MIAMI – This time, America’s grandest single sporting event has everything.
Super Bowl XXXIII – kickoff 6:18 p.m. tonight at Pro Player Stadium – is lacking nothing in the way of drama, subplots and glitter.
By the time Kiss is finished regaling the fans with pre-game pyrotechnics and by the time Cher has completed the National Anthem fully clothed and by the time the players from the Broncos and Falcons have raced through that end-zone tunnel with their hearts beating faster than they ever have, there will be enough compelling elements to keep the zillions of viewers on the edge of their recliners, couches and bar stools into the night.
If Don King were running this promotional operation, he’d lose that porcupine/skunk mane of his, pulling follicles out one by one trying to settle on a catchy marketing title for this game, because there are so many from which to choose.
*There is the deeply-rooted resentment issue with the Dan Reeves/John Elway/Mike Shanahan triangle of loathe. Reeves, the long-time Broncos coach now coaching the Falcons, has been very honest this week about the hurt he still feels over being fired by the Broncos, Elway ripping him and his former assistant Shanahan sneaking around behind his back.
*There is the miracle comeback angle with Reeves just weeks removed from quadruple bypass open-heart surgery.
*There is the what’s your legacy? factor with Reeves already 0-for-3 in Super Bowls and seeking his first win as a coach.
*There is the like a virgin angle, with the Falcons making a first Super Bowl appearance in the franchise’s 33 seasons filled mostly with futility and embarrassment.
*There is the ride-off-into-the-sunset possibility with Elway almost certainly playing his last game after 16 glorious seasons.
*There’s the 16-2 factor, with both the Broncos and Falcons owning such records, a first in Super Bowl history that the combatants enter the game with such great records.
*Of course, there’s the two-peat chase, with the Broncos trying to defend the Super Bowl title they ripped away from the Packers last January.
*And, should the Broncos win, there’s the dynasty question that’ll be raised, with Denver having won more games (46) in a three-year span than any in NFL history.
Pick your poison, order your entree, decide on dessert. This game has everything, so soak it in, swish it around and digest it with glee. It should be a close game, possibly as dramatic as any Super Bowl we’ve seen.
“We know stuff about Dan and Dan knows stuff about us,” Broncos veteran cornerback Tyrone Braxton said. “It’s going to be a crazy game filled with ironies. We don’t know who’s going to be the hero or the victim.”
Among those who qualify as likely heroes, let’s first start with the best player in the game, Broncos running back Terrell Davis, who’s the current NFL MVP, the defending Super Bowl MVP and the most dangerous player in football.
Davis, who gained 2,008 rushing yards and had 21 TDs in the regular season before exploding for another 366 and three TDs in two postseason games, has been unstoppable.
It’s a terrific matchup with the Atlanta defense, which hasn’t allowed a running back to gain 100 or more yards in 26 games and which has allowed opposing teams an average of only 75 rushing yards per game.
“The expectations are high,” said Davis, who was held to fewer than 80 yards in a regular-season meeting with the Falcons last year. “Yeah, I realize I have to make big plays in this game. I hold myself responsible. I know what I have to do to get this team to where it needs to be.”
Dan Reeves has said all week that the key to the Falcons winning is “we’ve got to contain their running game.”
Broncos loquacious tight end Shannon Sharpe warned that the Falcons will be in trouble if they merely key on Davis.
“They still have to realize that we have a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Sharpe said. “Very few teams that [the Falcons] have faced this year have our type of talent. Usually, either they have a great passing attack or a great running attack. We feel we have both.”
The Falcons will try to stop Davis and the prolific Broncos’ offense not only with their defense, but with their ball-control offense, which led the NFL in time of possession. Atlanta, as the Giants did to the Bills in the 1990 Super Bowl, will try to keep the ball out of the hands of Davis and Elway.
“Obviously, Terrell is the ultimate challenge for our defense,” Falcons veteran linebacker Jessie Tuggle said.
It’ll be no more challenging than climbing this mountain the Falcons have already ascended from the depths of nowhere.
“No one in the world had in their imagination the Falcons going to the Super Bowl,” Tuggle said. “It’s been hard for them to fix their mouths to say, ‘OK, the Atlanta Falcons are in the Super Bowl.’ But we’re here and we want to seize the moment. We don’t just want to be a part of Denver’s show and just say, ‘Hey, we played in Super Bowl XXXIII. We came here with a purpose.”
Falcons wideout Terance Mathis called having the Falcons crash the NFL’s grandest affair “great for the league.”
“It’s great for other teams to see,” Mathis said. “A team that went from 3-13 to 7-9 to winning a division and winning the conference and playing in a Super Bowl. A few years ago, we were doormats to everyone else’s success. But now we’re one of the best of 1998 and we’re about to play in the first Super Bowl ever for the franchise.
“We give hope to the other teams in the league. We can be a ray of light for other organizations that let our light shine.”
An upset victory today (the Falcons are about a touchdown underdog despite having won their last 12 games) and that light will be shining a brilliant bright and Super Bowl XXXIII is bound to be a memorable one.
