November 22, 2002: Ozzie Newsome Becomes the 1st Black GM In the NFL

November 22, 2002: Ozzie Newsome is named the general manager of the Baltimore Ravens. This makes him the 1st black general manager in the National Football League.

He was born in 1956 in Alabama, a State where football is king, and in a town whose name suggests strength, in football and other things: Muscle Shoals. A tight end, he played for coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama, and was a member of their 1978 National Champions.

Playing for the Cleveland Browns, he caught 662 passes, for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns, in each of those statistics more than any tight end before him. He made 3 Pro Bowls, and helped the Browns reach 3 AFC Championship Games. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, and the Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor. Each of these honors was for his playing career alone. (The Browns have not, however, retired his Number 82.)

Upon his retirement before the 1991 season, he was named an executive with the Browns. When team owner Art Modell controversially moved the team for the 1996 season, making them the Baltimore Ravens, Newsome went with them. As executive vice president for player personnel (for all intents and purposes, the assistant GM), he received a ring when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.

He was named their GM in 2002, holding the job for 17 seasons, an unusually long time for an NFL GM. They made the Playoffs 9 times, reached 3 AFC Championship Games, and won Super Bowl XLVII. After the 2018 season, he stepped back, and returned to the position of executive vice president for player personnel, making him more of a GM emeritus than an assistant GM: Eric DeCosta holds the title, but Newsome is the guy he listens to the most.

The NFL allowed the founding of a new Browns franchise, with all of the team's 1946-95 history and trademarks, starting with the 1999 season. They have been considerably less successful than the Ravens, and Browns fans despise the Ravens nearly as much as they do their traditional rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ravens fans don't think that way: The Steelers are their arch-rivals, too, while they think of the Browns as more of a minor annoyance. Ozzie Newsome is the only man who is popular with both sets of fans.

In 2022, while only 3 of the 32 NFL teams have black head coaches, 7 have black general managers: Andrew Berry of the Browns, Terry Fontenot of the Atlanta Falcons, Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears, Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions, Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins, Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings, and Martin Mayhew of the Washington Commanders.

The Ravens currently have a black team president, Sashi Brown. (DeCosta may sound like a Hispanic name, but he is actually of Portuguese descent.) The Las Vegas Raiders have a team president (not "general manager") who is not only black, but female: Sandra Douglass Morgan.

*

November 22, 2002 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 12 games in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 105-97 in overtime at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-79 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-98 in double overtime at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. Paul Pierce scored 36 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors, 90-80 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Miami Heat, 75-72 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards, 93-86 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 95-86 at the SBC Center (now the AT&T Center) in San Antonio.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-70 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 72-70 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 86-73 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 95-91 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns, 118-101 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Stephon Marbury, in defeat, led all scorers on the night with 39 points.

There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 3-3 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

October 16, 1983: Edward Bennett Williams' Unique Double

October 16, 1983: Eddie Murray slams a pair of home runs and Scott McGregor pitches a 5-hitter, as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and win the World Series 4-1. Baltimore catcher Rick Dempsey‚ who hit .385 with 4 doubles and a home run‚ is named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

The Orioles win their 3rd World Series, marking a unique double: Edward Bennett Williams, famed trial lawyer, majority owner of the Orioles, and minority owner and former majority owner of the NFL's Washington Redskins, becomes the only man ever to be an owner of the current World Series winners and the current Super Bowl champions at the same time.

This caps a period where the Orioles have finished 1st 8 times in 18 years, and have at least been competitive almost continuously since 1960. But, due to their core players getting old and later mismanagement by owner Peter Angelos, they have not played a World Series game since.

The last out is a line shot to shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., son and namesake of the Orioles' longtime 3rd base coach. He becomes the only player ever to win either League's Rookie of the Year in his 1st full season, and then the League's MVP in his 2nd, defying what had come to be known as "the sophomore jinx." He will play another 18 seasons, but never appear in another World Series.

Edward Bennett Williams is born on May 31, 1920 in Hartford, Connecticut. Setting up practice in Washington, D.C., he became known as a "superlawyer," representing people on the left, the right, and those who switched. He represented singer-actor Frank Sinatra, Playboy magazine publisher Hugh Hefner, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, cult leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and, at the end of his life, "junk bond" trader Michael Milken.

In 1965, he bought a controlling interest in the Redskins from the conservators of founding owner George Preston Marshall, who had been rendered incompetent for ownership by a stroke. Williams rebuilt the long-dormant team, seeing them reach 3 Super Bowls.

In 1980, he bought the Orioles. At the time, NFL rules prohibited a majority owner from being a majority owner in another sport, so, in preparation for buying the Orioles, Williams sold some of his stake in the Redskins to Jack Kent Cooke, former owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, the builder of the Forum arena outside L.A., and the last owner of the minor-league baseball team that gave its name to an NHL powerhouse, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On January 30, 1983, the Redskins won Super Bowl XVII. Eight and a half months later, the Orioles won the World Series. Williams remains the only person to be an owner of the holder of the MLB and NFL championships at the same time. In 1985, he sold the rest of his Redskins stock to Cooke. Not long before his death in 1988, he negotiated the deal to build a new ballpark for the Orioles, ending Baltimore's fears that he would move the team down the Parkway to his beloved Washington.

As of the 2022 NFL season, Williams' "double" has not be repeated, and cannot be, as no majority owner of an MLB team has a noticeable share of ownership of an NFL team, and vice versa.

One other note: The day before, October 15, 1983, Game 4 was played in daylight: Orioles 5, Phillies 4. Through the 2022 MLB season, it remains the last World Series game played under the Sun. Game 4 in 1984 was played in daylight, but under overcast skies. Game 6 in 1987 began in daylight, but was played in a dome.

