From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII Cost of US$1.6 million
30-second
commercial
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played
on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami,
Florida to decide the National Football League (NFL)
champion, following the 1998 regular season. The Ameri-
can Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos Atlanta Falcons
(17–2) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC)
(AFC)
AFC) (NFC)
NFC) champion Atlanta Falcons (16–3), 34–19. Denver was the
last NFL team to repeat as Super Bowl champions until
34 19
the New England Patriots in 2005’s Super Bowl XXXIX.
1 2 3 4 Total At 38 years old, Denver quarterback John Elway be-
came the oldest player ever to be named Super Bowl
DEN 7 10 0 17 34
MVP. As the final game of his career, he completed 18 of
ATL 3 3 0 13 19 29 passes for 336 yards, with one touchdown and one in-
terception, and also scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown.
Date January 31, 1999 (1999-01-31)
Elway retired on May 2 before the following season.
Stadium Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida
MVP John Elway, Quarterback Background
Favorite Broncos by 7½ NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXXIII to the Miami
area during their October 31, 1996 meeting in New Or-
National Cher
anthem leans. This was the eighth time that the area hosted the
game, and the third at Pro Player Stadium. Following Su-
Coin toss Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, per Bowl XXXII it would be the last back-to-back Super
Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Frank Gifford,
Roosevelt Brown, Don Maynard, Sam Huff,
Bowls played outdoors until Super Bowls XLIII and XLIV.
Tom Landry This started a streak of 11 straight Super Bowls in which
every game with the NFC as the home team was played
Referee Bernie Kukar
outdoors and every one with the AFC as the home team
Halftime Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder and Big Bad was played indoors.
show Voodoo Daddy
Attendance 74,803
Denver Broncos
After the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII during the pre-
Future Hall of Famers
vious season, many wondered if 15-year veteran quarter-
Broncos: John Elway, Shannon Sharpe. back John Elway would retire now that he finally won a
Falcons: none. Super Bowl. But Elway decided to stay with Denver and
TV in the United States see if he could lead them to a second consecutive cham-
pionship. Under Elway’s leadership, the Broncos stormed
Network Fox to the top of the AFC with a 14–2 regular record in 1998,
Announcers Pat Summerall and John Madden winning their first 13 games before suffering their first
loss to the New York Giants.
Nielsen 40.2
The Broncos’ offense, under the leadership of Elway
ratings (est. 83.7 million viewers)[1]
and running back Terrell Davis, had another outstanding
Market 61 regular season, ranking 2nd in the NFL with 501 points
share and gaining 6,276 yards (3rd in the league). Davis had one
of the greatest seasons of any running back in NFL his-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
tory, rushing for 2,008 yards, catching 25 passes for 217 next 3 years. He left Denver in 1993 and spent 4 seasons
yards, and scoring 23 touchdowns to earn him both the as the Giants head coach before joining the Falcons.
NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the NFL Offensive Pro Bowl quarterback Chris Chandler led Atlanta’s of-
Player of the Year Award. But Davis’ rushing numbers fense extremely well, throwing for 3,154 yards, and 25
did not reduce Elway’s passing production. The 38-year touchdowns, with just 12 interceptions, while also rush-
old quarterback made the Pro Bowl for the 3rd year in ing for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wide receivers Tony
a row and the 9th time in his career, throwing for 2,806 Martin and Terance Mathis provided the team with a
yards and 22 touchdowns, with only 10 interceptions. A superb deep threat, each recording over 60 receptions
big reason for Elway’s passing success was that he had and 1,100 receiving yards, while also combining for 17
2 Pro Bowl wide receivers and a Pro Bowl tight end to touchdowns. But the biggest threat on offense was Pro
throw to. Wide Receivers Ed McCaffrey (64 receptions, Bowl running back Jamal Anderson, who rushed for 1,846
1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns) and Rod Smith (86 recep- yards, caught 27 passes for 319 yards, and scored 16 total
tions, 1,222 yards, 6 touchdowns and 66 rushing yards) touchdowns. Rookie wide receiver Tim Dwight gave the
provided the team with outstanding deep threats, while team a great special teams attack, gaining a total of 1,236
tight end Shannon Sharpe (64 receptions, 786 yards and yards and scoring a touchdown on kickoff and punt re-
10 touchdowns) provided a sure-handed target over the turns.
middle. The Broncos also had 3 Pro Bowlers anchoring The Falcons defense ranked second in the league in
their offensive line: center Tom Nalen, guard Mark Sch- fewest rushing yards allowed (1,203), eighth in fewest to-
lereth, and tackle Tony Jones. On special teams, running tal yards (5,009), and fourth in fewest points. Defensive
back Vaughn Hebron returned 46 kickoffs for 1,216 yards linemen Lester Archambeau (10 sacks, 2 fumble recover-
and a touchdown, giving him a 26.4 yards per return av- ies) and Chuck Smith (8.5 sacks, 4 fumble recoveries) ex-
erage. celled at pressuring quarterbacks and stopping the run.
