Super Bowl XVII
Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Redskins defeated the Dolphins, 27–17, to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30, 1983, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
"1983 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 1983 season, see Super Bowl XVIII.
Miami Dolphins (2)
(AFC)
(7–2)
January 30, 1983
103,667[3]
Bob Jani Productions presents "KaleidoSUPERscope" with the Los Angeles Super Drill Team and the Los Angeles Unified School District All City Marching Band starring Tammy Aadnesen.
48.6
(est. 81.77 million viewers)[4]
69
$400,000
Jack Buck and Hank Stram
This Super Bowl came at the end of a season that was significantly shortened by a players' strike. Teams ended up only playing nine regular season games, and the league conducted a special 16-team, four-round playoff tournament where divisions were ignored in the seeding. The Redskins had an NFC-best 8–1 regular season record, while the Dolphins finished at 7–2. Both teams advanced through the first three postseason rounds to Super Bowl XVII. The game then became a rematch of Super Bowl VII, also played in the Los Angeles area at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ten years before, where the Dolphins completed their 17–0 perfect season at the Redskins’ expense by a 14–7 score. This was also the second Super Bowl to rematch teams, the first being Super Bowl XIII, and the first one where the previous losing team won.
The first half was competitive and ended with the Dolphins leading 17–10. This was the third Super Bowl where the losing team was ahead at halftime, and the second where they were ahead by the start of the fourth quarter. However, the Redskins scored 17 unanswered points in the second half and gained a Super Bowl record 276 yards on the ground while holding the Dolphins to just 47 offensive plays for 176 total yards, 76 of which came on a single play.[5]
Nevertheless, Miami built a 17–10 halftime lead with Jimmy Cefalo's 76-yard touchdown catch and Fulton Walker's 98-yard kickoff return.[6] The turning point in the game came with 10:10 remaining: trailing, 17–13, and facing fourth down and one yard to go at the Dolphins' 43-yard line, Washington running back John Riggins broke through the Miami defense and ran into the end zone for a touchdown to take the lead. Wide receiver Charlie Brown then added an insurance touchdown with a 6-yard scoring reception.[7]
Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP,[8]
finishing the game with two new Super Bowl records: the most rushing yards (166) and the most rushing attempts (38) in a Super Bowl game. He was the first player from an NFC team to rush for 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Riggins also recorded a reception for 15 yards, giving him more total yards from scrimmage (181) than the entire Miami team.[9][10][11]
Background[edit]
Host selection process[edit]
The NFL awarded Super Bowl XV to Pasadena on March 13, 1979, at the owners' meetings in Honolulu. For the first time, three Super Bowl host cities were deliberated and selected at the same meeting (XV, XVI, and XVII). A total of eight cities submitted bids: New Orleans, Detroit (Silverdome), Pasadena (Rose Bowl), Los Angeles (Coliseum), Miami, Seattle (Kingdome), Dallas (Cotton Bowl), and Houston (Rice Stadium). Pasadena was selected for their third Super Bowl overall. New Orleans (XV) and Detroit (XVI) were other cities chosen at the meeting.[12][13]
After hosting five previous Super Bowls, Miami was noticeably left out of the bidding process, largely due the aging condition of the Orange Bowl, and for a hotel room mix-up at Super Bowl XIII two months earlier.[14][15] Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, locked in an ongoing feud with the city of Miami and Dade County over stadium improvements or construction of a new stadium, actually lobbied against Miami hosting the game. Robbie convinced the other owners to vote down Miami, in an effort to gain leverage towards building a new stadium. South Florida would not be selected to host another Super Bowl until Joe Robbie Stadium was built, and it hosted XXIII.[16][17]
This was the first outdoor Super Bowl to have a Jumbotron present. A temporary Sony Diamond Vision screen was installed in northeast corner of the stadium just above the last row seats. The only other Super Bowl facilities to date which had replay screens were indoors: the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans (XII and XV), and the Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit (XVI).
NFL players’ strike[edit]
A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 regular season from a 16-game schedule to 9 games. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament. Division standings were ignored. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular season records.
The modified schedule forced the league to extend the regular season into January for the first time. After the 57-day strike, the NFL extended the regular season one weekend (pushing the end of the regular season back from December 26 to January 2), moving back the start of the playoffs and eliminating the week off for the first time since Super Bowl IV.
