It’s difficult to imagine a better way to end a career than with a second consecutive Super Bowl victory, which must have been what quarterback John Elway was thinking when he announced his retirement from the NFL (as a player) after Super Bowl XXXIII.
There aren’t enough words to express Denver’s long-awaited victory in Super Bowl XXXII, let alone the enduring pride of being one of only eight franchises to win two consecutive Super Bowls (6th overall).
Elway’s skill was never in doubt in Denver or around the league, but part of me wishes I’d been old enough to witness when the stars finally aligned for his final two seasons and he brought two glittering Lombardi trophies to a long-awaited crowd. Denver’s loyalty and unwavering desire for perfection among the players (and head coach Mike Shanahan) were unparalleled. Re-watching the game is magical; yet, I believe it is hard to properly experience it unless you watched it in real time.
Broncos’ 1998 season
Mike Shanahan’s team was hungrier than ever after their first Super Bowl victory. With greats like John Elway, RB Terrell Davis, WR Ed McCaffrey, and TE Shannon Sharpe, among others, Denver refused to leave without a second consecutive Super Bowl victory.
The Broncos had an almost-perfect season, starting 13-0 and then falling to the New York Giants. The following week, they would lose to the Miami Dolphins, capping off Miami’s thirty-year butt-kicking of us.
John Elway ate and left no crumbs that year, completing 210 of 356 attempts (59.0% completion rate), passing for 2,806 yards and 22 touchdowns. Terrell Davis “broke the bank” by ending with 2,008 rush yards, a career high that earned him MVP honours and NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He was the fourth player to ever break the 2,000-yard rush mark.
The 1998 playoff run
The Broncos didn’t have to worry about Wild Card Weekend that year because they were the top seed, and they went straight to the Divisional Round, when they defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-3 at home. It was the first time they had defeated Miami since 1968.
The AFC Championship was also contested at Mile High Stadium, and the final score was 23-10 versus the New York Jets. As a result, the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons will face off in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Postseason bonus: Pro Bowl appearances.
The Broncos also had several Pro Bowl players that year, including John Elway, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe, Ed McCaffrey, K Jason Elam, FS Steve Atwater, OLB Bill Romanowski, LT Tony Jones, LG Mark Schlereth, and C Tom Nalen.
Three of these players were named All-Pro: Davis and Sharpe on the first team, and Elam on the second.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has already inducted Atwater, Davis, Elway, and Sharpe.
Super Bowl XXXIII recap
With John Elway playing his old Broncos coach, Dan Reeves, this was intended to be a memorable game; however, it was a little one-sided.
The temperature at Miami, FL’s Pro Player Stadium was a warm 73°F that day, not much different than the previous year’s 63°F in San Diego. The Broncos lost the coin toss, therefore the Falcons got the ball and scored a field goal, putting them first on the scoreboard. Of course, Atlanta’s early success was short-lived.
Denver scored a touchdown run by Howard Griffith after Rod Smith and Shannon Sharpe tag-teamed the ball down the field. This was around the time we lost one of our most valuable assets: Shannon twisted his left knee on that particular drive, and it was revealed shortly after that he would be out.
Sharpe finished with five catches for 62 yards before leaving the game.
The rest of the half featured an interception by John Elway, an Atlanta fourth-and-out forced by Denver’s defence, a successful 26-yard field goal by kicker Jason Elam, and the infamous 80-yard touchdown pass from Elway to Rod Smith, which was unwatchable from home television due to poor commercial timing.
Going into halftime, the Falcons managed to score another field goal to increase their lead slightly, but it was still 17-6. Of course, bigger second-half comebacks have occurred, but we all know that was not how this one ended.
Denver took the ball back to Atlanta in the second half, but Elam missed his field goal attempt. The two teams traded drives, each unable to convert, before Howard Griffith scored again with a one-yarder.
Then there was the moment when Elway slammed into the endzone for a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Broncos guard Mark Schlereth remembers going down next to him in the end zone when a photo was taken of them, in a moment they knew would seal the victory even before Elam’s decisive field goal.
“We attempted a quarterback draw and both fell in the end zone. We’re kind of face to face. And we’re pinned by other bodies,” he recounted, “And there was this really dramatic moment where he was looking at me and I was looking at him like, ‘Hey guy, we just won another title — back-to-back World Championships, really strong football moment.'”
“And he’s just looking into my facemask and I said, ‘Hi buddy, how are you?'”
According to Elway, Schlereth’s anticlimactic inquiry caused him to burst out laughing. With a wide grin on his face, Elway said, “You’re an idiot.”
Denver players performed brightly throughout the game, which ended with a total score of 39-19. Elway passed for a total of 336 yards. Terrell Davis, the league MVP that season, had 25 rushes for 102 yards (an average of 4.1 yards per carry), and WR Rod Smith finished with five receptions for 152 yards. WR Ed McCaffrey (Christian’s father) had five catches for 72 yards.
The offence was not the sole treasure. Denver’s defence forced four turnovers against the Falcons, three of which came on back-to-back plays in the second half, and limited them to one touchdown and two field goals. They were continually returning the ball to Elway’s hands, and that type of relay is what drew me to football in the first place; it is truly the ultimate team sport.
“You couldn’t have planned it more perfectly—no wind during the game, warm weather, a full moon—and now it pours, like a great, big release,” Elway stated after a rain storm that lasted until after the game (via Sports Illustrated Vault).
“I never, ever thought I’d be the Super Bowl MVP,” he stated, in probably the oddest statement to read. The concept that someone like John Elway would never dream of being the Super Bowl MVP is mind-boggling; nonetheless, that level of skepticism only serves to highlight the years and years of hard work that went into winning the first Super Bowl, and the subsequent ones. To be sure, he finished his career in perfect style.
What was it like for those of you who saw this game when it initially aired and felt all of the emotions play out there in front of you? What are your favourite memories of that day? It needed to be exceptional.
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