Thirty-four years ago today I looked at a television set with more attention than I ever did before or since. It was Super Bowl XVI. The teams were the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals. This Super Bowl lived up to its name. Okay, so the game was not as close as the 26-21 final score indicated. The Niners led 20-0 at halftime, thanks to a Bengal squad that turned into a first half turnover factory. It was awful.
Why was this Super Bowl so special? First of all, my childhood football hero was playingin the game. Ken Anderson was the quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals from the time I was three years old until I was a senior in high school. In fact, I saw his last start in Riverfront Stadium against the Seahawks. He got hurt. The Seahawks won. Boomer Esiason was named the starting quarterback and he would be that the next season, Ken Anderson’s last in 1986. Kenny held for extra points and field goals. That was my last vision of old #14 on a football field. One knee down catching and holding a ball he was born to throw. Thinking about him taking a flea-flicker from Pete Johnson and throwing it sixty yards to Isaac Curtis making the catch high over his left shoulder in stride ten yards from a goal line and five yards in front of the guy defending him. That is what I like to remember.
Why was Super Bowl XVI so special? That 1981 season they had great records. The Niners finished the season with 13 wins and 3 defeats. The Bengals won 12 games and lost 4. The season before, both teams finished the 1980 season with 6-10 records. Never has such a Cinderella Story been played out…before or since. I doubt if I see it again.
Ken Anderson was my childhood hero. When we went out to play football; my friends and I did that often. There were no video games. I was always Ken Anderson. I had his five step drop down pat. I threw the ball around a great deal as a youngster. The ability to sling it a bit is fortunately still with me. Though my shoulder does get a little weak all too soon and I have to call it quits.
I have had other heroes.
Justin Hayward is my musical hero. I am fortunate enough to have seen him sing many times. This March I have a couple Moody Blues concerts circled on the calendar. Justin is a good guy. His songs mean a great deal to me. I will never stop listening to the positive message I get from the sounds he has made with his pen, with his voice, and with his guitar.
John Abbott is a hero of sorts. He is the guy that married Carrie and me twenty years ago come this February. Rev. John Abbott is a legendary United Methodist pastor. He has great stories. He preaches and teaches with conviction and honesty and he is not out to win a popularity contest. He is here to help. He sure did that for us.
Jim Brown is my hometown hero. My Dad was his football coach all four years of high school. I never looked up to any high school player more than I did Jim. He worked hard. He was a good guy. I still think about the impression he made on me as I was a youngster. Our paths cross about a half a dozen times each year. It is always a joy to see him.
Jim Stewart is my hero in the field of education. He taught and coached and was an administrator at no less than thirteen schools up and down and across the state of Indiana. He taught me more than any piece of paper I have represents. Why was he at thirteen schools? He was, on occasion, asked to leave. Why? He would not conform to what he did not believe in. He was the king principal of principle. He was my boss. He was my mentor. He was my friend. I miss him so much.
Millard Dunn is a hero to me of the utilization of the English language. I wrote a tribute to Millard not long ago on this very site last October. He too is one of the good guys.
Peyton Manning is in this pantheon of company. He is the only one left in the National Football League I can call a hero. He is playing a very important game today. While his performance is being dissected as I type by talking heads on football pre-game blow off hot air shows that began before sunrise this morning, I am just looking forward to kickoff. I don’t care that his team is playing the New England Patriots. All I want is to see Peyton under center or in the shot gun or drinking gator drink for that matter. I want to see him in that uniform. I want to see his brow curled up as he looks to his team’s next strategic move. I want to see him in football cleats. I am feared that he won’t be able to spend time in his natural habitat much longer.
Though I may have missed one, I have figured up I have been fortunate enough to see Peyton Manning play 12 times as a pro. Eleven of those were when he played for the Indianapolis Colts. There is a big stadium in that town. I saw it yesterday. Lucas Oil is the name on the side of the thing. If you shut your left eye and squint with the right one, you can watch the letters magically rearrange to say Manning Stadium. I never saw Peyton play in that new place. The charm of the cracker box Hoosier Dome is how I want to remember my time watching Peyton. Those 11 games I saw him play in that now deflated dome? The Colts won 10 of them. The one they lost was a blessing. My son Jarrett is a Dan Marino fan. Dan brought the Dolphins back in the fourth quarter in what turned out to be the last great 4th quarter comeback in his storied career. He retired after that season. That was worth looking at and sharing.
In 2012 I saw Peyton play over at Cincinnati with a couple of my childhood pals whose friendship has remained steadfast to this day.
Peyton is the last football hero I will have. I don’t love the pro game like used to. When little brother Eli Manning (my FAVORITE player) retires I will be in a spot. I suppose I can join my Mom and root for Teddy Bridgewater.
Regardless, Peyton is the one and only. I have said it before and I will say it again. HE MADE FOOTBALL IN INDIANA. We have him to thank for giving this game its legs in a place that is in love with basketball and always will be. That is fine too. You can’t have it all. There aren’t two favorites. I love chocolate ice cream. I won’t eat strawberry ice cream.
You better believe I have enjoyed watching Peyton Manning play football with the passion and effort that he puts into every play. That is what I will miss. His devotion to the play and his looking for the next play. He has never felt compelled to act as though he is running for public office after he made a good play. He was too concerned about making the next play better. I hope the guys on the field on his team play like that today. They can beat the Patriots. I believe that. I just hope they do. I want to the sun to hang up there just a little longer for #18.
Speaking the rights.
Danny Johnson