Super Bowl XXVII : THROUGH THE YEARS : Footnotes To History : XXI : RICH KARLIS : DENVER BRONCOS

For two weeks after kicking the winning field goal in overtime in the AFC championship game against the Cleveland Browns in 1987, Rich Karlis soaked in life as a hero.

“It was bliss,” he said. “I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, I did MTV, I did Joan Rivers. The whole thing was like a fairy tale.”

But then he had to play in Super Bowl XXI against the New York Giants. And his fairy tale crashed and burned.

Karlis began the game by equaling the record for the longest field goal in Super Bowl history, a 48-yard kick that gave the Broncos a 3-0 lead.

But by the time the game ended, his team had lost, 39-20. And Karlis missed two field goals while setting the record for the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history, a 23-yard chip shot.

Had Karlis made that kick in the second period, the Broncos probably would have held a 13-7 lead at halftime. But after the miss, the Giants were able to pin the Broncos deep in their territory, leading to a safety on quarterback John Elway.

The Broncos trudged into their locker room at halftime leading, 10-9, and the revived Giants proved nearly unstoppable in the second half by outscoring them, 30-10.

“I was just anxious before the kick, I tried to get to it too quick and pushed it right,” Karlis said of his miss, which remains the Super Bowl’s shortest missed field goal that did not involve a bad snap.

He was even more anxious after the game, when he received death threats and was forced to ride on the team bus with a policeman.

“At the time, what happened was tragic, like the end of the world,” said Karlis, who works for a sports marketing firm in Denver. “I think it took me about two months to get over it.”

In an error typical of his bad day, he did not save the most vital part of the record 48-yarder.

“At the time, I did not know it was a record, and so nobody saved the ball, which is too bad,” Karlis said. “You know, that would have been something nice to have.”

* 1987 AT ROSE BOWL

Denver 10 0 10 0 -- 20 N.Y. Giants 7 2 17 13 -- 39

Den--FG Karlis 48

NYG--Mowatt 6 pass from Simms (Allegre kick)

Den--Elway 4 run (Karlis kick)

NYG--Safety, Martin tackled Elway in end zone

NYG--Bavaro 13 pass from Simms (Allegre kick)

NYG--FG Allegre 21

NYG--Morris 1 run (Allegre kick)

NYG--McConkey 6 pass from Simms (Allegre kick)

Den--FG Karlis 28

NYG--Anderson 2 run (kick failed)

Den--V. Johnson 47 pass from Elway (Karlis kick)

A--101,063

Winning Coach--Bill Parcells

MVP--Phil Simms.