Super Bowl XXVII : THROUGH THE YEARS : Footnotes To History : Memorable Participants You Might Not Remember, Tell Their Stories

Jim O’Brien of the Baltimore Colts will be remembered forever for his game-winning field goal in the final seconds of Super Bowl V against the Dallas Cowboys.

But Ron Gardin will remember it differently.

After fumbling a punt and enduring the curses of his Colt teammates early in that game, Gardin held his breath the rest of the afternoon, leading to a Super Bowl-record three fair catches.

Jim Plunkett will be remembered forever for throwing three touchdown passes, including a record 80-yard pass play to Kenny King, while leading the Oakland Raiders over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

But Rod Martin will remember it differently.

Martin, a Raiders linebacker, intercepted a Super Bowl-record three passes and recovered a fumble and was not voted the game’s most valuable player.

Twelve years later, Martin still doesn’t understand.

If 26 years of Super Bowls have taught us anything, it is that for every O’Brien and Plunkett, there is a Gardin and Martin.

A title search of the historic moments in Super Bowl history reveal that they belong to more than just a few good men.

Joe Montana owns some moments, but so does Jerrel Wilson.

Wilson set a Super Bowl record by averaging 48.5 yards a punt for the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans.

But he said what made it an unforgettable day was that he was performing in a town where he was an orphan for the first six years of his life. Sitting in the stands was Doug Wilson, the oil man who adopted him.

Terry Bradshaw owns some moments, but so does Henry Waechter.

The only member of the Chicago Bear defense to record a safety in a Super Bowl? It was Waechter, who tied a record when he stumbled upon Steve Grogan in the end zone late in the Bears’ 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX in 1986.

The reserve defensive lineman, nicknamed “Hayseed,” was so famous that during a radio interview in Chicago recently, Buddy Ryan referred to him as “Haystack.”

It is through these Super Bowl footnotes that the 26-year history of the game has been documented here.

Franco Harris holds or shares six Super Bowl records, but he is supplanted here by Fulton Walker, the Miami Dolphin kick returner who discusses his six records.

There is only one coach here, and it is not Bill Walsh, but Red Miller, who recalls fighting cockroaches while leading the Denver Broncos into a slaughter in Super Bowl XII against the Dallas Cowboys.

There are only two quarterbacks here--Fran Tarkenton and Ken Anderson, who were 0-4 in these games.

And while it might seem natural in a story about footnotes to discuss Garo Yepremian’s infamous fumble in 1973, instead we talk to Mike Bass. He is the Washington Redskin defensive back who picked that fumble out of the air and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown, setting a Super Bowl record and acquiring his little piece of this big game’s history.

“Nobody is going to remember me, they are only going to remember Yepremian,” Bass said. “But that’s what happens when you lose. The losers in this game, they disappear.”

Sort of like Bass, who owns and operates a resort in the Bahamas. He retired the year after that Super Bowl and hasn’t attended a football game since.