DVR Alert: NFL Network To Air Original Network Broadcasts of Nine Super Bowls

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I wonder if either of the Bengals' games will be aired? I'd say XXIII will make it. I've got it on VHS, but the quality is lacking, since we got our NBC signal from an antenna in those days. I'd rather have a look at XVI, since all I've seen of it since 1982 are the NFL Films clips.

This is long overdue. I really think that the NFL Network should show more classic game broadcasts, such as the Bengals-Chargers Ice Bowl and the game that was played the week before, the Chargers-Dolphins Kellen Winslow game. Man, the 1981 postseason was one for the ages, wasn't it? That was also the year of the Montana to Dwight Clark TD pass over Dallas in the NFC Championship game.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/sp...nOHYHLk4c9o9ag

The NFL Network has undertaken another type of archival dig. Starting Jan. 4, it will show the original broadcasts of nine Super Bowls for the first time since they were broadcast. The series will start with last year’s Pittsburgh-Seattle game. The Giants-Buffalo game in 1991 will be seen on Feb. 1.
The league had until now preferred to let Super Bowls be recalled through the prism of NFL Films, but those were the official, edited versions; the original network versions were locked away. Now, it is possible (if you are among those who get the NFL Network) to see the games, including the Jets’ 16-7 upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III on Feb. 3.

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I haven't seen an official list yet, but one blogger has stated that Super Bowl XXIII Bengals-49ers will be shown Saturday, February 3 at 3:00pm. I plan watch it and record it, and once again will hope that the Bengals can hang onto that 16-13 lead with seconds to go. When they don't, my stomach will churn and I will stare at the TV in disbelief, just like I have every time since 1989 that I've watched that drive.

Many will disagree, but I have always believed that, if you take away the Stanley Wilson situation and put him back into the game to pound the ball, and Tim Krumrie's leg doesn't get snapped in half in the first quarter, that the Bengals win that game by ten points or more. That team suffered more adversity in a twenty-four hour period than a team should have to endure, and to have it happen for the Super Bowl was truly unfortunate. The Bengals were the best team in the NFL that year.

[RedsFan75]

Agree with you on that one macro, and to be honest, I don't know if I could watch that replay, even after all these years.

[Johnny Footstool]

Stanford Jennings.

Then turn off the TV.

[RedsBaron]

The play I recall in my admittedly hazy memory is that someone in the Bengals secondary had a chance to intercept Montana early on in the 49ers drive that would eventually lead to their winning touchdown, but the Bengals player couldn't hang on to the ball. Does anybody else recall that?
It's funny. My dad didn't die until April of 1992, and I watched the Super Bowl with him every year, but the last Super Bowl that I have any actual memory of watching with him was the 1989 game between the 49ers and Bengals.

[Matt700wlw]

Maybe if it's ever released on DVD, they'll be an alternate endings feature...

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The play I recall in my admittedly hazy memory is that someone in the Bengals secondary had a chance to intercept Montana early on in the 49ers drive that would eventually lead to their winning touchdown, but the Bengals player couldn't hang on to the ball. Does anybody else recall that?

That would be the late Lewis Billups, and yes, that made the game-winning touchdown pass all the more sickening. It literally slipped through their hands.

[Hap]

I don't mean to be a Charley Corrector, but that dropped interception occured on the drive when the 49ers tied the game at 13-13 (with about 8 or 10 minutes left), not the game-winning drive. Had Billups caught it, the Bengals would have had the ball at the 20 and a 7-point lead. They could have ran some time off the clock and kicked a field goal to put the game out of reach.

[Heath]

Wasn't there a Barney Bussey missed INT as well.

Last time I cheered for the Bengals....I think.

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I don't mean to be a Charley Corrector, but that dropped interception occured on the drive when the 49ers tied the game at 13-13 (with about 8 or 10 minutes left), not the game-winning drive. Had Billups caught it, the Bengals would have had the ball at the 20 and a 7-point lead. They could have ran some time off the clock and kicked a field goal to put the game out of reach.

You are right, Hap! In the back of my mind, I wanted to think that the dropped INT happened earlier, but I googled and found a page that stated that it was on the last drive. So, I went with that and agreed. Just goes to prove that not all that appears on Web pages is necessarily correct.

Now that I've researched it a bit, it turns out that the idea that the dropped INT occured on the final drive has become something of an Urban Legend in Super Bowl lore.

[Hap]

You are right, Hap! In the back of my mind, I wanted to think that the dropped INT happened earlier, but I googled and found a page that stated that it was on the last drive. So, I went with that and agreed. Just goes to prove that not all that appears on Web pages is necessarily correct.

Now that I've researched it a bit, it turns out that the idea that the dropped INT occured on the final drive has become something of an Urban Legend in Super Bowl lore.

And, if I recall correctly, the next play was the touchdown when Jerry Rice was diving out of bounds and lightly grazed one corner of the pylon with the ball. No one on earth could have stopped him on that play.

The reason people confuse Billups' drop with the final TD is because Billups was covering John Taylor on the touchdown play. Taylor gave him a move at the line and gained a step on him and that was all she wrote.