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These Quarterbacks Did Their Best Work in Their Biggest Games
By JIM ARMSTRONG, AOL
How badly do NFL players want to win the Super Bowl?
Former Redskins guard Russ Grimm said before Super Bowl XVIII that he'd run over his own mother to win it. To which Raiders linebacker Matt Millen replied, ''I'd run over Grimm's mother, too.''
Other than, say, their next breath, nothing is more important to a football player than winning the Super Bowl. Just as nothing is more painful than losing it.
That's the thing about the Super Bowl. There's no consolation prize, no parting gifts, no Mr. Congeniality. The winner takes all, the loser takes a fall. It's the sports world's ultimate passion play, the only major championship decided by one game on one day, often by one play.
If you happen to make that play, they name streets after you or send you to the Hall of Fame without passing Go. What they don't do is forget about you. When you come up big on Super Sunday, you're a hero for the ages.
Presenting one man's list of the Top 5 heroes in Super Bowl history:
1. Joe Montana
No wonder they named a state after him. No player in Super Bowl history has dominated the game like Montana. Every play he touched on Super Sunday turned to gold. He won all four of his Super Bowl starts and was named MVP in three.
You want proof, don't you? You want numbers. No problem. In those four wins, Montana completed 83 out of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns. Oh, and the next interception he throws will be his first.
Montana owns virtually every Super Bowl passing record. Not only that, he's the only player ever to be named MVP three times, a mark the Patriots' Tom Brady can match on Super Sunday.
2. Joe Namath
OK, so he only played in one Super Bowl. To this day, it may be the most famous Super Bowl ever. Why? Because Joe Willie, the coolest athlete that ever was, played in it. And, as per his famous poolside guarantee, he won it.
You don't suppose Broadway Joe got the girl in addition to the MVP award after Super Bowl III, do you? Nah, didn't think so. He probably went back to his bachelor's pad in Manhattan and studied game film to get ready for the Jets' season opener. If you believe that, I've got a bag of Namath's fingernail clippings I could let you have for cheap on eBay.
3. Richard Dent
What, you think we're going to go with all offensive players, quote unquote skill position players? No way. This just in. Defense has been known to influence the outcome of Super Bowls, too.
Which brings us to Super Bowl XX. If the number doesn't ring a bell, the game marked the coronation of the '85 Bears, arguably the greatest defense ever assembled. It also marked the first and only time a quarterback (Jim McMahon) mooned the media, but we won't go there.
Dent was named the game's MVP after registering 1 1/2 of the Bears' seven sacks. He also terrorized Patriots running backs, helping limit New England to seven rushing yards. The Bears won the game 46-10, at the time the highest point total and differential in Super Bowl history.
4. Phil Simms
He was a good quarterback, not a great one, during his decade-plus in the NFL. But for one day, Simms was as close to perfect as a quarterback can get. And just his luck, it happened to be Super Sunday.
The Giants beat the Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI, thanks to Simms' career day. No less an authority than Bill Parcells said Simms' performance ''might have been the best game a quarterback ever played.''
Simms' stat line: 22 for 25, 268 yards, 3 touchdowns and not an interception in the bunch. His 88-percent completion rate is the highest in Super Bowl history.
But enough with the minor details. Here's what you really need to know: Simms is a righteous dude who returns reporters' phone calls almost as fast as he gets them, and he just happens to be the best TV analyst going.
5. Lynn Swann
Never has one game meant so much to a player's reputation as Super Bowl X meant to Swann. How do we know this? Because he was voted into the Hall of Fame despite playing only playing nine seasons and making a measly three Pro Bowls.
No NFL player ever made better use of his time than Swann, who won four Super Bowls from 1974-79. The second of those four came in SB X, when Swann caught passes from Terry Bradshaw covering 32, 53 and 64 yards.
The 53-yarder is generally considered the greatest catch in Super Bowl history. I'd describe it for you, but you've already seen it a few dozen times on ESPN Classic.