Also on this day, Kelso died at age 26. A grandson of 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet, he was eligible to run in the Triple Crown races in 1960, but did not do so. But from ages 3 to 8 (8 is not old for a horse, but it's old for a horse to be racing), he won many big races, including 5 straight Jockey Club Gold Cups from 1960 to 1964 and 3 straight Woodward Stakes from 1961 to 1963.

He won the Daily Racing Form Horse of the Year award 5 times. No other horse has even won it 4 times. He was retired in 1966, having won just under $2 million, a record that would stand until 1979. He died just 1 day after being paraded around the track at Belmont Park, prior to the running of the race that was his trademark, the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Perhaps it was too much for him.

Horse racing writer Joe Hirsch wrote, "Once upon a time there was a horse named Kelso. But only once."

*

October 16, 1983 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-17 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 32-14 at Shea Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 37-21 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schafer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxboro, Massachusetts.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Colts, 30-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-27 at Tampa Stadium.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 32-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 44-17 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 31-17 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Houston Oilers, 34-14 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-21 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 38-36 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the next night, the highest-scoring game in the history of ABC Monday Night Football was played: The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 48-47 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat their "Battle of Alberta" arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Flames' new home, the Olympic Saddledome, which opens on this night. The next night, the same teams played at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, and the Oilers won again, 5-1.

June 8, 1966: The NFL-AFL Merger Is Announced

The AFL's logo, and the logo the NFL was using at the time

June 8, 1966: After 6 years of "war," the established National Football League and the upstart American Football League reach an agreement on a merger.

The process began 2 months earlier, when Al Davis, head coach of the AFL's Oakland Raiders, was named Commissioner of the AFL, replacing Joe Foss, who had been Commissioner since the league's founding in 1959. Davis' approach, much like the pirate on his team's helmet, was "Take no prisoners." That spooked the NFL team owners, who were tired of the rising salaries that the bidding war between the leagues was producing.

So Tex Schramm, general manager of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, contacted Lamar Hunt, founder of the AFL and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt, more respected by the AFL team owners than Davis was, went behind Davis' back, and undercut Davis in his desire for all-out war. This resulted in Raiders vs. Chiefs being a very nasty rivalry that lasts to this day, in spite of the Raiders' moves.

On June 8, Hunt and Schramm called a press conference in New York, and announced that they'd agreed upon these points:

* The AFL's 8 teams, which would be 10 teams by the time the process was completed, would join the NFL and its 14 teams, which would soon grow to 16, and the combined 26-team league would keep the NFL name.

* All existing teams would remain in their respective metropolitan areas for the time being. Some teams soon built new stadiums out in the suburbs of their anchor cities, including the AFL's Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills; and the NFL's New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. But no team in the combined NFL would move to a different metro area until the Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982. (That, however, began a new era in which several teams moved, and others at least threatened to do unless their current cities built them new stadiums.)

* Each league's champion would meet in an "AFL-NFL World Championship Game," starting with the end of the upcoming season. As it turned out, it would be informally nicknamed "the Super Bowl" at the time, officially so for the one at the climax of the 1968 season, and, for the 1970 season, officially named that with a Roman numeral added: Super Bowl V.

* Starting in 1967, there would be a common draft between the two leagues.

* Also starting in 1967, there would be preseason exhibition games between teams in the two leagues. So the first "AFL-NFL World Championship Game," retroactively renamed Super Bowl I, became, in Hunt's words, "the only time a pure AFL team played a pure NFL team."

* Starting in 1970, with everybody in one league, the National Football Conference would be made up of "original NFL" teams, while 3 such teams -- the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- were moved over to join the AFL teams in the American Football Conference.

* Each Conference would be divided into Eastern, Central and Western Divisions. Each Division's champion, plus a "wild card" team, would go into the Playoffs, resulting in 4 Playoff teams in each Conference, competing to be the Conference Champions, who would then face each other in the Super Bowl.

* Each league would keep its current television contract: CBS would keep the NFL/NFC games, and NBC would keep the AFL/AFC games. For interconference games, whichever was the visiting team would decide it: If an NFC team was visiting an AFC team, CBS would televise it; if it was the other way around, it was on NBC. This would hold until 1993, when new contracts were signed. (CBS ended up broadcasting so many Dallas Cowboys games that people joked that their initials stood for "Cowboys Broadcasting System.")

* And Pete Rozelle, currently the Commissioner of the NFL, would remain in charge of the combined league.

That last point ticked Davis off: He wanted to be Number 1 in everything he did, from running the Raiders to football competition. He resigned as AFL Commissioner in July, replaced by Milt Woodard, who had been Assistant Commissioner under both Foss and Davis, and served until the merger was completed in March 1970.

*

June 8, 1966 was a Wednesday. Actress Julianna Marguiles was born.

Football was out of season. So were basketball and hockey. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Joe Pepitone each got 2 hits, but Gary Bell outpitched Mel Stottlemyre. Jim Bouton, Bell's future roommate on the 1969 Seattle Pilots, and chronicler of that team in his book Ball Four, did not get into this game. I guess Bell smoked them inside.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Shea Stadium. Hank Aaron went 4-for-5 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. Joe Torre went 2-for-5. The starting pitchers were Jack Fisher for the Mets and Hank Fischer for the Braves -- obviously, no relation. Jack Fisher was the losing pitcher, and the winning pitcher, in relief, was Clay Carroll.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Phils got home runs from Dick Allen, Tony Gonzalez and Clay Dalrymple. Pete Rose went 1-for-5.

* A doubleheader was played at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Well, sort of. In the opener, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 6-5. Cam Carreon doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning, making a winning pitcher of Stu Miller in relief of Jim Palmer. The nightcap was interrupted in the 8th inning, because the American League then had a curfew: No inning could start after 1:00 AM. The game was completed the next day, and the Orioles won, 8-7. 

Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 5-for-10 with a solo home run, while Frank Robinson went 2-for-9 with 2 walks.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Lou Brock went 1-for-5. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3, and Willie Stargell went 3-for-4 with a 2-run homer.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Don Wert drew a bases-loaded "walkoff walk" in the bottom of the 11th inning, making a winner of Larry Sherry after Denny McLain pitched 10 innings. Al Kaline hit 2 home runs, while Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4. The Red Sox got a home run from Tony Conigliaro, and 2 of them from Jim Gosger (who turned out to be another '69 Pilot).

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Randy Hundley hit a home run off Don Drysdale, to help make a winning pitcher out of Dick Ellsworth, who advanced to 2-8 on the season. (He finished at 8-22. With the Cubs in 1963, he went 22-10.) Ernie Banks went 2-for-3. 

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Cuellar outpitched Juan Marichal. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with an RBI double.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). George Brunet (who turned out to be another '69 Pilot) pitched a 2-hit shutout.

April 6, 1992: The Metrodome's Treble

April 6, 1992: Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It makes the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils were led by Christian Laettner with 19 points, Grant Hill with 18, and Thomas Hill with 16. Michigan were led by their "Fab Five," all freshmen: Forward Chris Webber scored 14 points, guard Jalen Rose 11, center Juwan Howard 9, guard Jimmy King 7, and forward Ray Jackson 4.

This NCAA Final Four, the 1st held in Minneapolis since Williams Arena, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, held it in 1951, was the conclusion of a historic period. The Metrodome had a unique treble: It hosted the World Series on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, 1991, with the Minnesota Twins beating the St. Louis Cardinals; and Super Bowl XXVI on January 26, 1992, with the Washington Redskins beating the Buffalo Sabres, 37-24.

Metrodome basketball setup

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was named for the former Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Mayor of Minneapolis, and 3-time candidate for President including the 1968 Democratic nominee for President.

It opened at 5th Street and Chicago Avenue on April 3, 1982, and local officials bragged that it opened on time and on budget. It replaced suburban Metropolitan Stadium as the home of Major League Baseball's Twins and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

The University of Minnesota played their football games there from 1982 to 2008. And for their 1st season, 1989-90, before the Target Center opened, it also hosted the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

But baseball teams hated it, having trouble seeing the white ball against the white roof, and feeling that it was too easy to hit home runs there. It became known as the Homerdome. Perhaps New York Yankees manager Billy Martin hated it more than anyone else: Possibly channeling his former teammate and coach Yogi Berra, he once said, "It's a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it." (He meant "had it named after him.")

Football players didn't like it, either, citing its hard artificial turf. In 1984, Detroit Lions running back Billy Sims blew out his knee on that turf, ending what could have been a Hall of Fame career.

The Twins won the World Series there in 1987 and 1991, and made the Playoffs in 5 other seasons. The Vikings were considerably less successful: They reached the NFC Championship Game 4 times, including hosting it in the 1998 season, but lost them all.

In 2009, UM moved back onto their own campus, opening TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium). The Twins moved into Target Field, a mile to the west, for the 2010 season. On December 12, 2010, snow broke through the Metrodome's roof, forcing the Vikings into TCF Bank Stadium.

Finally, after threats by team owner Zygi Wilf to move them to Los Angeles, Las Vegas or San Antonio if he didn't get a new stadium, on December 29, 2013, the Vikings beat the Lions, 14-13, on the playing surface named Mall of America Field -- ironically, named for the giant shopping center built on the site of Metropolitan Stadium -- and the Metrodome was demolished. The Vikings played at UM for 2 seasons, while U.S. Bank Stadium was built on the site of the Metrodome.

The Metrodome is not missed outside the Gopher State. Nevertheless, it remains the only venue to have hosted a World Series, an NFL Championship Game (under any name), and an NCAA Final Four. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium and Miami's Hard Rock Stadium had hosted a World Series and a Super Bowl.

The Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ford Field in Detroit, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium in Dallas, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, and U.S. Bank Stadium have hosted a Super Bowl and a Final Four.

*

April 6, 1992 was a Monday. This was also the day that Barney & Friends premiered on PBS. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

February 11, 2024: The Taylor Swift Super Bowl

February 11, 2024: Super Bowl LVIII is played, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. It becomes the longest game in Super Bowl history.

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

The game was scoreless after the 1st quarter. At the half, the San Francisco 49ers led the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending World Champions, 10-3. With 1:53 to go in regulation, the Niners led, 19-16. They were that close to their 6th Super Bowl win, their 1st in 29 years.

But the Chiefs were the defending Champions for a few reasons. The biggest of those reasons was their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. He led the Chiefs down the field, and with 3 seconds left, Harrison Butker kicked a 29-yard field goal to send the game to overtime, only the 2nd time that had happened in a Super Bowl.

For many years, under NFL rules, the 1st score in an overtime won the game. This was considered unfair: A team could win the overtime coin toss, get within field goal range, and win by 3 points without the other team even getting the ball. The rules were tweaked a season earlier: This was the 1st postseason game to go to overtime since the NFL changed the overtime rules for playoff games, so that both teams get at least one chance to possess the ball in overtime, even if a touchdown is scored on the initial possession.

The 49ers won the toss, and drove down the field before stalling at the Chiefs' 9-yard line. Jake Moody, who had earlier kicked a 55-yard field goal, kicked one from 27 yards out, and the 49ers led, 22-19.

But Mahomes and the Chiefs responded by driving 75 yards in 13 plays, converting 2 3rd downs and a 4th down, to set up 1st and goal on the San Francisco 3-yard line. Mahomes then passed to Mecole Hardman, who took the ball into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Chiefs 25, 49ers 22.

The game lasted for 74 minutes and 57 seconds of game time, just short of 5 full quarters, making it the longest Super Bowl ever, and the 7th-longest NFL postseason game.