Four teams that made the playoffs the previous year failed to do so in the strike-shortened season, even with the greatly expanded postseason field. The San Francisco 49ers, winners of Super Bowl XVI, struggled to a 3–6 record. The Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles also did not qualify for the playoffs. However, the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions did qualify for the playoffs despite 4–5 records, becoming the first teams in NFL history to compete in postseason play despite regular-season winning percentages below .500. No other losing teams would do so until the Seattle Seahawks reached the playoffs following the 2010 season, becoming the first team to accomplish this in a season unaffected by a strike. The 2014 Carolina Panthers, 2020 Washington Football Team and 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers also achieved playoff berths with winning percentages below .500 in seasons not shortened by a players' strike.
Broadcasting[edit]
United States[edit]
The game was televised in the United States by NBC. In the broadcast booth was Dick Enberg handling the play-by-play duties and color commentator Merlin Olsen. Len Berman and his NFL '82 castmates, Mike Adamle (who also covered the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation ceremony), Ahmad Rashad and Pete Axthelm anchored the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage. Locally, for each of their home teams, it was seen on local NBC affiliates WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. and WCKT-TV (whose callsign would become WSVN later that summer; it is now a Fox station since January 1, 1989) in Miami, and for their home field it was seen on KNBC in Los Angeles.
The game was broadcast nationally on radio on CBS, with Jack Buck handling the play-by-play duties and color commentator Hank Stram in the broadcast booth. Brent Musburger anchored the pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage with analysis from Irv Cross and Jimmy Snyder for CBS. Locally, Super Bowl XVII was broadcast on WMAL-AM in Washington, D.C. by Frank Herzog, Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgensen, and on WIOD-AM in Miami, Florida by Rick Weaver and Hank Goldberg.
NBC's national Nielsen rating of 48.6 was the second-highest for a Super Bowl broadcast, trailing only the 49.1 garnered by Super Bowl XVI on CBS the year before. NBC introduced a new theme for the game; a brass-based piece that would see usage in various forms (as game introduction; pregame introduction or bumper music) for most of the remainder of the decade.[22]
Following the game, NBC aired the premiere episode of The A-Team, beginning the regular tradition of the game's host network airing significant Super Bowl lead-out programs. As a way to hype the show for NBC, Mr. T was in attendance for the game.
The game is featured on NFL's Greatest Games under the title Hog Day Afternoon, narrated by John Facenda and featuring interviews with Joe Bugel and radio commentary by Herzog, Jurgensen and Huff.
International[edit]
The Super Bowl was shown live in Canada on CTV, which also simulcasted NBC's coverage. In Mexico it was broadcast, with NBC's signal, live at Rose Bowl Stadium by Televisa Channel 5 XHGC. The game was also shown live in the UK for the first time when Channel 4, Britain's newest channel (launched November 2, 1982) covered it.[23]
Entertainment[edit]
Super Bowl XVII was dedicated to University of Alabama coach Bear Bryant, who had died four days earlier. A moment of silence was held in his memory during the pregame ceremonies. Dolphins Tony Nathan, Dwight Stephenson, Bob Baumhower and Don McNeal were All-Americans for Bryant at Alabama, and Redskins reserve running back Wilbur Jackson was the first African-American to earn a football scholarship to Alabama.
The Los Angeles Unified School District All-City Band played during the pregame ceremonies. Later, actress Leslie Easterbrook performed the national anthem. Easterbrook almost missed the ceremony, saying, "the limo driver couldn’t find the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. When I finally got there I ran through that tunnel by myself and actually slid, as if I was diving for first base. I slid into the microphone and they had 60 seconds of silence for the passing of a football coach from Alabama. I caught my breath and did it."[24]
The coin toss ceremony featured Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Elroy Hirsch. Dolphins captain Bob Kuechenberg called "tails," and the coin landed "tails." However, referee Jerry Markbreit became confused by the similar design of both sides of the coin and incorrectly thought "heads" had landed. After a short discussion with his head linesman, Dale Hamer, Markbreit corrected his mistake before the kickoff, then asked Kuechenberg if the Dolphins would receive said kickoff, which they did. Justin Peters of Slate, who watched all the Super Bowls over a two-month period in 2015 before Super Bowl 50, reported what transpired: “Tails is the call,” said Markbreit. “Heads,” he said after the coin had dropped. “No, it’s tails, it’s tails,” everyone then said. “Whoop!” Markbreit said, bending down before announcing “Tails!” “So some confusion over what is heads and what is tails,” Dick Enberg said. Peters called it one of the funniest of all Super Bowl moments.[25]
The halftime show was produced by Bob Jani Productions and titled "KaleidoSUPERscope", and featured the Los Angeles Super Drill Team.
Officials wore a black armband with number 11 in memory of side judge Vince Jacob, who passed away during the players' strike. Jacob had been an official since 1975. It was the first time NFL officials wore such a memorial on the field during a Super Bowl. Back judge Dick Hantak was on the same crew as Jacob in 1981 and the first two games of 1982.