Secrets of the Super Bowl Quarterbacks
SUPER BOWL IV
People don't know that I called almost all of our offensive plays during the Super Bowl. My coach, Hank Stram, would make suggestions, and we devised the game plan together. But the final call was usually up to me. So I was a little surprised when, with six minutes until halftime, one of our receivers, Gloster Richardson, came into the huddle with a play call from Stram. We had third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, and a touchdown would have given us a 16-0 lead. "65 toss power trap," Richardson said. I did a double-take: "Are you sure that's what he said?" I couldn't remember the last time we ran that play, even in practice. It wasn't in our game plan and definitely wasn't what I was thinking of calling. But Richardson said he was sure, so we ran it. It was an easy play for me: I just had to hand it off to running back Mike Garrett and watch him sprint off left guard, untouched, into the end zone. I never asked Stram where the play call came from; I just congratulated him. It was a heck of a call. I didn't see how the Vikings were going to come back from being down 16-0, not with how well our defense was playing. As I walked off the field, I remember thinking, "There it is. We just won the Super Bowl."-- As told to Scott T. Miller of ESPN The Magazine
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