Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [87]
American soldiers at a base in eastern Saudi Arabia watch Super Bowl XXV via the Armed Forces Television Network, just before 3 a.m. on Monday morning (Arabia standard time), January 28, 1991. Bob Daugherty / Associated Press
Behind 20-19, with eight seconds remaining in Super Bowl XXV, Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood swipes at the potentially game-winning, forty-seven-yard field goal attempt. Phil Sandlin / Associated Press
Lifted up by Lawrence Taylor (#56) and Carl Banks (#58), Bill Parcells salutes the crowd seconds after the Giants victory. Super Bowl XXV would be his final game as the New York Giants head coach. Mike Powell / Getty Images Sport
Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler holds his sons, Justin (left) and Jason (right), in the Tampa Stadium locker room following New York’s 20-19 victory. Mike Powell / Getty Images Sport
Eighteen hours after the Bills lost Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Florida, thirty thousand Buffalo fans greeted the team with cheers and applause at a rally in Niagara Square. Despite the Giants victory, neither New York City nor the state of New Jersey held a rally for the winning team. Buffalo News
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Whipping Boys
During halftime, the Super Bowl crowd—those not waiting in lines at the concession stands or restrooms—watched the now globally renowned Super Bowl halftime show. Boy band and teen sensation The New Kids on the Block performed their popular songs “Step By Step” and “This One’s For the Children.” Michael Jackson made a cameo.
But for months, an intricate salute to Super Bowl history was also planned for the annual performance: a “Small World Salute to Twenty-five Years of the Super Bowl.”
Houston Oilers quarterback and 1989 NFL Man of the Year Warren Moon, along with two thousand children—boys dressed in helmets, shoulder pads, and full football uniforms; girls wearing cheerleader outfits and holding pom-poms—participated in a choreographed routine. Because Disney was producing the show, Donald Duck, Tigger, and “coach” Roger Rabbit also appeared wearing football garb; Minnie Mouse was dressed as a cheerleader.
But given the serious nature of the Gulf War, the end of the show was tweaked to be more patriotic. With American flags throughout the stadium, and “America the Beautiful” playing in the background, fifty young children of American military personnel stationed in the Gulf took the field.
A brief address from President Bush and the First Lady followed.
“Today we should recognize the men and women in our armed forces far away from home. They protect freedom in the Persian Gulf and around the world. And just as we salute these brave Americans, let’s remember their families on the field with you today in Tampa,” Bush said. “To the children of these men and women, let me say that as this and every day draws to a close, it’s your mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, who are the true champions, the true heroes in our country.”
For the viewers at home, an extended ABC News update followed. Anchored by Peter Jennings, segments included a report on the happenings in the Gulf, a clip from Commander of U.S. Central Command General Norman Schwarzkopf’s most recent press briefing, and Judd Rose’s piece on the troops watching Super Bowl XXV live from Camp Jack in Saudi Arabia.
The $26,667-per-second Bud Bowl III and Reebok sneakers commercials yielded a few minutes for more important matters.
While the television audience absorbed serious information, the New York Giants coaches assembled in a corner of the locker room. There they discussed the adjustments needed to overcome the 12-10 deficit against Buffalo.
Bill Parcells had been here before. At halftime of Super Bowl XXI, New York’s players and staff sat in the Rose Bowl Stadium locker room, trailing Denver 10-9. On that day in late January 1987, Parcells gave his players no fiery, inspiring speeches, unveiled no secret plays. He simply instructed them to not panic and stick