HOUSTON – (SUPER 10)
I believe, without question, I HAVE seen all 49 Super Bowls. I intend to make it 50 straight one week from Sunday. I saw the first one (which wasn't called Super Bowl) in an EM CLUB at Camp Pendleton. The second was the same thing. Some memories are more perfect than others. I DO RECALL my first as a reporter in a market that sent me to the game. I had only covered two NFL games all season, but was more than ready for the last game of that season.
That would be Super X. Life was simple when the Roman numeral was just one letter. Super 10 (as we in America remember it) was played in Miami. The combatants were PITTSBURGH AND DALLAS. Pittsburgh won the game 21-17 with Lynn Swann the MVP. However, my memory had nothing to do with the game, but rather the buildup to the game. That buildup included being able to leave SNOWY INDIANAPOLIS for the brighter lights and temperatures of the beach city. Indy didn't have the Colts yet, but the news director said since NBC had the game, we should do something. So something is what I did.
Arriving later than expected we had to hustle. We, included myself and one photographer. I decided to make up for lost ground so the two man crew headed to the Cowboys hotel. Security in those days was nothing close to what it is today. We bounded into the hotel and right out to the pool. There, seated by the pool with his wife, was Tom Landry. I DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER so I asked if he could do an interview. He said "SURE" or something close to that.
I then talked to him about what his team might expect, etc. I can't imagine how much it would cost to get me out of the NF-HELL jail if I PULLED a deal like that today. Thirty-nine SuperBowls later, the media wouldn't have made it to the parking lot let alone pool side. I still have the SUPER 10 game patch and a press kit.
I miss the old days. I gotta tell you about the time O.J. and I were together in a room to talk to Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. That was another NBC had the game deal. I should have talked to the Cowboys that day.