January 29, 1995: Steve Young Proves His Point

January 29, 1995: Super Bowl XXIX is played at Joe Robbie Stadium (now named Hard Rock Stadium) in suburban Miami Gardens, Florida, capping the NFL's 75th Season celebrations. The San Francisco 49ers, appropriately, score 49 points to beat the San Diego Chargers, with 26.

While it is the 5th Super Bowl win for the 49ers, it remains, through the 2021 season, the only Super Bowl appearance for the Chargers, who did win an AFL Championship in 1963. Despite their coming within 14 seasons, no one played on all 5 49er title teams.

Steve Young not only breaks out of the shadow of Joe Montana, but surpasses him in a way, setting a Super Bowl record with 6 touchdown passes. Deion Sanders becomes the 1st man to play in both a World Series and a Super Bowl. He is still the only one. Although he didn't win in either of his World Series appearances with the Atlanta Braves, he went on to win another Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys the next season.

It was the 2nd win as 49er head coach George Seifert, following the 1st 3, won by Bill Walsh, to whom he was defensive coordinator.

The 49ers have since been in 3 Super Bowls, losing them all. The Chargers, who moved to Los Angeles for the 2017 season, have lost their only AFC Championship Game appearance since this game.

UPDATE: The Chargers have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1994 AFC Champions, they've inducted quarterback Stan Humphries, defensive end Leslie O'Neal, linebacker Junior Seau, safety Rodney Harrison, head coach Bobby Ross and general manager Bobby Beathard. From later in the 1990s, they've inducted punter Darren Bennett. From the 2000s, they've inducted running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates.

Humphries, Seau, Tomlinson and Gates have also been inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions.

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January 29, 1995 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. Bowing to the knowledge that TV viewers would be hard to come by, the NBA scheduled only 2 games. The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 107-88 at Madison Square Garden. Patrick Ewing scored 35 points. And the Chicago Bulls beat the Golden State Warriors, 116-94 at the United Center in Chicago.

And the NHL scheduled just 3 games:

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Center) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.