Few sports are so miraculous or so spectacular that they defy description and become firmly embedded in the minds of sportsmen everywhere. Some of them have names, like the “Catch” shot by Joe Montana against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship game, which landed in Dwight Clark’s hand in the end zone and sent Montana to the 49ers. to the first of many and great push. That story was improbably so defiant of description that it received but the simplest of names, “Capite.”
The Super Bowl had its share of such stories. It comes to mind the catch made by Lynn Swann in Super Bowl X against the Dallas Cowboys. On this play, Swann beat Cowboys cornerback Mark Washington on a third down takeoff pattern, but Terry Bradshaw’s underpass gave Washington a chance to intercept the ball. As two players rolled to the ground, Swann snagged the ball out of mid-air for an improbable 53-yard catch. The story has been reported thousands of times on TV, and along with the three sports performances that Swann made that day, are still part of football history.
There have also been infamous memorable plays like Norwood Scott Scott’s field goal attempt that sealed Buffalo Bill’s fate in Super Bowl 25 in 1991, and the Giants’ victory in the 1991 Super Bowl gave New York, or the devastating drop in the open jump in the end zone by Jackie Smith in Super Bowl XXIII, which led the commentator Verne Lundquist to the TV commentator to say “Blessed his heart is sick here in America.
Well, go over it and add a more legendary story to the Super Bowl annals. The play that helped seal the Patriots’ undefeated fate in this past Super Bowl was a pass from Eli Manning to David Tyree on the Giants’ final drive. Trailing by 4, and facing third down with 59 seconds left to play, Eli Manning ripped the Patriots’ defense off their hands and launched a long pass down the field. David Tyree then made a spectacular catch, while Rodney Harrison jumped and fell back for a 32-yard gain, giving the Giants the break they needed to mount the final score. Of course, the capture can be described as nothing short of “Swann-like”, and while it still remains unnamed at the time, I see nothing wrong with its baptism, “Chapter II.” So move on through Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann, and give way to two recent Super Bowl heroes, Eli Manning and David Tyree.
Sources:
“Super Bowl stage provided ticket to Canton’s Lynn Swann” www.Post-Gazzette.com
“Great Moments in Verne Lundquist’s History,” www.lubbockonline.com
