Tony Dungy (68) of the Indianapolis Colts became the first Black
NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl (XLl). The victory marked
the first time a Black head coach had reached the National
Football League’s championship game—one that featured not
just one, but two Black head coaches.
Hall of Fame head coach and NBC Football analyst Tony
Dungy.
SANDY KOZEL
(AP)
At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle
Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and
Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first
ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a
37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New
Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place
among the seven-member crew of the Challenger.
Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground,
including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the
shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire.
Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold
on live television. There were no survivors.
The crew of the Challenger space shuttle. Front row,
from left to right, shows astronauts Mike Smith, Dick
Scobee, Ron McNair and in the rear row, from left to
right, are Ellison Onizuka, school teacher Christa
McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. (NASA)
Green Bay QB and game MVP Bart Starr, Super Bowl I, 1967.
As NBC and CBS had held the rights to nationally televise
AFL and NFL games, respectively, it was decided that both networks were allowed to broadcast the game.
Kansas City QB Len Dawson.
On December 28, 1975, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger
Staubach (above) threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew
Pearson in the waning seconds to beat the Minnesota Vikings
in a playoff game, 17-14.
Afterward, Staubach calls the miraculous touchdown a "Hail
Mary," thus cementing the term for a desperation pass in the
sports lexicon.
"It was a play you hit one in a hundred times if you’re lucky,”
Staubach told reporters after the game in Bloomington,
Minnesota. "I guess it’s a Hail Mary pass. You throw it up and
pray he catches it."
Said Dallas coach Tom Landry: "Our only hope was to throw
and hope for a miracle."
Wide receiver Drew Pearson catches the ball.
On December 18, 1932, the Chicago Bears defeated the
Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans, 9-0, in the NFL’s first playoff
game—and first game played indoors. The victory gave the
Bears the championship and lead to a playoff system for
the first time.
Because of frigid weather and waist-deep snow, the game
was moved from Wrigley Field to Chicago Stadium, home
of the city’s NHL team.
1932 NFL Championship Game Program –
One of Few to Exist!