The Broncos defense typically did not get as much at- Behind them, Atlanta had 2 outstanding linebackers, Pro
tention as their offense, but it was still effective, giving Bowler Jessie Tuggle (65 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recov-
up 308 points (8th in the NFL). Up front, the line was ery) and Cornelius Bennett (69 tackles, 1 sack, 2 fumble
anchored by defensive tackles Maa Tanuvasa and Trevor recoveries). Bennett played with the Buffalo Bills when
Pryce, who each recorded 8.5 sacks. Behind them, Pro they suffered their 4 consecutive Super Bowl losses in
Bowl linebacker Bill Romanowski recorded 55 tackles, 7.5 XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII; and thus was determined
sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 2 interceptions. The de- to finally get a championship ring that had eluded him in
fensive secondary was led by Pro Bowler Steve Atwater the past. Atlanta’s secondary was led by Pro Bowl defen-
and Darrien Gordon, who led the team with 4 intercep- sive back Ray Buchanan, who recorded 7 interceptions
tions, which he returned for 125 yards and a touchdown. and 102 return yards, and Pro Bowl safety Eugene Robin-
Gordon was also a great punt returner, returning 34 son (4 interceptions), who was with the Green Bay Pack-
punts for 379 yards. ers when they appeared in Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII.
The season was punctuated by Reeves receiving
Atlanta Falcons emergency coronary bypass surgery after Week 14. Doc-
The Falcons advanced to their first Super Bowl in fran- tors said he could have been "within hours of a cata-
chise history. Like the Broncos, they finished the 1998 strophic heart attack."[2] Although asked to rest for at
regular season with a 14-2 record, including wins in all of least six weeks, Reeves returned to the sidelines for Week
their last 9 games. But unlike the Broncos, Atlanta’s suc- 17. Then-defensive coordinator Rich Brooks substituted
cess in the 1998 season was very surprising to many be- for Reeves as head coach in Weeks 15 and 16, and won
cause they had a 7-9 record in the previous season and a both games.
3-13 record the year before that. In fact, the team record-
ed just 4 winning seasons in the last 20 years prior to Playoffs
1998, and only 2 in the 1990s. For more details on this topic, see NFL playoffs, 1998-99.
However, the Falcons’ fortunes began to improve af- The Broncos demolished the Miami Dolphins, 38–3, and
ter Dan Reeves became their head coach in 1997. During the New York Jets, 23–10, in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the
Reeves’ first season with Atlanta, they finished the sea- Falcons were victorious against the San Francisco 49ers,
son 6-2, after starting out 1-7, to compile a 7-9 record 20–18, and the Minnesota Vikings, 30–27, in overtime.
overall. Reeves was Denver’s head coach from 1981 to This was the second Super Bowl in history that fea-
1992 NFL season, leading the Elway-led Broncos to Super tured two teams with two losses or fewer. Both teams
Bowls XXI, XXII, and XXIV. But they lost each one, in- came into the game with 16-2 records after the playoffs.
cluding a 55-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super The only Super Bowl featuring a better matchup record
Bowl XXIV. After that, Reeves was in constant conflict wise was Super Bowl XIX when the San Francisco 49ers
with his coaching staff and some of his players for the
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
had a 17–1 record and the Miami Dolphins had a 16–2 virtual TV effect was provided by PVI Virtual Media Ser-
record. vices using their L-VIS virtual graphics system.
Super Bowl pregame news Pregame ceremonies
Much of the pregame hype was centered around Elway The pregame show, narrated by actress Tori Spelling, de-
confronting his former coach Reeves. Mike Shanahan picted the adventure of a Caribbean cruise from its fes-
was hurt and angered by Reeves’ pregame assertion that tive departure to its journey to exotic destinations. The
Shanahan and Elway had conspired to have him fired show included a performance by KISS, along with their
during his stint at Denver. Media coverage also focused trademark elaborate costumes and theatrical pyrotech-
on whether or not Elway would retire after the season nics.
