9801260057
DETROIT FREE PRESS
980126
Monday, January 26, 1998
METRO FINAL
1D
Photo MIKE BLAKE REUTERS
The Broncos carry quarterback John Elway off the field after his
first Super Bowl win in four tries. "They made this game for quarterbacks,
and you've got to win this game to be up there with the elite," he said.
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1998, Detroit Free Press
STRANGE, BUT ELWAY MAKES IT TRUE FOR AFC
SAN DIEGO -- Well, if the pope can visit Cuba, the Unabomber can confess, and the president
can be accused of making whoopee with an intern, I guess the AFC can win a
Super Bowl.
Debunked. Dethroned. Demystified. No more NFC domination. No more annual
blowouts. Only a game in which John Elway ran better than he passed, in which
Brett Favre couldn't make a crucial wide-open completion, in which a wild-card
team won the championship and a sixth-round draft choice who once dreamed of
making the practice squad instead won the MVP award -- only a game which could
give all that could give you this: a major upset, and maybe the best Super
Bowl ever.
The following is not a typo: Denver 31, Green Bay 24.
Orange crushes.
"I have only four words!" screamed an elated Pat Bowlen, the owner of the
Broncos, as he stood on the victory stand with the trophy. He turned to the
player on his left and hollered, "THIS ...ONE'S ...FOR ...JOHN! ...
And the man who was the subplot of this game, the man even Green Bay fans were
privately rooting for, shook a grateful fist at the adoring crowd and the
world at large. This is why we keep coming back to Super Bowls -- despite the
awful blowouts and ludicrous hype -- because every once in a while, you get a
final snapshot like this, the image of Elway, the longest-suffering
quarterback of the longest-suffering conference, leaping onto the field like a
child leaping down the Christmas steps after Favre's fourth-down pass fell
incomplete.
How much of a hurry were AFC fans in for this moment? The last 18 seconds of
the game ticked off with the field already full of screaming and dancing
Broncos boosters. Moments later, the fireworks exploded, the confetti shot
into the air, and you half expected the Red Sea to part.
Why not? Was this not a semi-miraculous performance by the Broncos, a 12-point
underdog? It was a smart game, won by running and blocking and opportune
defense. Denver took an early lead, let Green Bay back in, but didn't fold the
tent as AFC teams have done before.
Instead, the Broncos ate the clock, made fewer mistakes, and drove the field
when they had to -- at the end.
"We shocked the world, but we didn't shock the Denver Broncos!" yelled tight
end Shannon Sharpe. "We knew we could do this!"
Orange crushes.
Plenty of rehearsal
In the rush of well-wishers after the game, Elway tried to find his composure.
"I've done a lot of rehearsing for this game," he admitted. No quarterback had
won more regular-season games. But only one, Jim Kelly, had ever lost more
Super Bowls. Elway was not eager to tie him.
And yet, such is his maturity, that on Sunday, in his most memorable game,
Elway was more a manager than a star player. He completed just 12 passes for
123 yards and no touchdowns. In years past, that was a first quarter for this
guy.
But Elway and his coaches knew the way to beat Green Bay was to run, run, run,
keep the ball away from Favre, and wear out the strong, but susceptible,
Packers defensive line. That they did. By the end, the Pack was gasping for
air, and big man Gilbert Brown, all 370 pounds, was as useless as a flat tire.
Truth be told, Elway's shining moment came not on a pass, but on a run. In the
third quarter, with the score tied, Elway took a third-down snap, found no one
open, faked, then scrambled, then committed. He is 37 years old, and the legs
aren't supposed to work the way they used to, but in moments of victory, all
athletes are young again. Elway chugged toward the first-down marker, then did
the only thing he could do to get it. He leapt into the air, and got smacked
by three Green Bay defenders.
But when he landed, he had a first-and-goal, and if you ask me, that was the
play that shut the door on the Green Bay dominance. In all their other wins,
the opponent eventually got out of the Packers' way, bowing to their aura of
defending champions.