Much of the hype around the game revolved around Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' All-Pro tight end, and his girlfriend, the most popular singer in the world at the time, Taylor Swift. There was a rumor going around that the NFL was going to fix the game for the Chiefs so that Swift would get more camera time, with she and the NFL boosting each other's attention grabs.

At one point during that last regular-season drive, the camera focused on one of the luxury boxes, where Swift was sitting with Kelce's family. This prompted me to write online, "This game is a nailbiter. Literally: Taylor Swift was just caught on camera biting her nails."

There were also several TV commercials featuring Kelce, some with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce. They had been on opposite sides of the previous season's Super Bowl, which the Chiefs had won.

The Chiefs had now won 3 titles in 4 appearances in 5 years. It was their 4th title overall, in 6 appearances, plus an AFL Championship before their was a Super Bowl.

Andy Reid joined Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and Jimmy Johnson as head coaches who had won 3 Super Bowls. Mahomes joined Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady * as quarterbacks who had done it.

In a note that stung many people in the New York Tri-State Area, Hardman began the season with the New York Jets. He left that dysfunctional franchise, then caught in the whims of aging quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and won a Super Bowl elsewhere.

*

February 11, 2024 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Obviously, there were no other football games. Baseball was out of season. Not willing to compete much with the NFL for TV viewers, the NBA scheduled only 2 games. The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 110-106 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. And the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings, 127-113 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points.

The NHL also scheduled only 2 games. The St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. J.T. Miller scored the winning goal with 5 seconds left in overtime, avoiding a shootout.

And in English soccer, Arsenal crossed London from North to East, and beat West Ham United, 6-0 at the London Stadium.

February 8, 2026: A Super Bowl of Redemptions

Sam Darnold (left) and Kenneth Walker III

Siri, what is Super Bowl Sunday?

Liberal Siri: It is America's annual tribute to violence, unregulated capitalism, and cholesterol.

Conservative Siri: It's the most wonderful time of the year!

*

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

February 8, 2026: Super Bowl LX was played, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, home of the San Francisco 49ers, although it's 43 miles from downtown San Francisco, and 7 miles from downtown San Jose.

It was a chance at redemption for the Seattle Seahawks, after their loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, 11 years earlier, when their head coach at the time, Pete Carroll, made the dumbest play call in the history of football.

It was a chance at redemption for their quarterback, Sam Darnold, who had previously washed out with the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers, and had been rejected by the Minnesota Vikings, despite getting them to a 14-3 regular-season record last season, before failing in the Playoffs. It was even a chance at redemption for his Southern California hometown, San Clemente, which is where Richard Nixon moved after he resigned the Presidency in disgrace.

Some people thought it was a chance at redemption for the Patriots: For the 1st time in 29 years, they were playing in a Super Bowl without Bill Belichick as head coach and Tom Brady at quarterback. They had been 6-3 in Super Bowls when suspected of cheating, and 0-2 in them before that when not.

There would be no redemption for the New York Jets or their fans. If the Patriots won, that would be the Jets' arch-rivals winning it -- again! If the Seahawks won, that would be Darnold winning it, reminding them of how their team totally mishandled him.

Unfortunately, for most of the game, it was looking like the worst-played Super Bowl, both teams combined, ever. For the 1st 46 minutes of the game, into the 4th quarter, the score was Seahawks 12, Patriots 0. Being a Yankee Fan, and thus hating all New England sports teams (though not the region of New England itself), and being a fan of fairness, and thus hating all cheating, I was happy about the score.

But, despite the fact that there were no turnovers until a Patriot fumble in the last 15 seconds of the 3rd quarter, the level of play was terrible. The Patriots had 4 1st Downs, while the Seahawks had 4 field goals, and neither team had scored a touchdown. There was a decent shot at the 1st shutout in a Super Bowl, and it wasn't even because the Seattle defense was so strong: It was that the New England offense, coached by Mike Vrabel and quarterbacked by Derek Maye, was so inept. They had not gotten further downfield than the Seahawks' 43-yard line.

Seahawk kicker Jason Myers was beginning to look like he would be the 1st placekicker to be named the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl. He ended up becoming the 1st man to kick 5 field goals in a Super Bowl, matching his uniform number; and scoring 17 points overall. (James White of the Patriots scored 20 -- 3 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion -- in Super Bowl LI, and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles tied that record in Super Bowl LVII.)

Finally, with 13 minutes and 24 seconds to go, Darnold threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to AJ Barner, to give the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. Very briefly, the Patriots started to make it interesting, getting to 19-7 and driving for a 2nd touchdown, and we were all, "Oh, here we go again: No Belichick, no Brady, but are the Patriots cheating again? Is this gonna be another comeback like Super Bowl LI between the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, 28-3 becomes a Patriot overtime win?

But, no: That drive ended with 8:37 to go, with an interception by Julian Love that led to Myers' 5th field goal. It was then that I saw in the eyes of Maye the look of a quarterback who knew he was going to lose the Super Bowl. I had seen it before, in the eyes of Craig Morton in 1978, Ron Jaworski in 1981, Joe Theismann in 1984, Dan Marino in 1985, Tony Eason in 1986, John Elway 3 times in the late 1980s before he finally won two in the late 1990s, Jim Kelly 4 times in the early 1990s, Kurt Warner in 2002, Peyton Manning in 2014, and even 3-time winner Patrick Mahomes last year.

And on the Pats' next drive, Uchenna Nwosu intercepted a weak Maye pass, and returned it 45 yards for, Cliché Alert, the nail in the coffin. These 2 turnovers were a quick redemption for the Seahawk defense, which people were beginning to doubt. Final score: Seattle 29, New England 13.