(which he eventually did). Cher later sang the national anthem.
John Elway became the first quarterback to start five To honor the 40th anniversary of the 1958 NFL Cham-
Super Bowls. He previously started XXI, XXII, XXIV and pionship, also known as "The Greatest Game Ever
XXXII. Broncos defensive lineman Mike Lodish was mak- Played", the following participants of that game ap-
ing his record 6th appearance in a Super Bowl. He played peared during the coin toss ceremony: Raymond Berry,
with Buffalo in all four of their Super Bowl losses Super Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti,
Bowl XXV through XXVIII and with Denver’s first Super Frank Gifford, Roosevelt Brown, Don Maynard, Sam Huff,
Bowl win the year before. and Tom Landry, the defensive coordinator of the New
On the night before the Super Bowl, Falcons safety York Giants. Weeb Ewbank, head coach of the Baltimore
Eugene Robinson was arrested for solicitation of prosti- Colts in that game, was also scheduled to appear, but died
tution. While driving alone in a rented car along a down- November 17, 1998.
town Miami street, he approached a female undercover
police officer posing as a prostitute and offered $40 for Halftime show
oral sex. Although he was released from jail and allowed The halftime show was titled "A Celebration of Soul, Salsa
to play the game, he was widely denounced by the press and Swing" and featured Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Stevie
and fans for the incident. Robinson’s arrest was especial- Wonder, and Gloria Estefan. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy per-
ly ironic because on the very morning of the day it hap- formed their song "Go Daddy-O". Wonder sang "Sir
pened, he had received the Bart Starr Award for his "high Duke", "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", and "I Wish".
moral character." And Miami-native Estefan performed "Oye!" and "Turn
the Beat Around", then a special performance by Stevie
Television and entertainment Wonder and Estefan was given performing Estefan’s hit
"You’ll Be Mine (Party Time)". Tap dancer Savion Glover
The game was broadcast in the United States by Fox and appeared during Wonder’s performance of "I Wish".
featured the broadcast team of play-by-play announcer During halftime, USA Network aired a special edition
Pat Summerall and color commentator John Madden. of WWF Sunday Night Heat called Halftime Heat featuring
James Brown hosted all the events with help from his a match between The Rock and Mankind for the WWF
then-fellow Fox NFL Sunday cast members Terry Brad- Championship in an Empty Arena Match that took place
shaw, Howie Long and Cris Collinsworth. in Arizona and had been taped five days before. Mankind
After the game, Fox aired The Simpsons episode "Sun- won the title, just seven days after losing it to The Rock
day, Cruddy Sunday", followed by the pilot episode of at the Royal Rumble.
Family Guy, "Death Has a Shadow". FoxSports.com also ran an online-only Internet half-
It was the only Fox-aired Super Bowl not to involve time show, Webcast live from South Beach Miami, and
the New England Patriots until Super Bowl XLV. hosted by then-Fox Sports Net anchorman Keith Olber-
With this appearance, the Broncos became the first mann. This halftime show was sponsored by Victoria’s
team to play in Super Bowls televised on all four major Secret and available exclusively in Windows Media Play-
broadcast networks in the United States (CBS-XII, XXI er. Viewer questions were solicited via the FoxS-
and XXIV, ABC-XXII, NBC-XXXII, and Fox-XXXIII). The ports.com Web site.
Pittsburgh Steelers became the second with their appear-
ance in Super Bowl XLV, and the New York Giants the
third with their appearance in Super Bowl XLVI. Game summary
The starting lines ups were shown using a virtual TV. Falcons receiver Tim Dwight returned the opening kick-
To TV viewers, it appeared as if the end zone opened up off 31 yards to the Atlanta 37-yard line. Then aided by a
and a giant TV came up out of the ground. The virtual 25-yard pass interference penalty against Broncos defen-
TV displayed video announcing the starting line ups. The sive back Steve Atwater and 31 rushing yards from Jamal
Anderson, the Falcons drove to the Broncos 8-yard line.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
But Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski sacked quarter- line. Five plays later, Griffith scored his second touch-
back Chris Chandler for a 7-yard loss on third down, forc- down on a 1-yard run to increase Denver’s lead to 24-6.
