It certaintly won't be the one happening Sunday. After spending most of the postseason wishing certain teams not to win, I still can't root for these two remaining teams. I hate hearing about that '85 Bears team, and I don't want to hear the media gush about Manning. I'll probably watch a little bit of the game but afterwards I'll just check the score on the internet every once in a while.
This brings us to the best Superbowl that ever happened. This would be XXVI. Ok, I'll admit that I'm in the minority when I say this. It was a blowout that happened after a very close Superbowl and in a string of other blowouts. I'm not even sure Redskins fans would consider it the best. Superbowl XVII was the first Redskins championship since 1942, so I'm sure a lot of people look at it fondly. It's also has the memorable The Fourth and One. Superbowl XXII was also more memorable, because it had The Quarter. Sadly, Superbowl XXVI is known for The Helmet more then anything.
I didn't start following the Redskins until the midway poin of the 1990-1991 season. I can't remember what was the first game I payed attention to, but I do remember listening to one Redskin game where the Skins scored 9 poins on the Patriots before they had their first offensive posession. (The Pats were 1-15 that year.) The next year the Skins went 1-3* in the preseason - they were even shutout by the Vikings at home - and I missed their opening Sunday night game. They blew the Lions away 45-0 and I can remember even then there was excitement about the team. As the wins started piling up I joined in, even chanting "19 and 0! 19 and 0!" to a Giants fan. (Stupid Cowboys and Eagles.) One thing I'll miss about this team is the fact that I felt no fear about them winning the Superbowl. I was innocent back then.
I may have been a little bit nervous before the playoff game against Atlanta, but the Redskins were never threatened in that game. It was fun watching the Skins fans throw those yellow seat cushions onto the field after the Skins put the game away. Then we faced Lions. My dad wanted Dallas, but I think I just wanted the sure win over a tough win over a rivalry. I certainly wasn't nervous when we faced the Lions, and we beat them easily.
Then came the Superbowl. I can't remember if we rooted for Buffalo over the Broncos, but Buffalo seemed vulnerable all season long. I remember early in the season Buffalo had a game where it was incredibly high scoring for both teams. As my dad poined out, they had a great offense but no defense. So I remember smiling when I heard a woman on the radio bragging about her Bills. There was just no way, NO WAY anybody was better then the Skins were that year. The Redskins were overshadowed by the Cowboys during the years afterwards, but this Skins team was awesome. I remember getting angry during a Cardinals game because the Skins gave up a few sacks, one that was questionable. They only gave up 9 sacks that year and could have had a record. That's one sign of how good they were.
Sadly, I can't remember too much about the Superbowl. I don't remember anything about Thurman Thomas and his helmet. What I do remember is being furious that they didn't award a touchdown to Art Monk** when he was pushed out of bounds. Many of my classmates were also arguing about that the day after. I was actually surprised to learn last year that the game was close for a while because I remember that once the Redskins scored, they didn't look back. We were already celebrating victory by half time. The only other thing I really remember is Buffalo scoring two garbage time touchdowns, which I admit made me a little nervous that the Redskins were celebrating too early but luckily the game was over about a minute later. I think we stayed at my Uncle Buddy's house long enough to see Mark Rypien win the MVP award before we finally went home.
37-24 wasn't too far from my prediction, which was 35-31, same as one of the Dallas-Pittsburgh Superbowl. My dad also made a similar prediction, and won a prize from local radio station WMAL, who used to cover the Skins.
Sadly, we were two-three years away from Norv Turner killing the franchise. (Stupid Cowboys.) Also sad is that not many people take Rypien seriously, which really hurts. He certainly wasn't a bad QB and he was our last QB that lasted a few years as our starter. Still, I'll always be lucky to have seen the Redskins win the Superbowl at least once.
I can't wait until the NFL starts releasing Superbowls uncut on DVD.
* - This is why I almost did a double take when I was at Walmart and they played that DVD that did 2-3 minute synopses of all the Superbowls. For Superbowl 26, they said that the Redskins were pick to win from the beginning. WHA?! You mean, after they blew away the Lions, or during the preseason when most people make picks? I don't remember anybody being excited for the team until after the Lions game, and I'm sure most people didn't take them too seriously until four or five games in. There's always a team that looks a little too good during week one.
** - When are they going to put Art Monk in the Hall of Fame, already?!?! I will not take that place seriously until he's in.
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