The NFL’s Transition Era: Favre, Elway, and Warner (1996–2001)

The NFL’s previous era ended with Green Bay and Brett Favre knocking on the door. The next era began with Favre kicking it in. In 1996, Favre won his second MVP award, and the Packers rolled to a Super Bowl championship behind the league’s best offense, best defense, and a decisive playoff run.

1997 looked like it was going to be more of the same. Favre, already an icon as “The Gunslinger”, won another MVP, sharing the award with electric Detroit Lion running back Barry Sanders. Green Bay went back to the Super Bowl. The Packers were double-digit favorites.

But instead of a quarterback in his prime, it was a legend on his way out that stepped up. John Elway had been on the wrong end of three Super Bowl blowouts during the prior era of NFC dominance. But the Denver Broncos team he brought to San Diego to face Green Bay was different. They had a running game, led by Terrell Davis. Denver shocked the world with a 31-24 win.

“This one’s for John,” Bronco owner Pat Bowlen said as he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. And John wasn’t done. Denver came back in 1998 and won another Super Bowl. Elway rode off into the sunset in triumph.

One year later, no one saw the Rams coming. A franchise that had been largely listless since relocating to St. Louis in 1995 suddenly exploded onto the scene in 1999. An unknown quarterback named Kurt Warner orchestrated a passing game so creative, it won the nickname “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Warner was supported by a Hall of Fame running back in Marshall Faulk.

St. Louis won a thrilling Super Bowl over the Tennessee Titans in 1999 and made it back in 2001. The Rams were huge favorites to win a second title in three years. All that stood in the way was a surprise Cinderella story from New England.

The result seemed to be a foregone conclusion. But in a stunning turn of events, a little-known second-year game manager quarterback named Tom Brady orchestrated a drive for a last-second field goal to win it. The NFL had crossed into its next era.

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