The Broncos weren't moving. Like Elway, they were ready to fly in, headfirst.
"Did you ever wonder if this moment would come?" someone asked Elway.
"You always wonder if you're gonna run out of years," he admitted. "But I'm so
proud of this team, the way we came together, doing it the hard way. We
finally got one, and this is really ...neat."
Neat?
Well, he did play college football in California.
Orange crushes.
Davis is the story
Now, if Elway was the story, Terrell Davis was the star. If you're wondering
how a guy who missed the second quarter with a migraine could wind up with 157
yards and three touchdowns, well, you haven't been following his story.
"I'm numb right now," said Davis, accepting his MVP award. Naturally.
Here's a guy who played only two years of high school football, who did his
first college stint at lowly Long Beach State, where he had to pay for his own
cleats and gloves. Here's a guy who didn't even bother to watch the NFL draft
his senior year, and when he was selected, in the sixth round, his biggest
dream was to someday play special teams.
Instead, Davis has ascended like a helium balloon. In three years, he has
became the premier running back in the AFC, and he already has one more ring
than Barry Sanders.
"I'm not surprised we won," Davis said after contributing to the end of the
NFC's 13-year domination. "People watch too much TV. They listen to too many
experts. They were convinced we were the weaker team. But I knew otherwise."
Well, maybe what he knew -- and what most of us missed -- was the domination
of the Denver offensive line. For if Elway was the story and Davis the star,
then the offensive line was the reason for this victory. It opened holes the
size of transit tunnels. It plowed into the Packers and froze them in their
tracks. Reggie White might as well have been absent. Brown was a large
mound-of-no-rebound. Consider this: Against a supposedly tenacious defense,
the Broncos' line did not allow a single sack and rarely permitted Davis to be
touched in the backfield.
"We sat listening to how good Green Bay was for two weeks, and we didn't say
anything," said Denver tackle Gary Zimmerman. "We got so sick of it, our
stomachs were turning.'
Or, as the ever-loquacious Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski put it: "We
wanted to puke."
Party on, dudes
Well, take it easy, Broncos. You can party on, and leave the puking to the
Packers, who will no doubt want to take a few key plays back when they see the
tapes of this one. Favre, especially, would like to have back his
first-quarter interception, which led to a Broncos touchdown; his
second-quarter fumble, which led to a Denver field goal; and his final drive,
with 99 seconds left, in which he moved the Packers 49 yards, but failed to
complete his last three passes, one of which was to a wide-open Antonio
Freeman. Favre had to whip the ball back across his body -- a pass he is
capable of making, but not this time.
And then, on the final Green Bay snap of the 1997-98 season, Favre chose his
favorite receiver, Mark Chmura, but he didn't get him the ball. The pass was
broken up by linebacker John Mobley, the ball hit the turf, and an avalanche
began in the Rocky Mountains.
"We used too much energy in coming back to tie it," said Mike Holmgren, the
Green Bay coach. "It was like a basketball game. We didn't have anything left
at the end.
"I want to add that I personally have always been a John Elway fan. I've
always wanted him to win one. I just wish it wasn't against us."
Well, if the streak had to end, even NFC diehards will admit this was a great
way to go. A wonderfully entertaining game, an MVP who no longer has to pay
for his own equipment, and an aging veteran hero who, in previous Super Bowl
defeats, seemed to wear all the AFC's slings and arrows in his creased
forehead and squinted eyes.
Orange crushes.
"This is 10 times better than I ever imagined it would be," Elway said outside
the Broncos' locker room. "You do get tired of being the guy who didn't win
the big game. All the things we've been answering questions for, for umpteen
years, have been finally answered."
Way to go.
Now, do you have any answers for this Clinton mess? ...
To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581.
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SUPER BOWL;FOOTBALL;COLUMN;JOHN ELWAY