Super Bowl Emotions, Anticipation Building Up : Football: Broncos’ Humphrey will start despite cracked ribs. 49ers’ Craig has recovered from flu, coach says.

Denver Broncos Coach Dan Reeves announced today that running back Bobby Humphrey, nursing cracked ribs from the AFC title game, will start in Sunday’s Super Bowl but will need to take a couple of hard hits to determine if he will be able to go at full speed.

San Francisco 49ers Coach George Seifert said running back Roger Craig is ready after a couple of days with the flu and that nose tackle Michael Carter, who injured a foot midway through the regular season, will make his first start since then. Seifert said that safety Ronnie Lott’s bruised right thigh is still aching but that he will also play.

Craig, who left practice Wednesday with flu-like symptoms, was suffering from some lightheadedness Thursday and stayed in the 49ers’ hotel.

“I don’t think Roger needs the work as much as he needed to rest,” Seifert said then. “It threw off our timing (in selected running drills), but we should be all right.”

Quarterback Joe Montana, listed on the injury report as probable for Sunday’s game because of a tender right elbow, seemed unaffected by it as he participated in all passing drills Thursday.

At today’s final meeting of coaches and media before the Broncos take on the heavily favored 49ers in Sunday’s NFL championship game, Seifert and Reeves agreed on one thing: The next two days will be tough.

“The emotion before this game is almost indescribable,” Seifert said. “A great deal of emotion and anticipation goes into this game.”

For perhaps the hundredth time this week, Reeves was asked what has become known as “the monkey on your back,” the fact that Denver lost by wide margins in 1987 and 1988, is nearly a two-touchdown underdog this time and would match the Minnesota Vikings of a decade ago at 0-4 if it loses Sunday.

He replied by citing his experience as a running back with the Dallas Cowboys, who from 1966 through 1971 were known as “next year’s team,” losing narrowly to Green Bay in two NFL title games, then losing in overtime in the 1971 Super Bowl. They finally broke through with a 24-3 victory over Miami in 1972.

Seifert played down the 12 1/2-point spread, called the Broncos “the best team we’ve faced this year” and cited his concerns about the scrambling abilities of Denver quarterback John Elway.

“There’s the realization that at some point in the game, he’s going to break the pocket,” Seifert said. “We have to realize that even when he does, we have to maintain our coverage.”

While the Broncos will be trying to overcome an embarrassing legacy of losses Sunday, the 49ers will be motivated by a chance to enshrine themselves in the record books.

The 49ers, with the best record in the National Football League this year, will be trying to equal the Pittsburgh Steelers’ mark of four Super Bowl wins and become the first team to repeat as champions since Pittsburgh in 1979 and 1980.

Following last year’s dramatic 20-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the 49ers dedicated themselves to winning consecutive championships. They have responded with a 14-2 season and two startlingly easy playoff wins.

“We got a chance to make history,” star running back Roger Craig said. “Twenty or 30 years from now if we win on Sunday, people will remember us, that we repeated and won four Super Bowls.”