The morning after saw a few sore heads, but everyone soon started to come to life as we left for the stadium. This was it. Every fan's dream. Their team in the Super Bowl. The game now just a few hours away.
We spent some time in the NFL Experience enjoying the facilities. I phoned home, the sun burning down, to be told by my wife that it was freezing back on the south coast of England and there was snow around. How lucky we were. Great fans, beautiful weather and the Steelers in the Super Bowl. A chance to get one for the thumb and to be there to see it.
We made our way to the stadium. The gates opened at 1300 and we didn't want to miss a thing. The throngs of fans waited patiently outside the gates. The Steelers fans easily outnumbered their opponents. As the gates opened, there was no mad rush, just a gentle stroll up the hill. We found ourselves on the goal line on the Steelers side and amongst fellow Pittsburgh supporters.
There was a buzz as Neil O'Donnell came out onto the grass to warm up. This was the game that every player wanted to play in and here was the player who held his team's destiny in his hands. I wondered what thoughts were going through his mind.
Gradually, more players came out as the stadium began to fill. When I went to the rest rooms, some guy gave me a quizzical took, then laughed and said, "Hey, I thought you had jaundice." A reference to the failed experiment of dyeing my face yellow. Actually, I meant to colour my hair yellow, but most of the dye ended up in the sink. Well?, If Keith and Anne (Nicholson) could do it, so I could I (try.)
The teams were announced, kickoff approached. This was it. The AFC were now going to show the NFC how to play football. The Cowboys start off well, seemingly getting first downs at will. Where is the great Steelers defense that we so love? Where is the hard nose football? The Steelers keep them to a field goal.
That's it, you've had your chance. Now, Neil with his receivers will pay you back. Three and out. The Steelers look nervous. The next Cowboys' drive brings them a touchdown, while the Steelers have to punt again. The few Dallas supporters in our section are now full of it. "Score on this drive," one says, "and the game is over." Could this be true? Will my team get blown away? They are held to three points, but now lead 13-0 with just six minutes left in the half.
The Steelers still look nervy and go three and out again. The Cowboy supporters know now that the AFC has once again surrendered without a fight. It's David and Goliath, but this time Goliath hasn't read the script.
The Cowboys' fourth possession makes no progress. The hope comes back. The clock moves on, but maybe, just maybe our team can start to move the ball. They could not have made it this far through the season to capitulate without a battle.
The crowd stirs, urging their team to dig down deep and find something in the playbook that works. It begins to click. Are the Cowboys so arrogant that they think it's all over or do the Steelers find their pride? Andre Hastings gets nineteen, Bam Morris begins to punch the holes and Kordell Stewart gets another first down while Ernie Mills completes for seventeen. With seventeen seconds on the clock, Yancey Thigpen gets seven, but this time it is points, not yards.
The crowd erupts. The fight is now on. The team go into the locker room 13-7 behind, but it is no longer a mountain that has to be climbed. Dallas are a team that can be beaten.
Down on the concourse, you would have thought the Steelers were in front. The fans are ecstatic. "It's now a six point game," one shouts. He didn't think that we were not aware of that, he was making the point that the game was up for grabs. His team were not about to abdicate their role as the pride of the NFL.
The Steelers re-enter the arena to the screams of, ""Here we go Steelers, here we go!" Our gladiators will receive the ball. Another chance to show their combined skills on centre stage. The world wide audience may have watched Diana Ross's performance with awe, now they were about to see the revival to beat all comebacks. Or so we hoped.
Bam continues to pound the Cowboys' defense, but the attack grinds to a halt and the enemy go back on the offensive. The Steelers sixty minute men are forced back into the fray, but they do their job well and Neil leads another charge.
Disaster strikes as a missed assignment by the Cowboys puts the wrong person in the right place and the ball is turned over on an interception. The crowd grows quiet except for the arrogant Dallas supporters who suddenly remember why they are there. Their good fortune cuts into the Steelers soul with another touchdown and the pain is reinforced when the scoreboard shows a 20-7 lead.
The Steelers game plan has to be forgotten as Neil launches another desperate assault. The Cowboys dig their trenches deep and stop Bam three consecutive times for no gain, but cannot move the ball themselves as it becomes a war of attrition.
The Steelers fans continue to find their voices as they sense the momentum could change, but time is beginning to run out as the game enters its final phase. Neil is finding his true form and throws six straight completions, but it's not enough and they settle for a field goal while they try to draw breath.
Bill Cowher is planning a master stroke and launches a surprise onslaught when his adversary is least expecting it. Norm Johnson kicks a superb onside kick which Deon Figures recovers, The Steelers offense is back into the fight. The pendulum has now swung Pittsburgh's way and the charge becomes a rout as the Cowboys reel before Neil's air attack.
The aerial assault is complimented by an onslaught from Bam as he crashes in for a score to reduce the deficit to just three. The crowd explode as they release the tension that has been slowly eating , away at their hearts.
This team will not lay down and die. The Cowboys' side line absorbs the discharged tension as you sense their throats becoming dry and their muscles beginning to stiffen up. They look agitated. Almost like the movie director finding the script is not going to plan.
The Steelers defense has now grown so big in stature that there can be no doubting they could stop anything Dallas can throw at them. The Steelers get the ball back with four minutes remaining. One last drive that would win or tie the game.
Sensing victory, despite their hoarse crys, the crowd urged their team on. All their energy directed at moving the ball into their opponent's end zone.
Then, catastrophe.
Once again, the same wrong person in the right place. Neil O'Donnell completes a pass to the Cowboy's Larry Brown.
The stunned fans stare at the field in disbelief. They turn to each other seeking comfort, but there is only shock. The depth of despair becomes a bottomless pit. The dream had vanished in a flick of the wrist. Neil has turned the ball over. He has swung the pendulum back the other way. The game is over. The season is finished.
Dallas win Super Bowl XXX, 27-17. The Steelers lose their first Super Bowl having won their previous four.
As we wind our weary way out of the stadium, we pass close to the media tents that are gathered around the base of the hill. A small fence separates the stars from the masses as we walk back to reality. Jerry Jones is walking parallel with us, but on the other side of the fence.
He exchanges congratulatory banter with the Dallas fans while I observe the proceedings. I notice him glance at my T-shirt. In bold gold lettering on the front it says, "It's not just football!" You don't need to be told what it says on the back. Jones now realises why I am so subdued, just shuffling along with the herd.
Seconds before he breaks off to give his interviews, he makes one last gesture to his fans and places his Cowboys' baseball cap on the fence. Around me there is a mad scramble to retrieve it, while I turn away. Disappointed, but proud to have been part of the great spectacle that is the Super Bowl. Especially when the Steelers played their part in the magical spectacle.
Please note that the Steelers image at the top of the page
is the field marking from Tempe Stadium.
