Feb 4, 2017 5 min read

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and I will have the best seat in the house.

In my living room.

With a big-screen television and lots of munchies and beverages.

Having covered 30 Super Bowls – 12 behind the total of John Clayton of ESPN – I can recall the good old days, when no such thing as radio row existed. In the good old days, you could sit at the same table and conduct interviews with the top players of the game.

Not today. Media Day is one huge event, held at night, attended by Hollywood celebrities and, of course, your friendly politicians.

Stupid questions are still asked.

I remember the look on the face of Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams when he was asked, if he were a tree what kind would he be? He laughed and walked away.

Today, Super Bowl Media Day is all about entertainment. I don’t miss the pushing and shoving when more than 4,000 reporters converge on 53 players and the coaches. There was a time when I wore elbow pads as I pushed and shoved my way thru the crowd.

I noticed a big change in the mid-1980s, when the Super Bowl went from being only a game to the biggest event in America.

As for the best and the worst of the 30 Super Bowls I covered:

No. 5 – Super Bowl 18 in Tampa. The Los Angeles Raiders dominated the Redskins. Washington couldn’t stop Raiders running back Marcus Allen and Los Angeles won 38-9.

No. 4 – Super Bowl 27 in beautiful Pasadena, Calif. A crowd of 107,000 watched the Dallas Cowboys embarrass Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.

No. 3 – A blowout in Miami, home of Super Bowl 29, as Steve Young threw six TD passes as the San Francisco 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers, 49-26. The game wasn’t that close. The Chargers had upset the Steelers in the AFC title game at Three Rivers Stadium. The best team that day lost. I’ll never forget seeing grown men cry in that quiet Pittsburgh locker room.

No. 2 – Super Bowl 35 – I fell asleep in the second quarter as the Baltimore Ravens crushed the New York Giants, 34-7. The Giants’ backfield seemed to include Ray Lewis, who made the day miserable for the Giants.

No. 1 – Super Bowl 20 – That week in New Orleans was fun until I got home and received my credit card statement. I took the Mrs. to the game. It was costly but she had a good time. The game between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears was thw worst. It was all Chicago, 46-10.

No. 5 – Super Bowl 14. I was the only radio reporter from Pittsburgh to talk to the Los Angeles Rams the Wednesday before the game. Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo pulled a Joe Namath and said the Rams will have no problems beating the Steelers.

I rushed to nearest telephone and sent out sound to ABC, CBS and Associated Press. Some of Steelers laughed when they listened to Ferragamo’s comments. The Steelers won 31-19. Jack Youngblood, a solid defensive end for the Rams, played the game with a broken bone in his leg. Talk about a warrior.

No. 4 – Super Bowl 43 was a classic. James Harrison raced 100 yards with an interception for a touchown on the final play of the first half and Ben Roethlisberger threw a game-winning TD to Santonio Holmes with less that 90 seconds left. Fun week in Tampa, great game between the Cardinals and Steelers with Pittsburgh winning, 27-23.

No. 3 – Super Bowl 16 in cold snowy Detroit. Many reporters hated the week in the cold weather. I loved the city and was able to tour the General Motors and Ford museums along with the Motown House, home of the Supremes, Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the great producer of hits Barry Gordy. The 49ers, led by Ringgold’s Joe Montana, beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-21.

No. 2 – Back to Detroit for Super Bowl 40. The Steelers’ Jerome Bettis returned home and got a Super Bowl win over Seattle. For me, the highlight of the week was the Rolling Stones’ press conference. I asked Mick Jagger what was it like to be on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first in 1964? “We knew we made it big big time by appearing live on the show in front of millions of viewers,” he said.

No. 1 – Super Bowl 13, Steelers and Cowboys, playing in the Orange Bowl. The eight days in sunny Miami were great. I interviewed a couple of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Cowboys linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson said Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw couldn’t spell cat if you gave him the C and the T.

For me, the best part of Super Bowl 13 was when we checked in the hotel. The Steelers gave out new Buick rental cars to the players, coaches and several members of the media. Only three radio guys got keys for a rental car for a week: Jack Fleming, Myron Cope and me. Do you know how many friends I made that week? Lets put it this way, I never paid for a meal.

It was a great week but an even better game as the Steelers edged the Cowboys, 35-31, as Bradshaw passed for 318 yards and four touchdowns.

Today, I like the Patriots to beat the Atlanta Falcons. I want to see former Washington & Jefferson College student Roger Goodell hand the Lombardi Trophy to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and team owner Robert Kraft.

Bill DiFabio writes a column on sports history for the Observer-Reporter.