NOTEBOOK : SUPER BOWL XXIV : SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 55 DENVER BRONCOS 10 : Burt’s Season, Maybe Career, Winds Up on Emotional Note

When the New York Giants won the 1987 Super Bowl in Pasadena, the Denver Broncos were the victims, and Jim Burt was the subject of postgame television focus in an emotional hugging celebration with his son, Jimmy, age 5.

When the San Francisco 49ers won the 1990 Super Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans, the Denver Broncos were the victims, and Jim Burt was the subject of postgame television focus in an emotional hugging celebration with his son, Jimmy, age 8.

And for Burt, the veteran middle guard whose NFL career apparently ended so loudly and controversially in training camp this season and was resurrected so fittingly Nov. 1 by the 49ers, the aftermath of the 49ers’ 55-10 victory over the Denver Broncos was an emotional high.

Surrounded by members of the media long after the other players had left the interview room, Burt stayed on the verge of tears while he described how much it meant to have this last chance.

He had been part of the New York Giants’ six-year construction program that brought a title in ‘87; he had been a veteran, a star, a focal point, a front-line player. Then, this training season, after being told that he would be part of the team and would be able to work through some serious back and leg injuries, he was cut by Coach Bill Parcells.

Feeling betrayed, and being the type of player and person who would take betrayal to heart, Burt told the media, after joining the 49ers, that he hoped he had a chance, when San Francisco played the Giants, to bowl over Parcells on the sidelines.

Sunday night, with his second Super Bowl ring achieved, he apologized for that and said: “I was wrong for what I said. Now, all I want is to sit down, in private, face to face, with Bill Parcells, and talk some things out. I want to go away from this game of football feeling good, and go to Giants games and root for them.”

Burt, acquired when Michael Carter was injured, played sparingly this season for the 49ers, and did everything but say Sunday night that he will retire.

“It’s up to my wife,” he said. “The last time, when I came back to play (with the 49ers), I bolted; left her four weeks away from having a baby. I promised her I’d come back for the birth, but then I kept playing here. She let me play, get it out of my system. She’s the boss. We’ll sit down and talk. The 49er coaches tell me I have two or three good years left, but I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear that.”

Jerry Rice, 49er wide receiver, said he knew early in the game that quarterback Joe Montana was going to have a big night.

“When he’s really clicking,” Rice said, “he gets that little smile on his face. You see it in the huddle, like he is in control. It’s, well, kind of a sneaky smile.”

Some quotable lines:

John Madden, TV announcer: “Some people will say, well, at least they didn’t quit. Of course they didn’t quit. They don’t let you quit.”

Matt Millen, 49er linebacker: “If they’d left our first offense in for four quarters, they might have scored 200.”

Bubba Paris, 49er offensive tackle: “I would have a good argument for saying that this is the best team that’s ever been assembled. It would be hard to prove us wrong.”

Roger Craig, 49er running back: “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to play as long as Joe Montana plays.”

Craig said he had a strange moment just before he scored his team’s last touchdown, on a one-yard run. The score tied Rice and Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris with four Super Bowl touchdowns in a career.

“I was over on the sidelines, taking my tape off and not really paying all that much attention,” Craig said. “Suddenly, they were hollering at me to get in there, that there was a record I could set. And the TV was on me. Mostly, I didn’t care about the record, and the whole thing was kind of embarrassing.”

San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana said he will not participate in next week’s Pro Bowl game because of a nagging elbow injury. His backup, Green Bay’s Don Majkowksi, has also apparently bowed out because his contract expires Feb. 1. A spokesman for the league said Philadelphia’s Randall Cunningham will replace Montana and that New York’s Phil Simms is the probable replacement for Majkowski.

What about Jim Everett? No explanation was given as to why the Ram quarterback won’t be participating. Everett could not be reached for comment at home Sunday night. When he was originally omitted from the NFC Pro Bowl team, Everett said he would be “honored” to go as an alternate. His coach, John Robinson, will coach the NFC squad next week in Hawaii. Everett was the NFC’s second-rated passer behind Montana and led the NFL with 29 touchdown passes.

Maybe the writing was on the wall.

Ringing the inside of the Superdome were banners with scores of the previous 23 Super Bowls.

On all the banners, the helmet of the winning team was on the left, the helmet of the loser on the right.

Bronco owner Pat Bowlen complained before the game that the banner for this game, on which the score will be added, had a 49er helmet on the left, a Bronco helmet on the right.

“By putting our helmet on the right, they already have us losing,” Bowlen said.

As things turned out, maybe someone knew what they were doing.

Bobby Humphrey can take a ribbing, but how much could his ribbing take?

Strapped into a flak jacket to protect two broken ribs, Humphrey started at tailback for Denver and ran freely enough to lead the Broncos in rushing (12 carries, 61 yards) and receiving (three catches, 38 yards).

“A couple of times I felt pain when I took some good shots,” Humphrey said, “but after a while it went away. It wasn’t anything that would keep me out of the ballgame.”

Humphrey also fumbled once, a turnover that Bronco Coach Dan Reeves blamed on the flak jacket.

“I don’t think Bobby was bothered at all in the ballgame,” Reeves said. “But I do think the fact that he had (the flak jacket) on hurt him as far as the fumble was concerned.”

Reeves on the 49ers’ place in history:

“There’s an awful lot of great teams. You don’t win the championship even one year without being a great team. The fact that they’ve done it back to back, to me, moves them up another notch because it’s so hard to repeat. Everybody guns for you week in and week out.

“They lost two games all year, one by three points (to Green Bay) and one by one point (to the Rams). I’d say it’s going to be very difficult for someone to say they’re not one of the great teams of all time.”

Times staff writers Chris Dufresne, Mike Penner and Larry Stewart contributed to this story.