ing Atlanta to settle for Morten Andersen’s 32-yard field The Falcons reached the Broncos 26-yard line on
goal to give them a 3-0 lead. their ensuing drive, but Gordon intercepted another pass
The Broncos then responded with an 80-yard scoring and returned this one 50 yards to the Atlanta 48-yard
drive. Quarterback John Elway’s 41-yard completion to line. On the next play, Elway completed a short pass to
wide receiver Rod Smith and 2 receptions by tight end running back Terrell Davis, who turned it into a 39-yard
Shannon Sharpe for a total of 26 net yards setup fullback gain. Two plays later, Elway finished the drive with a
Howard Griffith’s 1-yard touchdown run. Unfortunately 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Broncos a 31-6 lead.
for Denver, Sharpe was injured on that drive. He did play (Elway became the second player in Super Bowl history
the next drive, but was taken out after that. to score a touchdown in four different Super Bowls. He
Later in the quarter, Falcons defensive back Ronnie ran for scores before in Super Bowls XXI, XXIV and
Bradford intercepted a pass from Elway (that had XXXII, joining Thurman Thomas on this list).
bounced off Shannon Sharpe) and returned it to the Dwight returned the ensuing kickoff 94-yards for a
Broncos 35-yard line. But Denver’s defense made a great touchdown to cut the score 31-13, but the Broncos re-
stand in the opening minutes of the second quarter, tack- covered Atlanta’s ensuing onside kick attempt. Two plays
ling Anderson for no gain on third down and 1, and then later, a 25-yard completion from Elway to receiver Ed
stopping him for a 2-yard loss on a fourth down con- McCaffrey set up Elam’s 37-yard field goal with just over
version attempt. The Broncos then reached the Atlanta 7 minutes left in the final period.
8-yard line on their ensuing possession, but were forced The Falcons offense advanced inside the Denver
to settle for kicker Jason Elam’s 26-yard yard field goal to 30-yard line for the third consecutive time, and finally
increase their lead, 10–3. scored this time on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Chan-
The Falcons then advanced to the Denver 8-yard line dler to Mathis. Mathis’ touchdown made the score 34-19
on their next drive, but failed to score when Andersen’s (Chandler’s pass on the 2-point conversion attempted
26-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. Immediately was incomplete), but by then there was only 2:04 left in
after the Broncos got the ball back, Smith broke ahead of the game. Atlanta failed to recover the onside kick, but
Falcons safety Eugene Robinson, caught a pass from El- got the ball back on their own 30-yard line with 1:34 left
way, and took off for an 80-yard touchdown reception, after Denver failed to "go for it" on fourth down. Howev-
giving Denver a 17-3 lead (the fourth 80+ yard touchdown er, Jamal Anderson fumbled at the Broncos 33-yard line,
pass play in Super Bowl history). TV viewers did not see Broncos defensive back Tyrone Braxton recovered the
most of the play, as Fox was still airing a commercial at ball, allowing Denver to run out the clock and win the
the time. Aided by Dwight’s 42-yard kickoff return to the game. The two teams combined for a Super Bowl record
49-yard line, the Falcons responded by driving to Den- 30 fourth-quarter points, with the Broncos’ 17 and Fal-
ver’s 11-yard line and scored with Andersen’s 28-yard cons’ 13.
field goal to cut Atlanta’s deficit to 17–6 going into half- The Falcons offense gained a total of 337 yards, were
time. not penalized once, and had driven inside Denver’s
The Broncos opened the second half by driving 74 30-yard line 7 times. But Atlanta’s offense could only
yards to the Atlanta 20-yard line, but ended up scoring score 13 points and committed 5 turnovers. Meanwhile,
no points after Elam’s 38-yard field goal attempt sailed the Broncos gained a total of 457 yards and scored 34
wide right. Chandler responded on the next 2 plays with points.
a 29-yard completion to receiver Tony Martin and a For the Broncos, Davis recorded 102 rushing yards
12-yard scramble to advance the ball to the Denver and caught 2 passes for 50 yards. Davis’ 102 rushing yards
41-yard line. But then linebacker John Mobley sacked in the Super Bowl gave him over 100 rushing yards for
Chandler for a 6-yard loss, and cornerback Darrius John- the 7th consecutive postseason game (and he was the
son intercepted Chandler’s pass and returned it 28 yards 3rd player to run for 100 yards in back-to-back Super
to the Falcons 42-yard line on the next play. Denver then Bowls, the others being Larry Csonka in Super Bowls VII
drove to the 29-yard line, but Elam missed another field and VIII, and Emmitt Smith in Super Bowls XXVII and
goal attempt, this one from 47 yards. XXVIII). Davis became just the second player to be on
After the missed field goal, the Falcons drove to the a Super Bowl winning team after being named the NFL
Denver 21-yard line with Anderson’s 13-yard run, wide Most Valuable Player and leading the league in rushing.