The Seahawks had won their 2nd Super Bowl, and Seattle's 4th World Championship, following their win in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, the 1979 NBA Championship of the now-on-hiatus Seattle SuperSonics, and the 1st Stanley Cup won by an American team, in 1917, but the long-defunct Seattle Metropolitans. If you count Major League Soccer, add 2 for the Seattle Sounders: 2016 and 2019. If you count the WNBA, add 4 for the Seattle Storm: 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020. So that would be 10 titles for the Queen City of the Northwest.

Mike McDonald, at 38, became the 3rd-youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, following Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams in LV and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers in XLIII, who were each 36. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 135 yards, the most in a Super Bowl in 28 years, and was named the MVP. And Darnold joined a select group of quarterbacks who had been mishandled by teams before being signed by teams willing to take a chance on them, and leading them to Super Bowl glory: Len Dawson, Earl Morrall, Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams, Brad Johnson, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford.

*

As for the entertainment: The opening ceremony was led by Bay Area-based rock band Green Day, who played the title track of their best-known album, American Idiot. It was written in reflection of the President at the time, George W. Bush. Who knew that, one day, we would have a President whose words and actions would make him look even more idiotic?

Openly lesbian singer Brandi Carlisle sang "America the Beautiful." Black singer Coco Jones, daughter of 1990s Patriots player Mike Jones, sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a.k.a. "The Black National Anthem," to which Trump and conservatives have objected in the past. The actual National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," was sung by Charlie Puth, a white singer; but he was accompanied by saxophonist Kenny G, who is Jewish; and 3 multicultural groups: The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, the Sainted Trap Choir, and the Color of Noize Orchestra. All 3 songs were signed for the hearing impaired by men of color: "America the Beautiful" by Julian Ortiz, Hispanic; the other 2 by Fred Beam, black. It was multicultural, it was intersectional, and regardless of whether it was designed to make Trump angry, it surely did.

The halftime show was led by Puerto Rican singer Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a.k.a. Bad Bunny. When it was announced that he would be the halftime performer, Donald Trump lost whatever passes for his mind, seeing him as an immigrant who doesn't speak English, and doesn't represent American values. Puerto Ricans have officially been American citizens since President Woodrow Wilson, a man not exactly known for his tolerance of people of color, signed the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917.

Did Bad Bunny make a political statement? Puedes apostar lo que quieras. (That means, "You can bet whatever you want." Apparently, there is no proper Spanish translation for the old Laugh-In phrase, "You bet your sweet bippy.") His delivery was almost entirely in Spanish. The show began with a stage full of people working in sugarcane fields, emblematic of Puerto Rico's poverty. He made a reference to Puerto Rico's troublesome electrical power grid, which the federal government has a responsibility to maintain, and doesn't.

He had a stage set of a block in a Puerto Rican city neighborhood, showing that Latinos and Latinas are just like Anglos, and just like any other immigrants. At one point, he fell through the stage, and seemed to crash into a private home, which the viewing audience took as a swipe at ICE's illegal entries.

In the show's most-talked-about moment, he handed an actual Grammy Award to a little boy. Officially, the boy was supposed to represent the boy he had once been, dreaming of stardom. But millions of people thought the boy was supposed to represent Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old Minneapolis resident detained by ICE for 12 days. Millions of those thought it actually was Liam, inadvertently bringing up the old racist trope of "They all look alike to me."

Guest stars included an earlier Puerto Rican singer, Ricky Martin; Dominican-American rapper Cardi B; Mexican-American actress and businesswoman, and Bay Area native, Jessica Alba; and the only English-first performer of the show, Lady Gaga, who had been the halftime performer at Super Bowl LI. Bad Bunny closed by holding up a football printed with the words, "TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA," surrounded by the flags of every nation in the Western Hemisphere -- including, it should be noted, the United States -- and, emblazoned on the main scoreboard in big capital letters, "THE ONLY THING STRONGER THAN HATE IS LOVE." The message was inescapable.

So this Super Bowl also provided a moment of redemption for all of us, not just those of Spanish heritage, because we are all descended from immigrants. I understood maybe 1 word out of 5 that Bad Bunny sang, and I am not a fan of Latin music. And I didn't immediately understand every message that he was trying to send. But I certainly understood that he was sending messages.

And Trump got the message. Instead of watching the "alternative halftime show" put on by Turning Point USA, the organization run by the recently assassinated bigot Charlie Kirk, Trump clearly watched the Bad Bunny show, and called it "disgusting," and saying it didn't uphold American values.

This has now been said so often, I have to issue a Cliché Alert for it: With Donald Trump, every accusation is a confession.

The alternative show was watched by about 6 million people. The main show, and the game it paused? About 135 million. The game itself had an average of about 125 million, slightly under last season's all-time record.

The Seahawks have a Ring of Honor. The inductees are:

* From the 1980s: Quarterbacks Jim Zorn and Dave Krieg, running back Curt Warner, receiver Steve Largent, defensive end Jacob Green, cornerback Dave Brown, safety Kenny Easley, head coach Chuck Knox, and broadcaster Pete Gross.

* From the 1990s: Defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy.

* From their 2005 AFC Champions: Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, running back Shaun Alexander, offensive tackle Walter Jones, head coach Mike Holmgren, and team owner Paul Allen.

* As of yet, no members of the Super Bowl XLVIII winners, and obviously not from their Super Bowl LX winners, have yet been inducted.

Zorn, Warner, Holmgren and Gross have been elected to the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame. So have 1992-93 running bach Rueben Mayes and 1995-98 head coach Dennis Erickson (both elected mainly on their performance at Washington State University), 1997-98 quarterback Warren Moon (a University of Washington graduate who starred elsewhere), 1970s to 2000s executive Gary Wright, 1980s and '90s executive Chuck Allen (no relation to Paul, but a UW graduate), and 1970s receiver and 1990s-onward broadcaster Steve Raible.

