While it would be easy to recommend watching the Dallas Cowboy’s next Super Bowl win in which they demolished the Denver Broncos in 1978, that would skip one of the most memorable Super Bowls and the beginning of the rivalry of the decade.
Despite losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17 in 1976 in Super Bowl X, the game was the start of a rivalry between the two franchises that defined the 1970s in the NFL. While the blue-collar Steelers would win four Super Bowls during the decade, with two coming against Dallas, it was the Cowboy’s who were christened America’s team as their fans would fill opposing team’s stadiums.
It was a showdown of contrasting styles and perceived team cultures. The Steelers represented the gritty style of football, with its talented defense nicknamed the Steel Curtain and its offense mostly still predicated on running the football despite Hall of Fame talent at quarterback and receivers. They had just won the franchises first championship in its 42-year team history the previous year in Super Bowl IX. The franchise had 10 future Hall of Fame players on its rosters that were all either or young or in their prime in 1975.
Dallas was coming off its only season of the decade it missed the playoffs in 1974. Gone were most of the 1960s franchise stalwarts to retirement. The team had a great draft before the season to replace some of the talent, drafting five future Pro Bowl players and one Hall of Fame player in Randy White with the second pick.
Another change came with infusing the shotgun formation on offense to give quarterback Roger Staubach room to operate behind a young offensive line. While the Cowboys were not the first football team to use the formation that dated back to the 1930s, they were the first NFL team to regularly use and popularize the formation.
The Cowboy’s famous Hail Mary play to beat the Minnesota Vikings in the division round of the playoffs that year was thanks in large part to the shotgun formation. It gave Staubach the time to launch the pass to Drew Pearson for the winning touchdown.
That along with the revolutionary way the team used computers to help scout players in the draft combined with Staubach’s clean cut image as the face of the franchise, Dallas was perceived by opposing fans as this high tech team that relied on finesse and gimmicks to beat teams.
The game was played in Miami’s Orange Bowl. All-time announcer Pat Summerall was again on the CBS broadcast, only this time it would be his first Super Bowl in the play-by-play announcer role, the position he would go on to be most known. He was paired with Tom Brookshier.
In just four years since the previous game I watched last week, Super Bowl VI, the broadcast has become much more watchable. Graphics are still used minimally, but with every commercial break showing the score, it was easy to keep track of the score. If you want to re-watch the game, you can on the NFL’s official Youtube page. Just type in both team’s names in the search bar. What is your favorite Super Bowl memory?

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.