Plunkett Had Better Day Than Headline Writer

“Eagles Go Ker-Plunkett, 27-10,” read the morning headline, saluting the NFL’s first wild card team to run the table (4-0) in the playoffs and win a Super Bowl.

The Raider quarterback, Jim Plunkett, had a three-touchdown day at New Orleans, and Philadelphia’s Ron Jaworski threw three interceptions.

The game’s most spectacular play was an 80-yard Plunkett-to-Kenny King touchdown.

But the most spectacular sight came later, when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was forced to hand over the Super Bowl trophy to Al Davis, a man who was suing him for $175 million and the right to move his team to Los Angeles.

Also on this date: In 1981, former Notre Dame and NFL head coach Joe Kuharich died at 63. . . . In 1960, Wilt Chamberlain had 58 points and 42 rebounds as his Philadelphia Warriors beat Detroit, 127-117. . . . In 1973, Bill Walton scored 32 and UCLA beat Loyola of Chicago, 87-73, for its 60th consecutive win, tying San Francisco’s record. . . . In 1958, Bill Harmatz rode Round Table, a 1-5 favorite, to a four-and-a-half length win in the Santa Anita Maturity. . . . In 1954, Roy Campanella, 32, was rewarded by the Brooklyn Dodgers for his 41-home run, 142-RBI 1953 season with a pay hike to $32,000. . . . In 1970, 30-year-old Jack Nicklaus finished second to Bert Yancey at Pebble Beach, but his second-place money, $14,300, enabled him to join Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper at $1 million in career earnings. Perspective: In 1998, 26 golfers earned more than $1 million.