*

February 8, 2026 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Of course, there were no other football games. Baseball was out of season. The NHL was on its Winter Olympic hiatus. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knick beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, 111-89 at the TD Garden in Boston. Jalen Brunson scored 31 points.

* The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 132-101 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Indiana Pacers, 122-104 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 115-96 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Kawhi Leonard scored 41.

February 7, 2021: Tampa Bay: City of Champions?

February 7, 2021: For the 1st time, an NFL team plays in the Super Bowl on its home field. This is never by design, even though the chance had nearly always been there:

* Up to this point, Miami had hosted 11 Super Bowls, and the Miami Dolphins had appeared in 5 -- but never in the same season.

* New Orleans hosted 10 times, but the New Orleans Saints never even reached the Playoffs until the season of Super Bowl XXII. They finally made it to Super Bowl XLIV, and won it -- in Miami.

* The Los Angeles Rams almost did it: They reached Super Bowl XIV, but that game was played at the Rose Bowl, not at their home field at the time, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Either Miami, New Orleans or the Los Angeles area hosted the 1st 7 Super Bowls, 14 of the 1st 15, and 19 of the 1st 24, but no home team played in one.

* The Dallas Cowboys played in 8 Super Bowls, winning 5, and one of the main reasons for building AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, Texas was the hope that they could host a Super Bowl,. and play in it. They were awarded Super Bowl XLV, but they finished 6-10 that season.

The 2020 season was unlike any other in NFL history, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having to play the early part of the season behind closed doors proved what had long been suggested: Between television revenue and merchandising, an NFL team could make a profit even if paying attendance was exactly zero. By the time of Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, restrictions had been lifted to the point where 24,835 fans were let in.

On March 20, 2020, in the first few days of the COVID shutdown, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were set to be the host team for the Super Bowl, signed a free agent to play quarterback for them: Tom Brady, who had led the New England Patriots to win 6 Super Bowls -- by any means possible, legitimate or otherwise. Brady told them to sign his favorite receiver, for Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski, and they did. Despite having won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, the Bucs were still one of the NFL's joke franchises, but Brady and Gronk were ready to lift them out of that.

Under head coach Bruce Arians, they went 11-5 in the regular season. They had to play 3 Playoff games on the road in order to reach a home Super Bowl, and won them all: They beat the Washington Football Team (in their Redskins-to-Commanders interregnum), 31-23 in Landover, Maryland; beat the New Orleans Saints, 30-20 at the Superdome; and beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-26 at Lambeau Field.

Their opponents would be the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending World Champions, who had beaten the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. Under head coach Andy Reid, and with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, they had the best record in the NFL, 14-2, losing only a home to the Las Vegas Raiders, and a meaningless regular-season finale, home to the Los Angeles Chargers. They had a bye in the Wild Card Round; beat the Cleveland Browns, 22-17 at home at Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional Playoff; and beat the Buffalo Bills, 38-24 at Arrowhead in the AFC Championship Game.

Raymond James Stadium

As the defending Champions, the Chiefs were favored by 3 points. Sure enough, the Chiefs scored first, on a 49-yard field goal by Harrison Butker. But Brady marched the Bucs down the field, and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gronk, to give them a 7-3 lead as the 1st quarter ran out.

In the 2nd quarter, Brady threw 2 more touchdown passes, for 17 yards to Gronk and 1 to Antonio Brown. In between, Butker kicked another field goal, but it was 21-6 Tampa Bay at the half, and the Chiefs never seriously threatened again.

The Pirate Ship, Raymond James Stadium

Butker and the Bucs' Ryan Succop each kicked a 52-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter. In between, Leonard Fournette scored on a 27-yard touchdown run. It was 31-6 Buccaneers at the end of the 3rd quarter. There was no scoring in the 4th. The Bucs had their 2nd Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Brady had his 7th -- his 1st without Bill Belichick as his head coach. Most people who had not yet been calling Brady the greatest quarterback ever -- ignoring his proven cheating -- pretty much joined the people who had been calling him that in now calling him the greatest player ever, regardless of position. Having previously honored him as such in 2005, Sports Illustrated named Brady their Sportsperson of the Year for 2021. The only other 2-time winners have been Tiger Woods and, with 3, LeBron James.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had won the Stanley Cup on September 28, 2020, those Playoffs delayed by the COVID pandemic. They repeated on July 7, 2021. Therefore, from February 7, 2021 to February 13, 2022, a little over 1 full year, 371 days, the Tampa Bay region held the World Championships of both football and hockey.

In addition, the Tampa Bay Rays had won the 2020 American League Pennant, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies won the 2021 United Soccer League title. People in the Tampa Bay region claimed a title that had been used by other cities in the past: "City of Champions." It didn't work: The USL is the 2nd tier of North American soccer, the Rays lost the World Series, and the Bucs' Super Bowl and the Bolts' Cups were won under unusual conditions.

After all, from May 16, 1980 to January 25, 1981, Philadelphia made it to the Finals of all of the "Big Four" sports, but won only one, the World Series. While, from October 28, 1981 to June 8, 1982, Los Angeles won the NBA Championship legitimately after winning the World Series in a strike-shortened season. Neither city's fans then claimed the "City of Champions" mantle. And when the Oakland Athletics won the 1989 World Series by beating the San Francisco Giants, in between back-to-back Super Bowl wins by the San Francisco 49ers, the San Francisco Bay Area as a whole didn't claim it. So Tampa Bay was on shaky ground claiming it.

The year after this Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams were both the host team and the NFC Champions, and won Super Bowl LVI, beating the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

UPDATE: The Buccaneers have a Ring of Honor. From their founding era, including their trip to the 1979 NFC Championship Game, they have honored quarterback Doug Williams, tight end Jimmie Giles, defensive end Lee Roy Selmon and head coach John McKay.

