Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [0]
Super Bowl Monday
From the Persian Gulf to
the Shores of West Florida:
The New York Giants,
the Buffalo Bills, and
Super Bowl XXV
ADAM LAZARUS
TAYLOR TRADE PUBLISHING
Lanham • New York • Boulder • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
Published by Taylor Trade Publishing
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rlpgtrade.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Distributed by National Book Network
Copyright © 2011 by Adam Lazarus
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lazarus, Adam.
Super Bowl Monday : from the Persian Gulf to the shores of west Florida : the New
York Giants, the Buffalo Bills, and Super Bowl XXV / Adam Lazarus.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58979-600-3 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-58979-602-7 (electronic)
1. Super Bowl (25th : 1991 : Tampa, Fla.) 2. New York Giants (Football team)
3. Buffalo Bills (Football team) 4. Football—United States—History—20th century.
5. Persian Gulf War, 1991. I. Title.
GV956.2.S8L4 2011
796.332'648—dc22
2011010710
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For Sarah,
My love and my muse
Foreword
LYNN SWANN
If you are a sports fan who always wanted to know how a moment in the competitive landscape of championship sports came to be, then you have found your answer in Super Bowl Monday. The interviews conducted by Adam Lazarus, plus the revelations of key personnel through various books and stories, give you a 360-degree look at Super Bowl XXV. It is better than being in the locker room.
I have been fortunate to play and win four Super Bowls. Certainly being the MVP of Super Bowl X was a huge highlight. Also, I have broadcast several Super Bowls for ABC including Super Bowl XXV. In those telecasts, I always had the jobs of pregame reports or stories and interviewing the players and coaches of the losing teams. The NFL did not allow sideline reporters at that time.
For Super Bowl XXV, I found myself standing on the Giants’ sideline as Whitney Houston was preparing to sing our national anthem. The Giants players all lined up with Bill Parcells standing on the left end, right next to me—the last formality before the players took center stage. With emotions running high under the security due to Desert Storm and F-16s flying low and loud, Parcells turned to me with a huge smile and eagerness, to say, “Swanny, this is what it is all about. This is the fuckin’ best!”
At the end of a great contest, I was in the Buffalo locker room conducting live interviews for our world audience. Many players and coaches have been professional in discussing a Super Bowl loss. None was as gracious as kicker Scott Norwood. It was the first of many that night for Scott, and he gave lessons in class each time.
What I have just told you was a small part of the night from my viewpoint. Adam gives you the personal stories of all the key players.
Read Super Bowl Monday and you will feel that you now know the whole story of an American classic that continues to inspire a nation.
Lynn Swann
November 2010
Introduction
Every Super Bowl is special. A neck-and-neck game, such as the Steelers-Cowboys rematch in Super Bowl XIII, or a gripping finish, like Mike Jones’ tackle at the end of the St. Louis Rams’ win over Tennessee in January 2000, naturally establishes a permanent place in the game’s mythology.
Super Bowl VI, between Dallas and Miami, was one of the worst playoff games