Super Bowl XIX

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Lore & Background

The game was hyped as the battle between two great quarterbacks: Miami's Dan Marino and San Francisco's Joe Montana. The Dolphins entered their fifth Super Bowl in team history after posting a 14–2 regular season record. The 49ers were making their second Super Bowl appearance after becoming the first team to win 15 regular season games since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. With Marino and Montana, the game became the first Super Bowl in which the starting quarterbacks of each team both threw for over 300 yards. The two teams combined for 851 total offensive yards, which at that time was a Super Bowl record. After trailing 10–7 in the first quarter, the 49ers scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and 10 unanswered points in the second half. Montana completed 24 of 35 passes for a Super Bowl-record 331 yards (breaking the mark of 318 yards set by Terry Bradshaw) and three touchdowns. He also broke the Super Bowl record for most rushing yards gained by a quarterback with his five rushes for 59 yards and one rushing touchdown. San Francisco set a Super Bowl record with 537 total yards, breaking the previous record of 429 yards set by the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI.

In Their Own Story

The Stanford Stadium air was thick with anticipation and the roar of eighty thousand fans, many draped in red and gold. Inside the huddle, Joe Montana adjusted his helmet, eyes locked on the sideline where Bill Walsh paced calmly. The crowd's noise swelled into a deafening wall as the ball snapped. Marino dropped back, but the pocket collapsed instantly. On the other side of the field, Montana rolled right, found his receivers, and launched passes that landed in their hands for touchdowns. The stadium erupted, a sea of red celebrating the coronation of their second world champions. Montana, named Super Bowl MVP, led the 49ers to a 38–16 victory, becoming the first team to win 15 regular season games since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

Reader's Guide

This was the first Super Bowl to be televised in the United States by ABC, joining the annual broadcasting rotation of the game with CBS and NBC. It was also the first time that the sitting U.S. president participated in the coin toss ceremony; Ronald Reagan appeared live via satellite from the White House and tossed the coin. This Super Bowl was unique in that it fell on the same day that he was inaugurated for a second term; because Inauguration Day (January 20) fell on a Sunday, Reagan was sworn in privately and the public ceremony took place the following day. This was the only Super Bowl to have been played on inauguration day. This Super Bowl also began the NFC's run of dominance. From 1984 to 1996, the National Football Conference won 13 consecutive Super Bowls and the average score per game in that span was nearly identical to the result of this game, NFC 38, AFC 17.

Did You Know?

• The game was played at Stanford Stadium, the first Super Bowl held in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• This became the second Super Bowl after Super Bowl XIV where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants.
• NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XIX to Stanford Stadium on December 14, 1982, at the owners' mid-season meeting held in Dallas.
• Stanford Stadium was picked despite having no lights at the time, no dressing rooms, and a substandard press box; stadium officials promised renovations and the league agreed to provide temporary lighting.
• The Dolphins' year began in tragedy as running back David Overstreet was killed in an automobile accident on June 24; the team wore decals with the number 20 on their helmets.