FULL SUPER BOWL XXXI GAME:
On this date in 1997 (that’s 22 years ago), the Green Bay Packers ended 29 years of futility and defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans, La. So, we thought on this cold Saturday in Green Bay (it was -22° at 7:30 this morning), we thought we ’d do a nice post to commemorate the XXXI victory.
You can relive the entire game on YouTube via this link.
(The NFL won’t let us show it here)
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
You can also watch just the highlights on YouTube via this link.
(The NFL won’t let us show it here)
GAME DETAILS:
Date: Sunday, January 26, 1997 (22 years ago)
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, La.
Game Start Time: 5:25 p.m. CST
Green Bay’s Record: 13-3
New England’s Record: 11-5
Green Bay Coach: Mike Holmgren
New England Coach: Bill Parcells
Game MVP: KR Desmond Howard
Line: Packers by 14
Game Officials:
Referee: Gerald Austin #34
Umpire: Ron Botchan #110
Head Linesman: Earnie Frantz #111
Line Judge: Jeff Bergman #32
Back Judge: Scott Steenson #88
Side Judge: Tom Fincken #47
Field Judge: Phil Luckett #59
Alternate Referee: Ed Hochuli #85
Alternate Umpire: Neil Gereb #50
National Anthem: Luther Vandross
Coin Toss: Past Super Bowl winning coaches: Hank Stram, Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, George Seifert
Halftime: The Blues Brothers, James Brown, and ZZ Top
Television: FOX
Announcers: Pat Summerall and John Madden
Nielsen Rating: 43.3 (Est. 87.87M viewers)
Market Share: 65
Cost of 30-Sec. Commercial: $1.2 million
Attendance: 72,301
Total Time of Game: 3:21
Weather: 67°F (19° C) Indoors
Final Score: Green Bay 35, New England 21
Starting Line-Ups:
GAME SUMMARY:
Courtesy of the Green Bay Packers Media Guide:
Using several momentum-turning big plays, the Packers held off resilient New England to capture their first world championship in 29 years. For Green Bay, the victory also marked its league-high 12th NFL championship as well as its third Super Bowl triumph.
The Packers jumped to an early 10-0 lead. Brett Favre, sensing a Patriots blitz, audibled on Green Bay’s second play from scrimmage, hitting late-season pickup Andre Rison on a wide-open post pattern for a 54-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing New England possession, Doug Evans intercepted Drew Bledsoe at the Patriots’ 28, which led to a 37-yard field goal by Chris Jacke.
New England then was able to turn the tide in its favor, however, as Bledsoe took his club on two long drives for touchdowns. The first, which covered 79 yards and culminated in a short pass to Keith Byars, was aided by two long throws to Pats running backs and a 26-yard pass interference penalty. The second, starting at the New England 43, was spurred by a leaping, 44-yard reception by rookie Terry Glenn. When Ben Coates caught a 4-yard TD pass from Bledsoe, the Patriots momentarily had their only lead of the game and had completed the highest-scoring first quarter in Super Bowl history.
Green Bay rebounded to retake the lead when Favre, seeing Patriots’ strong safety Lawyer Milloy at the line of scrimmage in tight coverage on Antonio Freeman, watched Freeman elude Milloy’s “bump” and lofted a perfect aerial to Freeman along the right sideline. Freeman, able to outrun New England’s late-arriving free safety, covered 81 yards for the longest reception in Super Bowl history at that time. After another Jacke field goal, Favre took advantage of a Mike Prior interception and escorted his troops on a nine-play, 74-yard march just before halftime which ended when, on a bootleg left, he lunged the ball over the goal line as he was rolling out of bounds.
Taking a 27-14 edge out of the locker room at halftime, Green Bay maintained that lead until late in the third quarter, when the Patriots’ Curtis Martin made a magnificent 18-yard run up the middle of the Packers’ defense to pull New England to within six points at 27-21.
That margin was short-lived, though, as Desmond Howard returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a back-breaking touchdown (the longest kick return in Super Bowl history at the time), bursting through the center of the Packers’ well-blocked wedge, then juking kicker Adam Vinatieri to bolt free. Howard, who had 244 total return yards in the game including key punt runbacks of 32 and 34 yards, was voted the game’s most valuable player, becoming the first special teams player to be so honored. A subsequent, successful two-point conversion, where Favre found Mark Chmura along the back of the end zone, gave the Green and Gold an insurmountable two-touchdown lead. The top-ranked Green Bay defense, which had four interceptions of Bledsoe, was led by Reggie White, who sacked the New England quarterback a Super Bowl-record three times, including twice in a row on the possession immediately following Howard’s scoring return.
Favre, playing less than an hour from his hometown of Kiln, Miss., completed 14 of 27 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, while his counterpart, Bledsoe, threw for 253 yards and two scores on 25-of-48 passing.
ENJOY!
The season has ended and we’re watching other teams in the playoffs — again. But we have a new coach, a staff still being finalized, and all of the Packers players are probably on a beach somewhere. We here at Packerville, U.S.A. will still be around, posting things semi-regularly throughout these long months. Here is a publication that we picked up while in Appleton before the Lions game finale. The archives grows and grows.
The Packers have finally confirmed what media outlets reported on Monday afternoon —Matt LaFleur has been officially named as the 15th Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers. Team President and CEO Mark Murphy, GM Brian Gutekunst and Head Coach Matt LaFleur will be available to the media in a press conference on Wednesday, January 9 at 3:00 p.m. CT. Packers.com will stream the press conference live. We welcome Coach LaFleur and his family to Titletown!
Photo: Green Bay Packers