By JIM ARMSTRONG, AOL
How badly do NFL players want to win the Super Bowl?
Former Redskins guard Russ Grimm said before Super Bowl XVIII that he'd run over his own mother to win it. To which Raiders linebacker Matt Millen replied, ''I'd run over Grimm's mother, too.''
Other than, say, their next breath, nothing is more important to a football player than winning the Super Bowl. Just as nothing is more painful than losing it.
That's the thing about the Super Bowl. There's no consolation prize, no parting gifts, no Mr. Congeniality. The winner takes all, the loser takes a fall. It's the sports world's ultimate passion play, the only major championship decided by one game on one day, often by one play.
If you happen to make that play, they name streets after you or send you to the Hall of Fame without passing Go. What they don't do is forget about you. When you come up big on Super Sunday, you're a hero for the ages.
Presenting one man's list of the Top 5 heroes in Super Bowl history:
1. Joe Montana
No wonder they named a state after him. No player in Super Bowl history has dominated the game like Montana. Every play he touched on Super Sunday turned to gold. He won all four of his Super Bowl starts and was named MVP in three.
You want proof, don't you? You want numbers. No problem. In those four wins, Montana completed 83 out of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns. Oh, and the next interception he throws will be his first.
Montana owns virtually every Super Bowl passing record. Not only that, he's the only player ever to be named MVP three times, a mark the Patriots' Tom Brady can match on Super Sunday.
2. Joe Namath
OK, so he only played in one Super Bowl. To this day, it may be the most famous Super Bowl ever. Why? Because Joe Willie, the coolest athlete that ever was, played in it. And, as per his famous poolside guarantee, he won it.
You don't suppose Broadway Joe got the girl in addition to the MVP award after Super Bowl III, do you? Nah, didn't think so. He probably went back to his bachelor's pad in Manhattan and studied game film to get ready for the Jets' season opener. If you believe that, I've got a bag of Namath's fingernail clippings I could let you have for cheap on eBay.
3. Richard Dent
What, you think we're going to go with all offensive players, quote unquote skill position players? No way. This just in. Defense has been known to influence the outcome of Super Bowls, too.
Which brings us to Super Bowl XX. If the number doesn't ring a bell, the game marked the coronation of the '85 Bears, arguably the greatest defense ever assembled. It also marked the first and only time a quarterback (Jim McMahon) mooned the media, but we won't go there.
Dent was named the game's MVP after registering 1 1/2 of the Bears' seven sacks. He also terrorized Patriots running backs, helping limit New England to seven rushing yards. The Bears won the game 46-10, at the time the highest point total and differential in Super Bowl history.
4. Phil Simms
He was a good quarterback, not a great one, during his decade-plus in the NFL. But for one day, Simms was as close to perfect as a quarterback can get. And just his luck, it happened to be Super Sunday.
The Giants beat the Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI, thanks to Simms' career day. No less an authority than Bill Parcells said Simms' performance ''might have been the best game a quarterback ever played.''
Simms' stat line: 22 for 25, 268 yards, 3 touchdowns and not an interception in the bunch. His 88-percent completion rate is the highest in Super Bowl history.
But enough with the minor details. Here's what you really need to know: Simms is a righteous dude who returns reporters' phone calls almost as fast as he gets them, and he just happens to be the best TV analyst going.
5. Lynn Swann
Never has one game meant so much to a player's reputation as Super Bowl X meant to Swann. How do we know this? Because he was voted into the Hall of Fame despite playing only playing nine seasons and making a measly three Pro Bowls.
No NFL player ever made better use of his time than Swann, who won four Super Bowls from 1974-79. The second of those four came in SB X, when Swann caught passes from Terry Bradshaw covering 32, 53 and 64 yards.
The 53-yarder is generally considered the greatest catch in Super Bowl history. I'd describe it for you, but you've already seen it a few dozen times on ESPN Classic.
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