A "Cute" Post

Well, I hope you caught my byline double entendre of “Over Time.” When considering a name for this new blog, I wanted something that was a football term – like “overtime” – but at the same time something that suggested an historical perspective like “over time.” After all, a key element of the Hall’s Mission is to preserve the Game’s history.

And with that, let’s talk Super Bowl “over time.”  This year, as a part of the celebration of and preparation for Super Bowl 50, the NFL has scheduled several games, most of them in front of national TV audiences, between teams that faced each other in past Super Bowls. Some of the rematch teams have scheduled Alumni reunions around the games and present-day players have worn Throwback uniforms as a form of tribute to their past.  A great idea, I love it. 

In Week Three when the Green Bay Packers hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of the first Super Bowl – even though it wasn’t officially called the “Super Bowl” back in 1967 – the Packer management brought the entire Super Bowl I team back for the game and a halftime salute.  Now that was impressive.

And so was the Pack’s 38-28 victory over the Chiefs. It was reminiscent of Green Bay’s 35-10 shellacking of Kansas City in Super Bowl I. Not so impressive, however, was the comment from a young woman I heard as I was walking out of the stadium.  “Did you see those guys at halftime from the first Super Bowl team?” she queried her friend.  “Weren’t they cute?” Cute, are you kidding? Boy bands are “cute,” not Super Bowl superstars. Obviously this latter-day fan was too young to remember Ray Nitschke’s toothless smile or Dave Robinson’s bloodied knuckles or Forrest Gregg’s steely-eyed stare. “Cute?” I beg to differ.  

Now, maybe I’m the only one counting, but in the five Super Bowl rematch games played thus far, history has repeated itself each time with just one caveat. In Kickoff Weekend, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins, just as they did in Super Bowl VII. However, the Redskins did defeat the Dolphins (27-17) in Super Bowl XVII, so that rematch was going to go in the “history repeating itself” column either way.  

Sadly, as genuinely interesting as I find these retro games, I’m afraid most fans just aren’t nearly as engaged. Now, if there was a fantasy football component, they would probably register significantly higher. Barring that, maybe if we continue to track the results of the rematch games versus the original results, it will give the outcomes some additional relevance and a greater appreciation for the earlier editions of the Super Bowl. So, that’s my plan. Each week, along with a new column on some other football “over time” topic, I’ll update the Super Bowl replay results.

Coming up in Week 6 are rematches of Super Bowl XLVII (Baltimore 34, San Francisco 31); Super Bowl XLIII (Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23); and my favorite this week, Super Bowl IV (Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7).  For those who may not know, remember, or heaven forbid, care, the first four Super Bowls pitted the NFL champions against the champions of the upstart rival American Football League. Kansas City’s upset victory in Super Bowl IV importantly tied the series at two wins for each league. The following season the AFL and NFL completed their merger and the significance of the Super Bowl continued and grew to its unbelievable present-day popularity. The Chiefs organization and their fans truly appreciate their AFL heritage and understand the significance of Super Bowl IV. Perhaps, even with the recent setback of losing Jamaal Charles, the sentimental value of this rematch might be enough to turnaround the Chiefs’ season. And, for the record, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, and Emmitt Thomas aren’t “cute” either.