Every Super Bowl is a big event: even in a year of falling TV ratings for the NFL, it remains the only way to guarantee over 100 million Americans will tune in. Yet some Super Bowls matter more than others. Joe Montana’s touchdown to John Taylor with 34 seconds left to defeat Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII will always be remembered (particularly since the 49ers repeated the next season); Tampa safety Dexter Jackson’s MVP performance against Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII less so (it wasn’t helped by the Bucs missing the playoffs completely in 2003).
More importantly, some Super Bowls are simply football landmarks. They’re the moment dynasties are born (and potential dynasties snuffed out). They elevate a handful of players and coaches to legendary status—others are reduced to mere footnotes. Here are essential Super Bowls and why LII may soon join this hallowed list:
Super Bowl I: Jan. 15, 1967
Green Bay 35 Kansas City 10
Why It Mattered: This is the reason the Super Bowl winner gets the Lombardi Trophy. Coach Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers gave the NFL the win over the AFL in the inaugural edition of what came to be known as Super Bowl—both Lombardi and his franchise earned a mythic aura that remains strong to this day. Kansas City’s owner would lend his name to some hardware too: each year’s AFC Conference winner receives the Lamar Hunt Trophy.
Super Bowl III: Jan. 12, 1969
New York Jets 16 Baltimore 7
Why It Mattered: After Green Bay easily won the first two Super Bowls for the NFL, it was time for the AFL to show they could compete, much less win. Jets QB Joe Namath guaranteed victory and the team delivered, topping a massively favored Colts squad—the point spread had reached 19.5 by kickoff—who featured future Hall of Famers both at coach (Don Shula) and quarterback (Johnny Unitas, who led their only touchdown drive after coming off the bench).
Super Bowl IX: Jan. 12, 1975
Pittsburgh 16 Minnesota 6
Why It Mattered: Entering the game, neither franchise had ever won a Super Bowl. (The Vikings had lost the Super Bowl the previous season; the Steelers hadn’t even reached one.) If Minnesota had won, quarterback Fran Tarkenton could have retired not just as the career leader in virtually every passing stat but also as a champion. Instead, Chuck Noll’s Steelers won the first of four Super Bowls in just a six-year period. The Vikings are still waiting for a title.
Super Bowl XIX: Jan. 20, 1985
San Francisco 38 Miami 16
Why It Mattered: Dolphin Dan Marino was only in his second season, but already putting up staggering numbers—in the AFC Championship he passed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns. 49er Joe Montana had won a Super Bowl years earlier, but was still a bit underappreciated. (He was, after all, a third-round draft pick.) Joe Cool won and picked up another two Super Bowls before retiring. Marino lost and never made it back. Since retiring, NFL rules changes have helped quarterbacks break many of Marino’s seemingly unapproachable records. It all adds up to a Diet Pepsi ad that is weirdly bittersweet to watch nowadays.
Super Bowl XXXII: Jan. 25, 1998
Denver 31 Green Bay 24
Why It Mattered: Green Bay had earned their first Super Bowl of the Brett Favre era the previous season. John Elway’s Broncos had played in three: they lost by 19, 32 and 45, with their quarterback throwing for a total of two touchdowns and six interceptions. Elway had another rough one, passing for 123 yards with no touchdowns and a pick. But it wasn’t a problem because the Broncos won. They went on to win another Super Bowl in Elway’s final season—he even picked up the Super Bowl MVP in his last game. Thus two reputations changed forever: Elway shed the can’t-win-the-big-one tag in a big way, while Favre failed to solidify himself as one of the top contenders for the greatest quarterback ever. (In 2017, Sports Illustrated ranked the quarterbacks: the three-time MVP who’s the all-time leader in completions and started a record 321 consecutive games over 19 seasons came in at just #8. And yes, that was behind Elway.)
Super Bowl XXXVI: Feb. 3, 2002
New England 20 St. Louis 17
Why It Mattered: With a victory, Tom Brady earned his first Super Bowl and his first Super Bowl MVP. But it’s worth remembering he wasn’t yet the unstoppable force we all marveled at during last year’s Super Bowl comeback: he was just a kid passing for 145 yards and running for an additional three. The Rams’ Kurt Warner, two years removed from his own Super Bowl MVP performance, threw for 365 (albeit with two interceptions). If Brady had lost, would Belichick have wondered if they needed a player who could generate more offense? If the Rams had won, would The Greatest Show on Turf have reached another Super Bowl? (Or at least waited a little longer before fleeing St. Louis for L.A.?) But Brady did win, with the result that one team began an unprecedented ascendance and the other slammed brutally back to earth.
Super Bowl XLIX: Feb. 1, 2015
New England 28 Seattle 24
Why It Mattered: It had been a full decade since Brady and Belichick last won a Super Bowl. They’d suffered David Tyree, Mario Manningham and finally Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse. If not for the worst call in the history of calling things, the Seahawks would have won a second straight Super Bowl and New England would have been left wondering what they could do to remove what was looking more and more like a supernatural hex. But undrafted Malcolm Butler made the interception and all was right with the world. (For these purposes, “world” is defined as “greater Massachusetts region.”)
Super Bowl LII: Feb. 4, 2018
New England vs. Philadelphia
Why It Might Matter: If the Eagles win, they earn the first Super Bowl in franchise history… and do it without 25-year-old star QB Carson Wentz. It’s encouraging enough to make Philadelphia truly the City of Brotherly Love and not the place known for pelting Santa with snowballs and their own players with batteries. (Seriously, Doug Pederson confirmed this happened during his playing days and he should probably be taken at his word since he now coaches the team and all.) Not to mention that if New England loses, frenzied speculation will begin about whether 40-year-old Tom Terrific is officially old and the Jimmy Garoppolo trade was the stupidest move ever and what the hell did that Belichick guy ever do for us anyway? (Fans are awful.)
If the Pats win? This will be the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl title, equalling the record set by Pittsburgh. Of course, the Steelers earned theirs over a period spanning more than three decades—everything the Pats have is under the same coach and QB. They will have entered territory that is not only unprecedented but borderline impossible. It’s very likely next season Brady will turn 41 as the reigning MVP and two-time defending Super Bowl champ. And as opposing fans watch him best time itself, they can find one small consolation: knowing Brady once lost in the playoffs to butt-fumbler Mark Sanchez and that will never go away.
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