Tom Landry’s Cowboys ended several years of postseason frustration in 1971, when they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl. That championship season was keyed by Landry’s settling on Roger Staubach as his quarterback midway through. The bid for a repeat title took a big hit when Staubach was injured in the preseason. But the 1972 […]
After reaching the AFL/AFC championship game in his first two seasons, John Madden’s Raiders took a step back in 1971, when a late collapse cost them a playoff spot. The 1972 Oakland Raiders followed the opposite path—they surged down the stretch, returned to the postseason, and were only stopped by one of pro football’s most […]
To our generation, the city of Pittsburgh is renowned for good professional football. But it wasn’t always that way. In 1972, Art Rooney’s Steeler franchise had never so much as even played for a championship. They had not enjoyed a winning season since 1963. The hiring of Chuck Noll in 1969 was showing progress, but […]
The 1972 Minnesota Vikings had seen potential Super Bowl teams in 1970 and 1971 undone by problems at offense in general and quarterback in particular. Head coach Bud Grant swung a big trade to get Fran Tarkenton from the New York Giants to solve the problem. The deal would ultimately work, but not immediately. In 1972, Fran’s return to Minnesota fizzled.