Post by TheShadow on Feb 5, 2006 14:08:43 GMT -5
www.sacbee.com/
Game: Super Bowl XI Date: Jan. 9, 1977.
Site: Rose Bowl, Pasadena (attendance 103,438).
Result: Raiders 32, Minnesota Vikings 14.
Highlight: After being humbled 33-14 by Green Bay in Super Bowl II when they were still charter members of the American Football League, the Raiders were looking for redemption and identity from the National Football League. At the start of the week before the Raiders' first Super Bowl, John Madden, then an assistant coach, remembers Oakland's snubbed arrival in Miami. "(Television) had a shot of the Green Bay Packers and Vince Lombardi getting off the plane," Madden said on a teleconference Monday from Detroit, "and then showed us coming in. I remember the announcer saying, 'The Oklahoma Raiders are arriving.' " The Raiders were introduced in a big way, though, in their Super Bowl encore. With Madden as head coach and before 81 million TV viewers - then a record for a sporting event - Oakland dominated the Vikings, who, despite highly touted quarterback Fran Tarkenton, lost their fourth Super Bowl in as many tries. The Raiders, led by quarterback Ken Stabler, rolled up 429 yards, 137 on Clarence Davis' running. Pete Banaszak ran for two touchdowns. Fred Biletnikoff had four key receptions, earning him the game's MVP trophy, and cornerback Willie Brown had a Super Bowl-record 75-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Telling moment: Madden's fear of flying was never more obvious than when, on the morning after the game, he begged a flight attendant on the Raiders' short charter flight home to let a couple of writers (including yours truly) sit next to him. Clearly, he didn't want to be alone in a special section near the front of the plane. "Coach Madden, I can't do it. I'll get fired," she said. "But it doesn't make any sense," Madden pleaded. "I've got two empty seats by me going to waste." The airline stood firm. Alas, an exclusive interview with the winning Super Bowl coach that would have been envied by media competition was missed. By the way, the Los Angeles Times had a beauty of a headline on the game: "Vikings go down for the count, Super Bowl IV, VIII, IX, XI."