- Messages
- 79,281
- Reaction score
- 45,652
Ray Buck
E-Mail: rbuck@star-telegram.com
Posted on Fri, Jan. 25, 2008
Between them, Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw have a six-pack of Super Bowl rings.
Since the Fox NFL Sunday crew will be in Glendale, Ariz., for Super Bowl XLII, Jimmy and Terry can alert first-timers to the pitfalls of Super Bowl week.
Interestingly enough, their "free advice" is about as different as their hairlines, and, no, Frank Caliendo didn't come up with that.
"I wanted the practice routine to be the exact same Super Bowl week as it was all season," Johnson said during a Fox Sports teleconference Thursday. "I wanted our meals to be the same. I wanted our routine right up until game time to be the exact same that we had for any Sunday night game."
Johnson, of course, went two-for-two as a Super Bowl coach of the Cowboys.
"We'd eat five hours before the game. I even made sure we had the same menu," Johnson recalled. "Everybody's not superstitious.... but some guys are, and if you change the routine, things get out of kilter and guys start thinking, 'This isn't what we did when we won all those games.'."
Bradshaw, who won four Super Bowl rings as quarterback of the '70s Steelers, gave a player's perspective.
"The game plan was already in place when we got to the Super Bowl location - practices, film studies, meetings, it was done," Bradshaw said. "But what we didn't know as first-timers was the atmosphere. What was that going to be like?
"Well, Chuck Noll did a great job of keeping us loose and telling us to have fun, enjoy the city we were in, stay out of trouble, and so there was no pressure on us. And you can play your best when you're loose."
While Johnson's '92 and '93 Cowboys clobbered Buffalo by a combined 82-30, Bradshaw's Steelers won four Super Bowls in six years by average scores of 26-18. Twice, they beat Tom Landry's Cowboys.
"We, too, put the game plan in a week prior to Super Bowl week," Johnson said. "But we did save a couple of new wrinkles because I didn't want the players to get bored."
Be loose, not bored. Write it down. Pass it on. It seems to be the winning Super Bowl formula.
Best Damn Cowboy: DeMarcus Ware will join Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Marissa Miller and Papa Manning (Archie) as part of Thursday's lineup for the Best Damn Super Bowl Bash from Glendale, Ariz., on FSN Southwest. Guest host: Ray Lewis of the Ravens.
You might want to TiVo it. Because of network commitments to Stars hockey and Pac-10 basketball, Ware hits the air at 12:30 a.m., which is technically Friday.
Anyone got '90s Cowboys? A good old-fashioned "dynasty" debate among FSN analysts Eddie George, Jason Sehorn and Tim Brown will air on FSN Southwest multiple times over the weekend, starting tonight at 8 and 10. How do the '90s Cowboys stack up against the present-day Pats. Tune in, find out.
rbuck@star-telegram.com
Ray Buck, 817-390-7760
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/ray_buck/index.html
E-Mail: rbuck@star-telegram.com
Posted on Fri, Jan. 25, 2008
Between them, Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw have a six-pack of Super Bowl rings.
Since the Fox NFL Sunday crew will be in Glendale, Ariz., for Super Bowl XLII, Jimmy and Terry can alert first-timers to the pitfalls of Super Bowl week.
Interestingly enough, their "free advice" is about as different as their hairlines, and, no, Frank Caliendo didn't come up with that.
"I wanted the practice routine to be the exact same Super Bowl week as it was all season," Johnson said during a Fox Sports teleconference Thursday. "I wanted our meals to be the same. I wanted our routine right up until game time to be the exact same that we had for any Sunday night game."
Johnson, of course, went two-for-two as a Super Bowl coach of the Cowboys.
"We'd eat five hours before the game. I even made sure we had the same menu," Johnson recalled. "Everybody's not superstitious.... but some guys are, and if you change the routine, things get out of kilter and guys start thinking, 'This isn't what we did when we won all those games.'."
Bradshaw, who won four Super Bowl rings as quarterback of the '70s Steelers, gave a player's perspective.
"The game plan was already in place when we got to the Super Bowl location - practices, film studies, meetings, it was done," Bradshaw said. "But what we didn't know as first-timers was the atmosphere. What was that going to be like?
"Well, Chuck Noll did a great job of keeping us loose and telling us to have fun, enjoy the city we were in, stay out of trouble, and so there was no pressure on us. And you can play your best when you're loose."
While Johnson's '92 and '93 Cowboys clobbered Buffalo by a combined 82-30, Bradshaw's Steelers won four Super Bowls in six years by average scores of 26-18. Twice, they beat Tom Landry's Cowboys.
"We, too, put the game plan in a week prior to Super Bowl week," Johnson said. "But we did save a couple of new wrinkles because I didn't want the players to get bored."
Be loose, not bored. Write it down. Pass it on. It seems to be the winning Super Bowl formula.
Best Damn Cowboy: DeMarcus Ware will join Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Marissa Miller and Papa Manning (Archie) as part of Thursday's lineup for the Best Damn Super Bowl Bash from Glendale, Ariz., on FSN Southwest. Guest host: Ray Lewis of the Ravens.
You might want to TiVo it. Because of network commitments to Stars hockey and Pac-10 basketball, Ware hits the air at 12:30 a.m., which is technically Friday.
Anyone got '90s Cowboys? A good old-fashioned "dynasty" debate among FSN analysts Eddie George, Jason Sehorn and Tim Brown will air on FSN Southwest multiple times over the weekend, starting tonight at 8 and 10. How do the '90s Cowboys stack up against the present-day Pats. Tune in, find out.
rbuck@star-telegram.com
Ray Buck, 817-390-7760
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/ray_buck/index.html