From their Super Bowl XXXVII winners, they have honored running back Mike Alstott, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, defensive end Simeon Rice, linebacker Derrick Brooks, cornerback Ronde Barber, safety John Lynch, head coach Jon Gruden, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and owner Malcolm Glazer.

From between those eras, they have honored head coach Tony Dungy and offensive tackle Paul Gruber. From their Super Bowl LV winners, so far, they have honored only head coach Bruce Arians.

The Florida Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Selmon, Brooks, Dungy, Gruden, founding owner Hugh Culverhouse, 1990s running back Warrick Dunn, and the team's 1st starting quarterback, Steve Spurrier, although that's more for his playing and coaching at the University of Florida.

*

February 7, 2021, like all Super Bowl days, was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, 109-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Washington Wizards, 119-97 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-95 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Boston Celtics, 100-91 at the Phoenix Suns Arena. (It was in between naming-rights contracts. It was soon renamed the Footprint Center, now the Mortgage Matchup Center.)

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-110 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, which was also the home of an NHL team named the Kings.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. This game faced off at 7:00 PM, and ended at 9:21, so it was played during the Super Bowl. I can find no reference as to attendance, COVID-affected or otherwise.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4 in a shootout at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

February 7, 2010: The Saints Win a Super Bowl for New Orleans

Drew Brees

February 7, 2010: Super Bowl XLIV is played at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The City of New Orleans, Louisiana had hosted 9 Super Bowls to that point. But its team, the New Orleans Saints, had never played in one. Now, they would.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, resulting in a broken levee that flooded the city, which was already below sea level. By nightfall, 80 percent of the Crescent City, and parts of neighboring areas, were flooded. Over 1,800 people were killed, and thousands were left homeless.

The Louisiana Superdome, home of the Saints, was used as a shelter, topping out at 26,000 people. But because of the nature of the emergency, getting relief supplies into the city was incredibly difficult.

As late as 1950, New Orleans' population was 660,000, putting it in America's top 20 cities. White flight led to a drop to about 484,000 people within the city limits in the 2000 Census. After Hurricane Katrina, it dropped to 230,000, losing over half its people in one fell swoop. According to a recent estimate, it's back up to about 391,000, making it larger than such NFL cities as Tampa, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo (and, of course, Green Bay).

But the metropolitan area has just 1.27 million people, making it the smallest metro area in the NFL, if Green Bay is included with Milwaukee and Niagara Falls is included with Buffalo. And the poverty issue, so pervasive before the hurricane, is worse. And crime is definitely an issue.

In 1940, the city was 70 percent white. As late as 1970, it was 51 percent white. By 1990, it was 62 percent black, and the proportions are roughly the same today: 61 percent black, 31 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. The further east you go, the greater the black percentage; the further west, the more white.

The Saints played their entire 2005 season on the road while the dome was refurbished. The Superdome reopened for the 2006 season, and the Saints provided a lift to the devastated city.

Under coach Sean Payton, the Saints were more popular than ever. They started the 2009 season 13-0, before dropping their last 3: 24-17 at home to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-17 in overtime at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 23-10 away to the Carolina Panthers.

Maybe having clinched the NFC South Division early, earning them a bye week for the Wild Card Round, helped. Certainly, having home-field advantage all the way through the Playoffs did. In the Divisional Playoff, they beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-3. And in the NFC Championship Game, which they had reached only once before in their 42 previous seasons, they beat the Minnesota Vikings, 31-28. They were headed for the Super Bowl.

Their opponents would be the Indianapolis Colts, a perennial Playoff team, and Super Bowl winners just 3 seasons before. Ironically, their quarterback was from New Orleans: Peyton Manning, son of former Saints quarterback Archie Manning, who stayed in the city after his retirement as a player.

The Colts had gone 14-2 -- and they, too, had started on a long undefeated run before losing at the end, 29-15 at home to the New York Jets, and 30-7 away to the Buffalo Bills. But they also had home-field advantage all the way through, and beat the Baltimore Ravens 20-3, before avenging their loss to the Jets, 30-17.

Both teams played on artificial turf, under domes. The Colts would be playing in the same stadium, on the same natural grass field, on which they'd won Super Bowl XLI. That might not have been much of an advantage. The Colts went into the game favored by 5 points.

But there was a sense around the country that the Saints had more people rooting for them. Maybe it was because of the sympathy people felt for New Orleans after the hurricane. Or maybe it was because the Colts had won recently, while the Saints had never been to the big game before. Or, maybe people were just sick of Peyton Manning always being on TV, in games and in all those commercials. He advertised so many products, even Joe Namath, Reggie Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal must have thought he was overexposed.

At the age of 42, Matt Stover became the oldest man ever to play in a Super Bowl (a record since broken). He kicked a 38-yard field goal that put the Colts up, 3-0, midway through the 1st quarter. 

Toward the end of the quarter, Manning launched a 96-yard drive, tying the record for the longest in Super Bowl history. Joseph Addai accounted for 53 of those yards with his rushing. The last play was a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Pierre Garçon. With a French name like that, people could have been excused for thinking he was from New Orleans. In fact, he was a local, having grown up in the suburbs of Miami, a black man of Haitian descent. The Saints led, 10-0.

The Saints got on the board with a 46-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley. He kicked a 44-yarder on the last play of the 1st half, and the teams went into the locker rooms with the score 10-6 in Indy's favor. The Colts had been the better team, but hadn't pulled away.

The Saints had won the opening coin toss, and chose to receive the ball. Which meant they had to kick off to start the 2nd half. But Sean Payton made the gutsiest coaching move in the history of NFL Championship Games. It would have been bold enough had he been winning, but, down by 4 points, it was huge. He called for an onside kick. Never before, in 43 Super Bowls, had an onside kick been attempted before the 4th quarter.

