Super Bowl used to be boring
These days, the Super Bowl is the most exciting sporting event on the planet for million of people. Certainly in America, Super Sunday holds a gravitas not matched y any other event, bringing people together at parties across the 50 states in anticipation of a showdown.
However, the Super Bowl used to be super dull. For most of the first 30 years of the game, it was either a complete mismatch or a blowout. On the rare occasion a game was close like Super Bowl V, it was poorly played and sloppy more often than not.
If you are younger than 25 years old, you probably think of the Super Bowl as a game that defies all logic… in a good way. You think about Malcolm Butler picking off Russell Wilson at the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX. You might think about Santonio Holmes making an incredible catch to defeat the Arizona Cardinals back in Feb. 2009, giving the Pittsburgh Steelers their sixth championship. If you have a good memory, you think of the St. Louis Rams, first beating the Tennessee Titans by a yard, and then two years later, watching Tom Brady and Adam Vinatieri dash their dreams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Yet the parents of those folks remember an entirely different time. The AFC was dominant throughout much of the 1970s, winning handily with the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders rolling over the competition, with occasional interruption from the Dallas Cowboys. Then there was a stretch from 1984-96, when the NFC never lost a game and was seldom challenged. Of course, this included the four-year reign of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC, only for Buffalo to be beaten each time.
Most of the time, it was a mismatch from the start. Nobody really believed that the Denver Broncos were going to beat the Cowboys back in Super Bowl XII. Why? Because Denver had a quarterback-head coach battery of Craig Morton and Red Miller, while the Cowboys were boasting Roger Staubach and Tom Landry. The same could be said for Super Bowl XX, when the Chciago Bearas brought their famed “46” defense and Walter Payton to the Louisiana Superdome, to take on the New England Patriots, led by Tony Eason.
At least these days, there is real intrigue. Sure the Patriots are favored to beat the Atlanta Falcons, but it wouldn’t be stunning to see Atlanta win its first Super Bowl in franchise history. When you have Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones, you always have a chance.
Regardless of who you are rooting for, at least you have a fun game to get excited about. Your elders will tell you to appreciate that for all it is worth.
