Surprise Super Bowl Heroes

Surprise Super Bowl Heroes — page 5 — 41 the game with seven receptions for 138 yards McGee also caught another touchdown pass SNELL STEPS UP Heading into Super Bowl III in January 1969 much of the talk around the New York Jets surrounded their quarterback Joe Namath had predicted his underdog team would beat the Baltimore Colts Few believed him Even his own teammates weren’t thrilled with Broadway Joe’s boast Matt Snell right plows across the goal line for the Jets only touchdown of Super Bowl III 6

Surprise Super Bowl Heroes — page 6 — One of those teammates was Matt Snell the team’s star running back Snell had rushed for more than 700 yards during the regular season He added 71 more in the team’s 27 23 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League AFL playoffs to reach the Super Bowl But with all the hype around Namath no one was talking about Snell On a muddy Super Bowl Sunday in Miami both teams struggled to score The game was still 0 0 when the Jets took over at their own 20 with 14 09 remaining in the second quarter They put together a 12-play scoring drive Snell touched the ball on seven of them He finished it off with a 4-yard touchdown run It was New York’s only touchdown in a 16 7 upset victory Snell finished the game with 30 carries for 121 yards He also grabbed four passes for 40 yards The game’s Most Valuable Player MVP Award went to Namath But the victory would not have been possible without Snell PLUNKETT’S COMEBACKS Not many teams wanted quarterback Jim Plunkett in the summer of 1978 He had spent seven seasons playing for bad teams in New England and San Francisco Plunkett was so beaten up from taking sacks over the years that he could barely suit up However the Oakland Raiders took him in Two years later when starting quarterback Dan Pastorini was injured during the regular 7

Surprise Super Bowl Heroes — page 7 — season Plunkett took over He led the Raiders all the way to Super Bowl XV There he threw three touchdown passes in a 27 10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles The unlikely hero was named the game’s MVP By the 1983 season Plunkett was once again a backup And the Raiders had moved to Los Angeles However when starter Marc Wilson was hurt Plunkett got his job back He followed the same script as the 1980 season In the end Plunkett led the Raiders back to the Super Bowl where they routed Washington 38 9 Plunkett’s numbers weren’t as good as the first time around But he still threw for 172 yards and a score With that victory Plunkett became the fifth quarterback to win the Super Bowl two times The other four were Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw Bob Griese Starr and Roger Staubach Four decades later Plunkett still had not joined them THREE SURPRISES When Denver faced Washington in Super Bowl XXII after the 1987 season the Broncos coaches probably didn’t spend much time game-planning for quarterback Doug Williams running back Timmy Smith and receiver Ricky Sanders Smith a rookie had barely played all year Williams started a handful of games during the regular season but didn’t get the job full time until the playoffs And Sanders was buried on the depth chart behind star pass catchers Art Monk and Gary Clark 8

Surprise Super Bowl Heroes — page 8 — 16 Jim Plunkett looks for an open receiver during the Raiders 27 10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV 9

7

PAGE 7 OF 54

›

The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

JavaScript Required

Whoops! We're sorry but Epic doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Check your web browser's settings to make sure it's enabled.