Super Bowl XXVIII
Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1993 season. The Cowboys defeated the Bills, for the second straight year, by a score of 30–13, winning their fourth Super Bowl in team history, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers for most Super Bowl wins. The Buffalo Bills became the only team to both play and lose four consecutive Super Bowls (XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII) for a 0-4 franchise Super Bowl record, and as of 2023, remains the team's most recent Super Bowl appearance. The game was played on January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Since the 1993 regular season was conducted over 18 weeks (two byes per team), the traditional bye week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl was not employed; the last time this had happened was before Super Bowl XXV.
"1994 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 1994 season, see Super Bowl XXIX.
Dallas Cowboys (1)
(NFC)
(12–4)
January 30, 1994
72,817[3]
The Judds (feat. Wynonna and Naomi Judd), Clint Black, Travis Tritt and Tanya Tucker
45.5
(est. 90 million viewers)[4]
66
$900,000
Jack Buck and Hank Stram
This is the only time that the same two teams have met in consecutive Super Bowls. The defending Super Bowl XXVII champion Cowboys finished with a 12–4 regular season record, despite key players missing games due to injuries. The Bills were making their fourth consecutive Super Bowl appearance, but still seeking their first title, after also finishing with a 12–4 regular season record, largely through the strength of their no-huddle offense.
After trailing 13–6 at halftime, the Cowboys scored 24 unanswered points in the second half. The Bills had built their lead off of running back Thurman Thomas' 4-yard touchdown run. But just 45 seconds into the third quarter, Thomas was stripped of the ball, and Dallas safety James Washington returned the fumble 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the game. From there, Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, who was named the Super Bowl MVP, largely took over the game. On Dallas' next possession, Smith was handed the ball seven times on an eight-play, 64-yard drive that was capped off with his 15-yard touchdown run. He later scored on a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Overall, Smith had 30 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also catching 4 passes for 26 yards.
Background[edit]
Host selection process[edit]
NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XXVIII to Atlanta during their May 23, 1990 meetings in Irving, Texas. It would be Atlanta's first of three Super Bowls (as of 2024) and first of two played at the Georgia Dome. Four cities submitted bids including Atlanta (Georgia Dome), Miami (Joe Robbie Stadium), New Orleans (Superdome), and Tampa (Tampa Stadium). On the first ballot, Tampa was eliminated, mostly due to the fact that they were already scheduled to host XXV. Tampa Bay representative Hugh Culverhouse Jr. immediately threw their support behind the Atlanta bid.[5] Atlanta won on the fourth ballot, with owners rewarding Falcons owner Rankin Smith for his decision to keep the franchise in Atlanta, and for orchestrating the construction of the new stadium.[6] However, the NFL attached conditions to Atlanta's hosting duties. The Georgia Dome was still under construction; the first concrete footings had just been poured that same week. The league gave Atlanta a deadline of September 1 to finalize the construction schedule and budget, otherwise they may consider reassigning the game.[7][8] In September of that year, Atlanta was selected as the host for the 1996 Summer Olympics, with the Georgia Dome a key venue for the games. Almost immediately, the stadium's luxury boxes began to sell out,[9][10][11] helping ensure the stadium would be completed within budget.[12] The stadium was completed on-time for the 1992 season.
Broadcasting[edit]
The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC, with play-by-play announcer Dick Enberg and color commentator Bob Trumpy. Jim Lampley hosted all the events with the help of analysts Mike Ditka and Joe Gibbs and sideline reporters O. J. Simpson (on Buffalo's sideline) and Will McDonough (on Dallas' sideline). While Lampley was busy covering the trophy presentation, Bob Costas (who also interviewed Dallas head coach Jimmy Johnson and Dallas owner/general manager Jerry Jones together prior to the game) covered for Lampley at the host and analysts' desk (and signed off the broadcast for NBC). NBC also introduced a new NFL theme music by composer John Colby that would be retained for the 1994 season. This would be Simpson's last NFL on NBC appearance before being charged with murder later in Summer 1994.
This remains the only time a single network had held consecutive Super Bowls outright. The league normally alternated the Super Bowl broadcast among its television networks, except for Super Bowl I in which both NBC and CBS televised it simultaneously. The five-year NFL contract signed in 1989 had a provision where the last Super Bowl in the contract (XXVIII) would not be rotated, but would go to the highest bidder. NBC, which had held XXVII (according to the original rotation, NBC would have had XXVI and CBS XXVII, but the NFL allowed the networks to switch the two games in order to allow CBS a significant lead-in to its coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics), was the only network to bid on XXVIII.
NBC's Super Bowl lead-out programs were the fifth episode of The Good Life and the seventeenth episode of The John Larroquette Show.[20]
Entertainment[edit]
Pregame ceremonies[edit]
The pregame show held before the game was titled "Georgia Music Makers" and featured performances by the rap music duo Kris Kross, the rock band The Georgia Satellites, country musician Charlie Daniels, and the Morehouse College Marching Band.
The United States Trampoline Association (USTA) performed on 4 trampolines during "Jump" performed by Kris Kross.
Later, singer Natalie Cole, accompanied by the Atlanta University Center Chorus, sang the national anthem with elements of America the Beautiful.
To honor the 25th anniversary of the New York Jets' upset win in Super Bowl III, that game's MVP, former Jets quarterback Joe Namath joined the coin toss ceremony.
Halftime show[edit]
The halftime show was titled "Rockin' Country Sunday" and featured country music stars Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and Wynonna Judd. The show's finale included a special appearance by Naomi Judd, who joined Wynonna in performing The Judds' single "Love Can Build a Bridge", to which everyone eventually joined in.
This was the first Super Bowl halftime show in which the main stadium lights were turned off for the performance. The show included dancers with yard-long light sticks.
Source:[25]