quarter. Not that the Packers got wind of Williamson's comments, but, as he lay out cold on the Los Angeles Coliseum field, Fuzzy Thurston stood over him humming ''If I Had A ******.''
4. Earl Morrall
Joe Namath guaranteed the Jets would win Super Bowl III. If we had known how badly Morrall was going to play, maybe somebody would have believed him.
The Colts had dominated the NFL in 1968, thanks in large part to Morrall, a career backup who emerged into the league's MVP after an injury sidelined ****** Unitas. The Jets? They were the best team in some nickel-and-dime operation called the American Football League.
You know the rest of the story. Broadway Joe remains a legend to this day, so much so that he fully expected ESPN's Suzy Kolber to play tongue tag with him on the sideline during a game last season.
Morrall? He completed 6 of 17 passes for 71 yards and suffered three interceptions. By the time the Colts won their first Super Bowl two years later, they had joined the Jets in the AFC.
5. Fran Tarkenton
If it hadn't been for those annoying teams in the AFC, Tarkenton would be known as the greatest quarterback that ever was.
When he retired after the 1978 season, he held NFL records for passing attempts, completions, yardage and touchdowns. Not only that, he played in three Super Bowls in the span of four years.
He just didn't win one.
Before Jim Kelly came along and lost four straight Super Bowls, Tarkenton was the Quarterback Who Couldn't Win The Big One. He was Sinatra during the season, but, when January rolled around, he turned into Weird Al Jankovic. Tarkenton lost Super Bowls VIII, IX and XI, during which he combined for one touchdown pass and six interceptions.
How integral is winning the Super Bowl in determining a player's legacy? Look no farther than Tarkenton. He had all those records and played in all those Super Bowl appearances, but had to wait eight years before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.