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Fourth Super Bowl in Tampa
By Jeremy Kahn January 29, 2009 |
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When the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals take the field on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIII, this will be the fourth Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. In the first Super Bowl at the old Tampa Stadium on January 22, 1984, the then Los Angeles Raiders simply throttled the defending Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins 38-9 in the largest Super Bowl blowout until the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX at the Louisiana Superdome. Derrick Jensen got the ball rolling for the Raiders, as he blocked a Jeff Hayes punt and recovered it in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game for the Silver and Black clad Raiders. Jim Plunkett hit Cliff Branch for a 12-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 14-0 lead before the Redskins finally got on the board, as Mark Moseley kicked a 24-yard field goal. In what was the second most surprising play of the game, Jack Squirek intercepted a Joe Theismann pass and returned it five yards for a touchdown. The most memorable play of the game came when game MVP Marcus Allen scampered 74 yards for a touchdown that solidified the Raiders third Super Bowl championship in eight years. Seven years later, Super Bowl XXV took place at Tampa Stadium, as the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19. Whitney Houston sung the Star-Spangled Banner, as the United States of America recently invaded Iraq in what became known as Operation Desert Storm. Ottis Anderson would win the MVP, as he carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. The game would come down to a 47-yard field goal by Bills kicker Scott Norwood, but Norwood’s kicker would go wide right, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl championship in five years. It would be another 10 years before the Super Bowl would return to Tampa, as the Baltimore Ravens would face the New York Giants in Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. It was even a close game, the Ravens led by one of the best defenses of all-time defeated the Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV. |
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