receiver Terance Mathis’s 13-yard catch, and a 15-yard Emmitt Smith was the first one, but also was named Su-
run from Anderson, giving them a chance to cut their per Bowl MVP for Super Bowl XXVIII during that year.
deficit to within one touchdown. However, Broncos de- Marcus Allen is the only other player to win all three of
fensive back Darrien Gordon intercepted a pass from these honors during his career. Allen won the 1985 NFL
Chandler and returned it 58 yards to the Atlanta 24-yard MVP Award and rushing title while being named Super
Bowl XVIII MVP at the conclusion of the 1983 season.
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
Denver Position Atlanta
OFFENSE
Ed McCaffrey WR Terance Mathis
Tony Jones LT Bob Whitfield
Mark Schlereth LG Calvin Collins
Tom Nalen C Robbie Tobeck
Dan Neil RG Gene Williams
Harry Swayne RT Ephraim Salaam
Shannon Sharpe TE O.J. Santiago
Rod Smith WR Tony Martin
John Elway QB Chris Chandler
Terrell Davis RB Jamal Anderson
Howard Griffith FB-TE Brian Kozlowski
DEFENSE
Harald Hasselbach LE Lester Archambeau
Keith Traylor LDT Travis Hall
Trevor Pryce RDT Shane Dronett
Maa Tanuvasa RE Chuck Smith
John Mobley LOLB Cornelius Bennett
Glenn Cadrez MLB Jessie Tuggle
Bill Romanowski ROLB Henri Crockett
Ray Crockett LCB Ray Buchanan
Darrien Gordon RCB Michael Booker
Tyrone Braxton SS William White
Steve Atwater FS Eugene Robinson
Smith caught 5 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown,
an average of 30.4 yards per catch. Gordon recorded 2 in- Broncos 7 10 0 17 34
terceptions and returned them for a Super Bowl record
Falcons 3 3 0 13 19
108 yards. Jamal Anderson rushed for 96 yards and
caught 3 passes for 16 yards. Dwight returned 5 kickoffs
at Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida
for 210 yards, the second most in Super Bowl history,
• : January 31, 1999
and the highest Super Bowl career yards per return av-
• : 6:25 p.m. EST
erage(42.0). Falcons receiver Terance Mathis led Atlanta
• : 73 °F (23 °C), clear
with 7 receptions for 85 yards. Chandler finished the
game with 19 out of 35 completions for 219 yards and a
touchdown, but was intercepted 3 times. Starting lineups
Dan Reeves became the fourth head coach to lose
four Super Bowls, joining Bud Grant, Don Shula and Marv Source:[3]
Levy. Reeves lost Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV ironi-
cally while with the Broncos. Officials
Box score • Bernie Kukar (#86)
• Jim Daopoulos (#75)
• Sanford Rivers (#121)
1 2 3 4 Total • Ron Baynes (#56)
• Tim Millis (#80)
5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Super Bowl XXXIII
• Gary Lane (#120) • Super Bowl official website
• Don Hakes (#96) • 2006 NFL Record and Fact Book. Time Inc. Home
• Gerald Austin (#34) Entertainment. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
• Chad Brown (#31) • Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National
Football League. Harper Collins. ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
References • The Sporting News: History of the Super Bowl (Last
accessed December 4, 2005)
[1] http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/01/18/ • http://www.pro-football-reference.com - Large
historical-super-bowl-tv-ratings/11044 online database of NFL data and statistics
[2] "NFC West". The Sporting News. 1998. • Super Bowl play-by-plays from USA Today (Last
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ accessed September 28, 2005)
mi_m1208/is_52_222/ai_53530986. • All-Time Super Bowl Odds from The Sports Network
[3] Neft, David S., Cohen, Richard M., and Korch, Rick. (Last accessed October 16, 2005)
The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 • Sorrowful time: Falcons’ Robinson gives postgame
to the Present. 1994 ISBN 0-312-11435-4 apology Last accessed December 3, 2005
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_Bowl_XXXIII&oldid=473638167"
Categories:
• Super Bowl
• Denver Broncos postseason
• Atlanta Falcons postseason
• 1998 National Football League season
• American football in Miami, Florida
• 1999 in American football
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