Sports Notes - COLTS Win Super Bowl - Defeat Bears 29-17 - February 2007

NFL Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning

James Loving - National Radio Text Service - Monday February 5, 2007

SUPER BOWL - Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning & the Colts get the monkey off their back - ALL Super Bowl Results

The Indianapolis Colts Defeat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in the 41st (XLI) edition of the Super Bowl.

I'm often asked, what do you write about. My reply usually is, heart, guts, and soul.

Yea, yea, sure, sure…. How many times have you been told that you're not good enough or told you can't win the big one. Well the Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and coach Tony Dungy have heard it enough to last a lifetime.

During their professional NFL careers they have come close to going to the Super Bowl but faltered in the playoffs. For Manning his reputation is with one NFL team the Colts for Dungy it's been two the Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now the monkey is off their backs as the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in the 41st edition of the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida last night.

Things looked bleak for the Colts when the Bears Devin Hester took the opening kickoff and raced 92 yards for a touchdown for a Super Bowl record. But for the Bears it was starting to head down hill as the Colts fought back and started to take control in the second half.

The victory was sweet for two men who have been slammed by the media for not being able to win the big one. They now have and the media will have to seek some other chinks in the duo's armor.

After nine years in the NFL trying to get to the big game Manning wound up being selected as the games MVP after completing 22 of 38 passes for 247 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception.

Manning's winning the MVP award brings some much-deserved hardware to the home of the Manning family of three NFL quarterbacks mantle headed by the father Archie.

After the game Dungy responded to the media regarding the negative reports that Manning could't win the big games, "He's got that behind behind him. There isn't anything that you can say now except that he's a Hall of Fame player and one of the best to play the game."

This was a game of firsts since Dungy and Bears coach Lovie Smith were the first black men to be a head coach in the Super Bowl. Smith was the first to qualify to coach a team in the game since the Bears won the NFC championship game over the New Orleans Saints before the Colts defeated the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.

Dungy and Smith are good friends. When Dungy was the head coach of Tampa Bay 11 years ago he hired Smith as his linebackers coach.

It took 36 years for the Colts to return to the Super Bowl. They won Super Bowl V (5) on January 17, 1971 against the Dallas Cowboys in Miami, Florida's Orange Bowl. Their starting QB was Johnny Unitas who threw the Colts only scoring pass.

Unitas was injured and Earl Morrall relieved him in the second half to lead the Colts to a 16-13 victory. The game was decided in the final five seconds when Jim O'Brien kicked 32-yard field goal. It was the first Super Bowl after the merger of the two leagues and Baltimore was transferred along with the Pittsburgh Steelers to the AFC (American Football Conference).

The Colts only other appearance was Super Bowl III (3). It was a memorable game since the upstart New York Jets led by loud talking quarterback Joe Namath who predicted that the Jets would win the game.

At that time the Colts were a powerhouse in the NFL and the comment was considered an insult to the dignity of the Colts and the NFL.

In the previous two Super Bowls came about over the fuss that the American Football Conference saying that we're as good as you are.

"They called us the Mickey Mouse league," said then Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson who played in the first Super Bowl on January 15, 1967.

The Chiefs lost to the Green Bay Packers 35-10 who were then coached by Vince Lomardi. The Super Bowl winning trophy is named after Lombardi.

The Packers returned the following year to defeat the Oakland Raider 33-14 on January 14, 1968 in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.

With the AFC off to a 0-2 start in the competition and the NFL teams being so dominant, that's what made Namath's we'll win the game prediction so outrageous. The AFC had no history of coming close let alone winning.

But Namath changed all of that when he did lead the Jets to a 16-7 victory over the then BALTIMORE Colts. The win was so astounding that it was as if it was the day that the earth stood still. The result was the media stopped criticizing him and the AFC.

The question now is since to 2007 edition of the Colts won the BIG GAME will the media take the monkey off of the backs of Manning, Dungy and the present day Colts?

After the game Dungy said, "I'm proud to be the first African American to win this (Super Bowl trophy). It means a lot to this country."

Go figure:

It's the 21st century and racist narrow-minded people continue to impose their will on others. Though Dungy and Smith have accomplished so much their presence is not welcomed in some clubs and bars in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Thailand.

Related story: Jerome Bettis

Super Bowl Game History Scores

Game *** Date *** Result

XLI Feb 4, 2007 Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17

XL Feb. 5, 2006 Pittsburgh 21, Seattle Seahawks 10

XXXIX Feb. 6, 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21

XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29

XXXVII Jan. 26, 2003 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21

XXXVI Feb. 3, 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17

XXXV Jan. 28, 2001 Baltimore 34, N.Y. Giants 7

XXXIV Jan. 30, 2000 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16

XXXIII Jan. 31, 1999 Denver 34, Atlanta 19

XXXII Jan. 25, 1998 Denver 31, Green Bay 24

XXXI Jan. 26, 1997 Green Bay 35, New England 21

XXX Jan. 28, 1996 Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17

XXIX Jan. 29, 1995 San Francisco 49, San Diego 26

XXVIII Jan. 30, 1994 Dallas 30, Buffalo 13

XXVII Jan. 31, 1993 Dallas 52, Buffalo 17

XXVI Jan. 26, 1992 Washington 37, Buffalo 24

XXV Jan. 27, 1991 N.Y. Giants 20, Buffalo 19

XXIV Jan. 28, 1990 San Francisco 55, Denver 10

XXIII Jan. 22, 1989 San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16

XXII Jan. 31, 1988 Washington 42, Denver 10

XXI Jan. 25, 1987 N.Y. Giants 39, Denver 20

XX Jan. 26, 1986 Chicago 46, New England 10

XIX Jan. 20, 1985 San Francisco 38, Miami 16

XVIII Jan. 22, 1984 L.A. Raiders 38, Washington 9

XVII Jan. 30, 1983 Washington 27, Miami 17

XVI Jan. 24, 1982 San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21

XV Jan. 25, 1981 Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10

XIV Jan. 20, 1980 Pittsburgh 31, L.A. Rams 19

XIII Jan. 21, 1979 Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31

XII Jan. 15, 1978 Dallas 27, Denver 10

XI Jan. 9, 1977 Oakland 32, Minnesota 14

X Jan. 18, 1976 Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17

IX Jan. 12, 1975 Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6

VIII Jan. 13, 1974 Miami 24, Minnesota 7

VII Jan. 14, 1973 Miami 14, Washington 7

VI Jan. 16, 1972 Dallas 24, Miami 3

V Jan. 17, 1971 Baltimore 16, Dallas 13

IV Jan. 11, 1970 Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7

III Jan. 12, 1969 N.Y. Jets 16, Baltimore 7

II Jan. 14, 1968 Green Bay 33, Oakland 14

I Jan. 15, 1967 Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10

SUPER BOWL HISTORY

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