SUPER BOWL XIII RETROSPECTIVE :
1979 - STEELERS & COWBOYS
IN A CLASSIC
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| Appleton's Rocky Bleier on the cover of SI. This 35-31 victory by the Steelers over the Cowboys was probably the most exciting Super Bowl played to that point. I watched the game at my Aunt Shirley's house in Lansing. |
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| 4:00 pm EST Kick-Off. Previous year was a 6:00 pm kick. Game now moves back a week from its traditional Mid-January date to January 21. |
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| Images of the Lombardi Trophy continues to dominate program covers and tickets. |
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| TOP QUOTE Dallas Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson was one of the most colorful (and coked-up) players in the history of the NFL, and he was in rare form in Miami leading up to the Super Bowl XIII showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers. "[Brandshaw] couldn't spell 'cat ' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 't,'" Bradshaw went on to throw four touchdown passes in a 35-31 Steelers victory, and after the game when asked about what he'd said Henderson deadpanned: "I didn't say he couldn't play, just that he couldn't spell." |
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Super Bowl XIII:
Dallas Cowboys' Jackie Smith's key drop helps Steelers win
By Joe Belock / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The signature play of an epic Super Bowl is the one that wasn’t made. Jackie Smith caught nearly 500 passes in a 16-year career but the Hall of Fame tight end went down in history as he went down in the end zone and dropped a wide-open touchdown pass in the Dallas Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFL’s marquee teams staged a classic rematch, the first in Super Bowl history, that featured 16 future Hall of Famers, three lead changes in the first half alone, nine touchdowns and twice as many big hits in the last of five Super Bowls played at the Orange Bowl.
In the midst of all that glitz, the game turned on Smith’s drop. Dallas trailed, 21-14, late in the third quarter when Roger Staubach, on third-and-3 from the Steeler 10-yard line, found Smith, the longtime Cardinal whom the Cowboys had talked out of retirement, wide open in the middle of the end zone. Staubach’s pass was slightly low. The 38-year-old backup slid, and the ball hit him right in the chest, then bounced off him.
Smith sat on the ground stunned. Staubach threw his head back in disgust. Players on the Cowboy sideline started to jump in celebration then stood in stunned disbelief. Cowboys radio voice Verne Lundquist immediately delivered a compassionate call: “Bless his heart, he’s got to be the sickest man in America.”
The Cowboys settled for a field goal, then fell apart. The teams traded punts, and on the following series, Dallas’ Benny Barnes was called for a pass-interference penalty for 33 yards when he tripped Lynn Swann on what looked like incidental contact. Two plays later, Hollywood Henderson had sacked Terry Bradshaw, but the whistle had blown when the Steelers were called for delay of game. On the next play, Franco Harris took it right up the middle 22 yards for a touchdown with a little help from a ref who collided with Dallas safety Charlie Waters.
Roy Gerela stumbled on the ensuing kickoff, sending it short. Cowboys lineman Randy White, wearing a cast on his right hand, fumbled it. Bradshaw went for the kill on the first play, hitting Swann for an 18-yard touchdown. Suddenly, it was 35-17 Steelers.
Staubach, starting his record fourth Super Bowl, answered, leading a 90-yard TD drive. Dallas recovered the onside kick and scored again to pull within 35-31. But that drive took nine plays, leaving just 22 seconds on the clock. The next onside kick was corraled by Rocky Bleier, ending the game and giving the Steelers a record third Super Bowl victory.
While the Cowboys’ second-half misfortune was a factor, it might not have mattered the way Bradshaw was playing. The Steelers won their first two Super Bowls behind their running game and the Steel Curtain defense, but the third was Bradshaw’s show. He threw for 318 yards and four TDs, both Super Bowl records, to win MVP in the first matchup of quarterbacks who had already won a Super Bowl. Swann (124) and John Stallworth (115) became the first teammates to go over 100 yards receiving in the same Super Bowl.
The Steelers won it all again the next year, confirming their status as THE team of the ’70s. Smith retired again, and this time stayed that way.
The NFL’s marquee teams staged a classic rematch, the first in Super Bowl history, that featured 16 future Hall of Famers, three lead changes in the first half alone, nine touchdowns and twice as many big hits in the last of five Super Bowls played at the Orange Bowl.
In the midst of all that glitz, the game turned on Smith’s drop. Dallas trailed, 21-14, late in the third quarter when Roger Staubach, on third-and-3 from the Steeler 10-yard line, found Smith, the longtime Cardinal whom the Cowboys had talked out of retirement, wide open in the middle of the end zone. Staubach’s pass was slightly low. The 38-year-old backup slid, and the ball hit him right in the chest, then bounced off him.
Smith sat on the ground stunned. Staubach threw his head back in disgust. Players on the Cowboy sideline started to jump in celebration then stood in stunned disbelief. Cowboys radio voice Verne Lundquist immediately delivered a compassionate call: “Bless his heart, he’s got to be the sickest man in America.”
Roy Gerela stumbled on the ensuing kickoff, sending it short. Cowboys lineman Randy White, wearing a cast on his right hand, fumbled it. Bradshaw went for the kill on the first play, hitting Swann for an 18-yard touchdown. Suddenly, it was 35-17 Steelers.
Staubach, starting his record fourth Super Bowl, answered, leading a 90-yard TD drive. Dallas recovered the onside kick and scored again to pull within 35-31. But that drive took nine plays, leaving just 22 seconds on the clock. The next onside kick was corraled by Rocky Bleier, ending the game and giving the Steelers a record third Super Bowl victory.
While the Cowboys’ second-half misfortune was a factor, it might not have mattered the way Bradshaw was playing. The Steelers won their first two Super Bowls behind their running game and the Steel Curtain defense, but the third was Bradshaw’s show. He threw for 318 yards and four TDs, both Super Bowl records, to win MVP in the first matchup of quarterbacks who had already won a Super Bowl. Swann (124) and John Stallworth (115) became the first teammates to go over 100 yards receiving in the same Super Bowl.
The Steelers won it all again the next year, confirming their status as THE team of the ’70s. Smith retired again, and this time stayed that way.
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