January 17, 1971, 50 years ago: Super Bowl V is played at the Orange Bowl in Miami. This was the 1st Super Bowl to actually have the Roman numeral attached: What were retroactively named "Super Bowl I" and "Super Bowl II" were "The AFL-NFL World Championship Game"; and what were retroactively named "Super Bowl III" and "Super Bowl IV" were "the 1969 Super Bowl" and "the 1970 Super Bowl."
This was also the 1st Super Bowl after the AFL-NFL merger, and the creation of the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
This was also the 1st NFL Championship Game, under any name, played on artificial turf. And it was played as though God was angry for taking the big game off of the grass He had intended.
Both teams "couldn't win the big one," and needed a redemption story. The AFC Champions were the Baltimore Colts. Along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, they had been in the NFL before the merger, but, since the NFL had 16 teams and the AFL had 10, those 3 were moved to make it 13 and 13.
The Colts, led by quarterback Johnny Unitas, won the NFL Championship in 1958 and 1959, and lost the NFL Championship Game in 1964. It 1968, they won it, but now had to face the AFL Champions in the Super Bowl, and without Unitas, who had gotten hurt in preseason. It shouldn't have mattered: His replacement, Earl Morrall, had led them to a 13-1 record, and the 1 loss, as was their loss in the 1964 Championship Game, was to the Browns, and they'd avenged it, 34-0 in the title game.
But the Colts, 18-point favorites, were shocked by the New York Jets. Few favored teams, in any sport, have ever played so poorly in a Final as the Colts did that day. In the 3rd, quarter, head coach Don Shula got desperate, and asked Unitas if he was ready to go in. He said he was. Shula admitted years later that he should have sent Unitas in to start the 2nd half. Unitas led a touchdown drive, but it wasn't enough: The Jets backed up the guarantee of their quarterback, Joe Namath, and won, 16-7.
In 1970, Shula was offered the head coaching job of the Miami Dolphins, and the Colts didn't try too hard to keep him. They hired Don McCafferty, and went 11-2-1, 1 of the losses coming to Shula's Dolphins. But they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Playoff, and the Oakland Raiders in the 1st-ever AFC Championship.
A victory in Super Bowl V would be full redemption for the disaster of 2 years earlier, and on the same field, no less. It would be a 1st title for stars like tight end John Mackey and linebacker Mike Curtis, and a crowning achievement for the 37-year-old Unitas, now recognized as the greatest quarterback the game had yet seen.
Standing in their way were the Dallas Cowboys. An expansion team in 1960, they won the NFL Western Division title in 1966 and 1967, but lost the Championship Game to the Green Bay Packers both times. They lost in the Divisional round in 1968 and 1969, both times to the Browns.
But in 1970, Tom Landry's Cowboys went 10-4, beat the Detroit Lions in the Divisional round, and beat the San Francisco 49ers in the 1st-ever NFC Championship Game. Quarterback Craig Morton, defensive tackle Bob Lilly, and the team that had lost a thriller at home on New Year's Day in 1967 and the Ice Bowl in Green Bay on New Year's Eve that same year was ready to take the final step.
Something had to give. But, for most of the game, both teams gave, and neither could fully take. There would be 11 turnovers between the teams. In the days to come, the game became known as the Blooper Bowl.
I had just had my 2nd birthday the month before this game, so I didn't see it live on TV. But as a kid, I rented a film of it from my town's library. Although it was in color, it was silent with captions, and one captions read, "FUMBLEITIS IS CONTAGIOUS."
A field goal by Mike Clark of the Cowboys was the only scoring in the 1st quarter. Clark kicked another in the 2nd quarter, and even that was after Morton was flagged for intentional grounding to blow a chance at a touchdown. Still, at the rate things were going, 6-0 Dallas it must have seemed like an insurmountable lead.
But 3 plays after the ensuing kickoff, Unitas threw a pass to Eddie Hinton. He couldn't handle it, and it bounced off his hands, and off those of the Cowboys' Mel Renfro, and then into those of Mackey, who took it 75 yards for a touchdown. In a moment that would seem ironic at the end of the game, Colt kicker Jim O'Brien had his extra point attempt blocked. It was 6-6.
Later in the quarter, the Cowboys took advantage of a Unitas interception to launch a touchdown drive, with Duane Thomas catching a touchdown pass from Morton. Later still, Unitas was hit, threw another interception, and had to leave the game with a broken rib. It was 13-6 Cowboys at the half. If the Colts were to get redemption, it would have to be from the hands of Morrall -- a full redemption, because Unitas himself didn't need it.
Jim Duncan fumbled the Cowboys' opening kickoff of the 2nd half, and the Cowboys recovered. They drove to the Colts' 1-yard line. They had the chance to put the game away. But Curtis hit Thomas, causing him to fumble before he could reach the end zone. Appropriately, it was Duncan who recovered it. The Colts drove, but had to settle for a 52-yard field goal attempt by O'Brien, which was a little short.
The 4th quarter began with the Cowboys clinging to their 13-6 lead. (It's worth pointing out that no team between the 1948 and 2018 seasons scored as few as 13 points in an NFL Championship Game, under any name, and still won.) The Colts managed a drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown run by Tom Nowatzke. This time, O'Brien made the PAT, and it was 13-13.
The turnovers, dumb penalties, and inability to capitalize on these opportunities continued, until Curtis intercepted a Morton pass and returned it to the Cowboys' 28-yard line in the last minute of regulation. With 9 seconds to go, O'Brien was sent in for a 32-yard field goal attempt. It was the most pressure-ridden kick since Lou Groza had to take the Browns from behind to win over the Los Angeles Rams in the last minute of the 1950 NFL Championship Game, and did.
O'Brien split the uprights, and, with 5 seconds to go, the Colts led, 16-13.
The story goes that it was the last play of the game. In fact, it wasn't: There were 5 seconds left. O'Brien squibbed the ensuing kickoff. There was time for one last desperation play for the Cowboys, and Morton threw for Walt Garrison. But Jerry Logan intercepted it, and the Colts were the World Champions.
Unitas played 1 more season for them, and 1 awful last season for the San Diego Chargers in 1973, and retired. The Colts seemed to have used up all of their remaining good luck on that one kick, and rebuilt. With Bert Jones as quarterback, they won the AFC Eastern Division title in 1975, '76 and '77, but couldn't get past the Raiders or the Pittsburgh Steelers to reach the AFC Championship Game. Then they fell apart again. In 1984, the team was moved to Indianapolis. In 1996, the Baltimore Ravens were born, and have gone on to win the Super Bowl in 2001 and 2013.
Having lost another big game, Landry decided he'd had enough: As the Cowboys were moving into a new home, leaving the Cotton Bowl for Texas Stadium, he got a new quarterback, benching Morton for Roger Staubach. The Cowboys beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, getting their own redemption. They dominated the NFC East for another decade, winning Super Bowl XII, but losing Super Bowls X and XIII.
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