Emmitt Smith
January 28, 1996: Super Bowl XXX is held at Sun Devil Stadium, on the campus of Arizona State University, in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. For the 3rd time, the Super Bowl is between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Those of us who were a part of the audience for Super Bowl X in 1976 (I was a little too young) and Super Bowl XIII in 1979 (I did watch that one) were hoping for the same result: A Steeler win. For some of us, it was out of admiration for the Steelers as an organization. But for far more of us, it was out of disgust over the Cowboys, both what they were in the 1970s and what they were now in the 1990s.
But, back then, the Cowboys had Roger Staubach as quarterback, while the Steelers had Terry Bradshaw. This time, the Cowboys had Troy Aikman, while the Steelers had Neil O'Donnell. Bradshaw was called "dumb," but proved he was a smart quarterback. O'Donnell played one of the dumbest games in Super Bowl history.
The Cowboys jumped out to a 13-0 lead late in the 1st half, on a touchdown pass from Aikman to Jay Novacek, bracketed by field goals by Chris Boniol. Just before the half, O'Donnell threw a touchdown pass to Yancey Thigpen, to put the Steelers on the board, making it 13-7. In the 3rd quarter, Emmitt Smith ran a touchdown in, to make it 20-7 Dallas.
The Steelers tried to come back in the 4th quarter. Norm Johnson kicked a 46-yard field goal. With 6:36 left, Byron "Bam" Morris ran a touchdown in, making it 20-17. They regained possession of the ball at their own 32-yard line with 4:15 remaining, giving them plenty of time. But, for the 2nd time in the game, O'Donnell was intercepted by Larry Brown -- ironically, sharing a name with an offensive lineman in the Steelers' 1970s dynasty, and an earlier running back for the Cowboys' arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins. Brown returned it 33 yards to the Steelers' 6-yard line. Two plays later, Smith ran it in from the Steeler 4, and the final score was Cowboys 27, Steelers 17.
Now, the Cowboys had the same number of Super Bowl wins as the Steelers: A record-tying 5. Their old tagline of "America's Team" seemed absolute. The "Triplets" -- Aikman, Smith and receiver Michael Irvin -- ruled the NFL.
And, having taken over from Jimmy Johnson, who had been a rival at Oklahoma State and the University of Miami, while he was at Oklahoma, Barry Switzer joined him as the only coaches ever to win both a college football National Championship and a Super Bowl. (Paul Brown had won both a National Championship and a pre-Super Bowl NFL title. Pete Carroll has since joined them.)
But Super Bowl XXX was their last dance. From this day forward, the Dallas Cowboys have never won another Super Bowl. The Steelers have. The Cowboys haven't even been to a Super Bowl. The Steelers have -- including one in the Cowboys' new stadium. The Cowboys have not been to so much as an NFC Championship Game.
In 2020, Jason Sudeikis began starring as the title character in Ted Lasso, about an American football coach hired to coach a team in English soccer's Premier League. He said he needed to learn the League, and chose to match what he didn't know to things he did know:
Brendan Hunt as assistant coach Willis Beard: Manchester United. Super-rich. Everybody either loves them or hates them.
Lasso: The Dallas Cowboys.
Beard: Liverpool. Used to be great, but haven't won in a long time.
Lasso: Also, the Dallas Cowboys.
UPDATE: Liverpool have since won the League again, twice. Through the 2025 season, the Cowboys have not been to an NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season.
The Cowboys have a team hall of fame, calling it the Ring of Honor. From their Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII and XXX winners, they have honored quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, receiver Michael Irvin, guard Larry Allen, defensive end Charles Haley, safety Darren Woodson, and head coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Steelers also have a team hall of fame, calling it the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor. From their 1995 AFC Champions, they have inducted team owner Dan Rooney, executive Art Rooney Jr. (Dan's brother), head coach Bill Cowher, assistant coaches Dick Hoak and Dick LeBeau, scout Bill Nunn, broadcasters Myron Cope and Tunch Ilkin; center Dermontti Dawson; linebackers Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene and Jason Gildon; cornerback Rod Woodson, and safety Carnell Lake-- but not quarterback Neil O'Donnell.
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January 28, 1996 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NBA didn't want to compete with the Super Bowl for fan attention, so they scheduled only one game, but it had Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley: The Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns, 93-82 at the United Center in Chicago. Jordan scored 31 points; Barkley, 20.
There were 2 games in the NHL. In an "Original Six" matchup, the Monteral Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 5-4 in one of the last games played at the Montreal Forum, before the Canadiens moved to the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre). And the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the
Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Steve Konowalchuk scored the winning goal with 40 seconds left in overtime.
