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January 28, 1996
Cowboys steel Super Bowl
Larry Brown named game MVP
By GARY PICKNELL
Toronto Sun
TEMPE, Ariz. -- For a change, no one's laughing at the AFC after another Super Bowl.
The heavily favored Dallas Cowboys were supposed to beat the living cactus out of the Pittsburgh
Steelers here in Super Bowl XXX.
This was supposed to be as one sided as Desert Storm.
Possibly worse.
The Steelers were heavy underdogs, facing America's Team, a $61-million, well-oiled, explosive
scoring machine. Throw in the fact that an AFC team hasn't won this game since 1984, and, well, you
get the idea.
But the Dallas Cowboys were taken right to the edge and forced to hang on to preserve a cliff-hanger
of a 27-17 victory before they were able to rightfully assume their place in history alongside the
San Francisco 49ers.
It also marked sweet vindication for Dallas head coach Barry Switzer.
"We did it, we did it my way," said an obviously elated Switzer standing at the victory podium. "I've
never been here before, I'm a rookie. Where's the next one? I want to be back. This is bigger than
the Orange Bowl, this is the Grapefruit Bowl."
"This one is for coach Switzer, who took all the abuse," said running back Emmitt Smith, who scored
two touchdowns. "The dumb and dumber thing. This one is sweet."
The Cowboys now join the San Francisco 49ers as five-time Super Bowl champions while the Steelers can
at least leave here with dignity even though the loss marked their first Super Bowl loss in five
trips.
In the end, though, it was one of the Cowboys' lesser lights that shone brightest as cornerback Larry
Brown picked off two Neil O'Donnell passes in the second half leading to two Smith touchdowns. That's
correct, it was Brown, not Deion Sanders, who was named the game's most valuable player.
Brown's first interception came as the never-say-die Steelers kept battling back and battling back,
initially from a 13-0 deficit, to close the gap to 13-7 before his pickoff led to the Cowboys
increasing their lead to 20-7.
His second -- in the fourth quarter with the score 20-17 -- virtually was the straw that broke the
Steelers' back.
"It's not my MVP, it's the team's ," said Brown.
In retrospect, however, the Steelers lost because O'Donnell is not Terry Bradshaw.
Take away O'Donnell's two untimely picks and the outcome may have been different.
"You get into a situation where those things happen," said O'Donnell. "We came in here to play to
win, not sit back and lose."
It (his first interception) just got away from me. You can't single out one individual and saw that
was the reason why we lost."
The Cowboys jumped out early, to a 13-0 lead when quarterback Troy Aikman combined with tight-end Jay
Novacek for a three-yard touchdown sandwiched in between two Chris Boniol field goals. It appeared a
rout was on. Not so.
O'Donnell initially brought Pittsburgh back with a six-yard TD pass to Yancey Thigpen with 13 seconds
left in the half.
In the fourth, the Steelers came back to within a field goal with 6:36 left when Deon Figures
retrieved a short kickoff, leading to Bam Morris's one-yard TD plunge
Until, that is O'Donnell committed his second faux pas. Game, set and Super Bowl.
PHOTOS: Left: Dallas Cowboys cornerback and Super Bowl XXX Most Valuable Player Larry Brown
runs with a fourth quarter interception. Right: Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Billy Davis holds a
game ball after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. AP Photos
