CLARENCE vs. OCHO, THE JUNIOR SKYHOOK, and GETTYSBURG, All In One Game -- History of the Superbowl Part 9

Jackie Smith was a star reciever throughout the 60s.

He was one of the best recievers to ever play for the Cardinals franchise, and that goes back about 100 years.

With St. Louis (where they were at the time), Smith would not only go to the pro bowl 5 times, he was a 5-TIME ALL-PRO at receiver.

Jackie Smith was a HUGE star.

And after a great career, he would play his 15th season of pro ball...in another city.

Dallas.

He was to be -- not their Lance Alworth -- but their Frank Wycheck.

Their Brent Jones.

Their Mark Chmura.

For Landry was onto the thing that NFC teams would always copy in the 80s -- get a tight end. It's an extra blocker.

Funny as this will seem...Jackie Smith during the 78 season and on through the playoffs...would not get thrown the ball ONE SINGLE TIME.

No receptions.

Those days were done.

He was almost forty, he couldn't dash around anymore, but was still really good.

Of course...the above is also the resume a former all-pro gold glover in baseball.

Bill Buckner...

Now back to Dick Enberg and pgorner in the booth to bring you...SOOOOOOPER-BOWL 13!!!!

That's right my friends.

For Superbowl XIII would be the final showdown.

Who was the team of the 70s?

For the 77 Cowboys were a very special team in America's hearts.

Sure they were cool. But that's not why people liked them.

I don't even have to get into the reason anymore, I sound like a jackass.

But even though the AFC was dominant, the NFC had Dallas.

No matter how many times the AFC won so far, their best had never won more Superbowls then THEIR best.

Tools love changing the rules of combat while they're losing.

And so Pittsburgh, as if they needed any more demonstrations, would end up playing Dallas for the title of "Best Team Throughout The 70s".

If the Civil War was fought with Ocho Cinco's army in the north versus Clarence Boddicker's army in the south, you'd have AFC vs. NFC in the 1970s.

You'd have Superbowl XIII.

Football, in the wake of being broadcast overseas on radio and television, would serve to be what kids across the world dreamt of as they worked for the man.

For Steelers/Cowboys, like Lakers/Celtics...stirred the imagination.

Had there been internet back then, you'd see a million hubs about these two particular subjects.

Now onto the game, for Steelers and Cowboys was never in doubt from the beginning of the season to the end. Nobody watched in fact until Superbowl XIII.

First Bradshaw threw a bomb downfield to Stallworth, who leaps up in the air, lets it land in his chest, and then gets rocked by three Cowboys on the way down from twenty feet up.

Dallas however had some skills.

Staubach within minutes threw a pass downfield to Tony Hill that he could in stride on a leftward flag route.

Steelers get it back. Bradshaw's looking to take the lead back, but is wrapped up Too Tall and Randy.

He's thrown around and big Cowboys linebacker Mike Hegman steals the ball and runs it back 35 yards. Touchdown, Dallas is up 14-7.

But Bradshaw, getting the ball back, gets his shit together.

He finds Stallworth on the sidelines for a 1 yard gain, but Dallas's players all go "wtf" and run 10 yards back to scrimmage to tackle him.

All of them fall out of bounds, leaving Stallworth a free and clear 80 yard path to high-wire the sideline for a score.

Dallas would punt.

Steeler ball again, tied at 14.

How much time left in the half? About 5 minutes.

And it's just enough time for Magic Bradshaw to drive down that field again, and hit Rocky Bleier for a falling touchdown reception on top of the endzone.

21-14 Pittsburgh going into the half.

They are standing and cheering the Steelers.

But in the third, Dallas goes down field and kicks a field goal.

Okay.

Pretty decent, it's now 21-17 Pittsburgh.

Dallas is coming back.

And they GET THE BALL BACK!!!!

Okay...

Here we go, Dallas.

Your moment of truth.

Here they come down field. Tony Dorsett is a MONSTER.

Dallas gets all the way down to the 27 yard line of Pittsburgh like nothing.

Dallas had 4 tries to get 10 yards.

They get them.

Now they're at Pittsburgh's 17.

They do the same Tony Dorsett workhorse stuff again, this time Pittsburgh has them locked.

Yet...first down and second down does net Dallas 7 yards.

So here they are, it's 3rd down and 3, Cowboys are the Pittsburgh 10.

Down by four.

A touchdown would be nice if anybody would get open.

Landry calls a play that's VERY VERY SIMILAR...to "sixty-five-toss-power-trap".

It's a goalline play involving everybody shifting over to try to attack Staubach or Pearson while Dorsett runs it in.

Staubach by now is so respectful of the Steel Curtain that they don't want to try to pass.

Dorsett's gonna get it.

Or so the plan...

For sixty-five-toss-power-trap can also be utlized as a very very good FAKE.

Sure enough, the fake is called, and Dallas is left with Dorsett getting creamed...

Yet here's the fun part...sixty-five-toss-power-trap failing one way...always means it's succeeding in ANOTHER WAY.

Cover Garrett, Minnesota. The ball will go to Taylor and he'll be wide the hell open.

Sure enough...this confusing ass trick play...leaves Cowboy wide reciever Jackie Smith WIDE THE HELL OPEN.

Staubach's arm was fucked up, and so he couldn't throw hail mary bombs with an overhand motion like Bradshaw could....

So as he sees Smith dashing from the right to get to his spot, Staubach throws the ball DOWNWARD.

The ball, geniusly, goes right past the diving hands of Lambert who has a 70 inch vertical leap.

The pass falls perfectly into Jackie Smith's numbers.

It bounces off.

Smith had shoulder problems too, and it was a very surprising type of play.

Yet he wasn't supposed to be as surprised as Pittsburgh.

Smith drops the ball.

Dallas wants to kill him.

Smith, rightly so, in the wake of Pittsburgh going up 28-17 on a Franco Harris draw play with twelve minutes left...would contemplate retirement.

And do just that following a 35-31 Pittsburgh victory.

The Lakers were the champs, Ocho was the king, Tom E. Landry would sign the treaty at Appomadden's Courthouse, and our man RoboCop would have Directive 4 repealed so he could save the old man from Dick Jones.

And by RoboCop I mean...Murphy.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were football's best for the third time in the 70s, and there was only the 79 season left.

They had clinched a tie for "team of the decade".

to be continued...

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