Thomas Morstead kicked the ball to his left. It went 15 yards -- it had to go at least 10 for the Saints to have a chance to recover it and keep it -- and it bounced off the facemask of Hank Baskett of the Colts, making it a free ball. It took the officials more than a minute to separate the pile of men on the ball. When they did, it was Jonathan Casillas who had it: Saints ball, on their own 42-yard line.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw 5 passes, all complete, for 58 yards, the last a 16-yarder to Pierre Thomas, for a go-ahead touchdown. (Nope, this Pierre wasn't from Louisiana, either: He was from the Chicago suburbs.) It was 13-10 New Orleans.

Manning shook it off, and led a 76-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Addai. 17-13 Indianapolis. Hartley kicked a 47-yard field goal to make it 17-16, making him the 1st kicker to make 3 field goals of 40 or more yards in a single Super Bowl. As the 4th quarter began, Stover tried a 51-yard field goal, but missed.

Drew "breezed" through the Colts' defense on the next drive, ending with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, the tight end whose bad behavior had gotten him exiled from the New York Giants. (Not that they cared much: They'd already won a Super Bowl without him, and with Manning's brother Eli, and would win another that way.)

Sean Payton made another gutsy call, and went for a 2-point conversion. Brees threw to Lance Moore, and the ball was knocked away from him by Jacob Lacey. The play was ruled an incomplete pass, but Payton challenged the call. The instant replay showed that he had possession in the end zone long enough, and it was 24-17 Saints, with 5:42 to go.

This was plenty of time for Peyton Manning, of course. And he got into Saint territory. But he was intercepted at the Saint 26 by Tracy Porter, and he took it to the house. Hartley's extra point made it 31-17 New Orleans.

The Colts still had 3:12 to go, plus all 3 of their 2nd half time-outs, plus the 2-minute warning. But now, they needed 2 touchdowns. They got to the Saints' 3-yard line, but, with a field goal offering them little help, they had to go for it on a 4th down, and couldn't do it. The Saints took over, and Brees knelt with the ball to run out the clock. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

The Saints were NFL Champions. New Orleans had a World Championship. Louisiana had a professional World Championship. In each case, it was the 1st. (The football team at Louisiana State University had won 3 National Championships, and has since won another. But this was the pros.)

It had been a little over 4 years since the hurricane, and it resulted in the biggest party in the history of America's greatest party city. For this game, and for all his charitable efforts, in New Orleans and elsewhere, Brees was named Sportsman of the Year for 2010 by Sports Illustrated.

In preparation for Super Bowl 50, 6 years later, Slate writer Justin Peters watched every Super Bowl over a 2-month period. He ranked Super Bowl XLIV the 5th-best -- behind XXII, XXXIV, XIII and XXIII -- saying, "Coming as it did five years after New Orleans was flooded in Hurricane Katrina, the Saints' victory actually mattered." (For the record, he named Super Bowl XII -- the 1st one I can remember watching -- as the worst game of the 1st 49.)

UPDATE: The Saints have a Ring of Honor. It does not include their only 2 retired numbers, both for Hall-of-Famers from very early in Saints history: 31, for running back Jim Taylor; and 81, for defensive end Doug Atkins. It does include 1970s quarterback Archie Manning, 1980s kicker Morten Andersen, 1980s linebackers Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills, 1990s offensive tackle Willie Roaf, 2000s defensive end Will Smith, 2000s and '10s guard Jahri Evans, and 1985-2018 team owner Tom Benson.

The Saints also have a team Hall of Fame. It includes:

* From the founding period, 1967 to 1979: Atkins, Manning, quarterback Billy Kilmer, receiver Danny Abramowicz, running back Tony Galbreath, tight end Henry Childs, guard Jake Kupp, defensive end Bob Pollard, defensive tackle Derland Moore, linebacker Jim Federspiel, cornerback Dave Whitsell, safety Tommy Myers, and kicker Tom Dempsey.

* From the 1980s: Benson, Andersen, Jackson, Johnson, Mills, general manager Jim Finks, head coach Jim Mora Sr., assistant coach Steve Sidwell; quarterback Bobby Hebert; running backs George Rogers, Dalton Hilliard and Rueben Mayes; receiver Eric Martin, tight end Hoby Brenner, centers John Hill and Joel Hilgenberg, offensive tackle Stan Brock, defensive ends Jim Wilks and Frank Warren, linebacker Pat Swilling, and safeties Dave Waymer and Brett Maxie.

* From the 1990s: Benson, Roaf, guard Jim Dombrowski, defensive ends Wayne Martin and Joe Johnson, defensive tackle LaRoi Glover, cornerback Tyrone Hughes, safety Sammy Knight.

* From the 2000s, but not the Super Bowl season: Quarterback Aaron Brooks, running back Deuce McAllister, receivers Joe Horn and Michael Lewis, and special teams player Fred McAfee.

* From their Super Bowl XLIV winners: Benson, Smith, Evans, quarterback Drew Brees; running backs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas; receivers Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Marques Colston; guard Carl Nicks, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Jabari Green, safety Roman Harper, and kicker John Carney -- but not yet head coach Jim Haslett.

Abramowicz, Manning, Andersen, Finks, Mora, Jackson, Johnson, Mills, Swilling, Hebert, Hilliard, Martin, Brees, Colston and Evans have also been inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

*

February 7, 2010 was a Sunday. The Super Bowl was the only football game played that day. Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 96-89 at the TD Garden in Boston. And the Toronto Raptors beat the Sacramento Kings, 115-104 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. Chris Bosh scored 36 points for the Raps.

And there were 2 games played in the NHL. In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. And the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Mike Knuble scored the winning goal, with 2:11 left in overtime.

Also, Arsenal lost to Chelsea, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in West London.