Super Up Close: Reliving big-time memories
Past stars offer their memories from when they lived through the drama
Al Bello / Getty ImagesRod Smith was one of the stars of Super Bowl XXXIII and, like many others, came away with memories he'll never forget.
updated 3:56 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2009
What do the players who have been there remember most about being in the Super Bowl? Tom Curran and Gregg Rosenthal find out and share some of the memories.
Terrell Davis, Broncos
I have a few memories. No. 1, I forgot to take my migraine medication before the game. I was so excited about the game, I was going through my pre-game routine and forgot it. I got a migraine. I was careless, and upset about missing a quarter. I always think about “what if?” What if I played that quarter? There are some records out there I could have got. …
I just remember walking out the tunnel the first time, and looking at all the lights and the color and the media, and just thinking to myself, “It’s finally here. It’s finally here.” I remember just feeling so crazy. I came back from pre-game warmup and I was so worn out. I usually don’t work that hard in pregame warmup. I got back in the locker room and thought what are you doing man, I’ve got a whole game to play. I worked my butt off. It felt like I had a played a whole quarter of the game already!”
Sean Morey, Cardinals WR (Won Super Bowl with Steelers)
There’s one memory I have that I’ll never forget. It was after the game. The clock hits zero, and you just realize you are the champions of the world. It’s probably the best 10 seconds of your life. And you just try to relive them for the rest of the life. …
But after the game, we had gone into the locker room, and Brett Keisel is sitting there in his big Super Bowl XL robe on, shaving his beard, drinking a beer. I was trying to wipe the eyeblack off my eye, about to get into the shower. And he says, “Hey Sea-ja (a nickname), we just reached the pinnacle of our career. And it just hit me.”
Jerame Tuman, Cardinals TE (Won Super Bowl with Steelers)
The moment that will always stick with me was after the game, and our family came down on the field. My son was seven at the time, and the first thing he does is put on my helmet and he wants to play football. I told him I couldn’t do it, and he was upset. He started getting a little teary-eyed. We went from there and took a picture, so I have a picture of me and him with the Lombardi Trophy, and his eyes are red. That’s one of my favorite pictures, my favorite memories, and the story behind that, how upset he was, that’s what I’ll always remember. I have 10 copies.
James Farrior, Steelers LB
After the game was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had. I got stuck in the media room for 20 minutes, so I missed a lot of the celebration, so I want to get a chance to do it right. But … I do remember being on the bus on the way back to our hotel, me and Hines (Ward) were sitting there, and he was talking to himself, and I was talking to myself, and we were both saying the same thing: I can’t believe we did it! We did it!
Al Michaels, NBC Broadcaster
"I was in Hawaii starting my career and was watching it with a friend of mine, early in the morning. I was an AFL fan and thought the AFL had been given short shrift and loved the way they played football and was very excited when the Jets won the game. I thought it was neat to have this upstart league come in and say to the NFL, 'hey, we're as good as you are.'"
John Madden, NBC Broadcaster
"The first one as a broadcaster was in Detroit and it was my first year working with Pat Summerall. It was the first cold-weather Super Bowl, in a dome with the cold and the traffic and all and that was really the start of the 49ers dynasty. It was Bill Walsh's first Super Bowl win as a head coach and was the start of the 49er era."
David Fulcher, Bengals, Super Bowl XXIII
"I was walking down the tunnel and saw I saw Roger and I tried to reach out and shake hands. I figured, ‘This is the San Francisco 49ers we’re playing, I'm proud to be here to play such a good team, I was showing respect.’ Roger ignored my hand. I think Jim Gray was the sideline announcer for the game and he saw it happen. He asked me what happened between us and I said, 'He just refused my hand. But when the game starts, he’ll be seeing a whole lot of me.'"
Mike Curtis, Colts, Super Bowl III
"There was just a lot of stuff that went wrong in that game that never went wrong. Balls bouncing off guys' shoulder pads. People missing receivers, missing tackles. The plan we had was just fine. We failed to do things. It was outrageous. I was just so pissed off about it. It was all mental, not physical. And I never did come to terms with it. It’s something I never will come to terms with. We were too good a team to lose in that fashion. I’m not being negative about the Jets. We were just better than the team we lost to."
Don Hasselbeck, Raiders
I was down here and the Redskins were a better team. They had beaten us earlier in the year. And then we came back and beat them 38-9. We smoked ‘em and they were supposed to beat us big time. The event’s changed a lot but the feeling you get when you’re standing in that tunnel about to run out doesn’t change.
Andrea Kremer, NBC Broadcaster
"My top Super Bowl memory is a bit off the field. My son Will was born in Atlanta on Jan. 26, 2000 four days before Super Bowl XXXIV, where I was working for ABC and ESPN. Many people have noted he was in such shock that the Rams were about to win the championship he had to see it first hand. I worked the pre-game show that day but watched the actual game with Will from Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta and gave the infant his first taste of football when I animatedly reacted to Mike Jones' tackle of Kevin Dyson at the one yard line as the clock expired to preserved the Rams win. For the first few years of his life he thought the Super Bowl was held to celebrate his birthday."
Rod Smith, Broncos, Super Bowl XXXIII
"We were warming up and we were strictly business and could see players on their team and to me, they looked just happy to be there. They were just happy and excited to get to that point. We were there on a strict business trip. We went down, game plan done, installed and we were all set. We were just focused on winning the frickin' game. Nothing else. They were excited and shocked."
Bob Costas, NBC Broadcaster
"I was a couple months shy of my 16th birthday and I think, like most fans, although I liked the old AFL and I liked Hank Stram's Kansas City Chiefs, I really thought that the real NFL title game had taken place between the Cowboys and the Packers. When it was only 14-10 at halftime, I was a little bit surprised. I remember Max McGee's two touchdowns, and Willie Wood with the interception that kind of broke Kansas City's back in the second half. I remember Fred "The Hammer" Williamson getting laid out. He had been very talkative before the game and he got carted out off unconscious. I remember that the game was on two networks. I remember that it was on NBC and CBS simultaneously which I thought was really weird."
Jesse Tuggle, Falcons, Super Bowl XXXIII
"I just appreciate how tough it was to get there. When you’re in the middle of trying to get there, you want it so bad because you want to be part of history. But even though we didn’t win it, you realize now how many players didn’t get the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl at all. You forget about the hurt. I remember my body being all beat up, but I don’t think about that and all the time watching tape and the meetings. Now I think about being there. You’re a part of history."
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