Presented by BENCONNECTED.
This Day In Sports…January 27, 1991, 35 years ago today:
The New York Giants win their second Super Bowl title in five years with a nail-biting 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The Bills had a chance to win the game with only eight seconds remaining, but Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal attempt sailed outside the goal post. “Wide right!” exclaimed Al Michaels on the ABC telecast from Tampa. or Buffalo, it was the beginning of an infamous streak of four straight Super Bowl losses.
The Bills at the time were formidable, with a lineup that featured Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith. They went toe-to-toe with the NFC champion Giants, whose team was far less star-laden. The quarterback was Jeff Hostetler, filling in for the injured Phil Simms, and the game’s MVP was New York running back Ottis Anderson, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown. As for Norwood, he didn’t run and hide after the game. He patiently talked about the missed kick with the media for 30 minutes, addressing every question reporters threw his way.
Whatever happened to Scott Norwood? He had made the Buffalo roster in 1985 after beating out nine other hopefuls for the Bills placekicking job. Norwood had been named first-team All-Pro in 1988, when he led the NFL in scoring. He broke O.J. Simpson’s career franchise scoring record in 1989. Norwood was good. Scott was one of us,” Kelly told Sports Illustrated in 2004. “He had that mean face—that linebacker face. I loved that guy.” But he’s remembered for one errant kick 35 years ago, one that many say faded right because the holder lined up the laces on the ball the wrong way.
Norwood produced a solid season in 1991, right through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl. But he was released by Buffalo after the season. What came after that kind of reminds you of Bill Buckner’s story in Boise, where he withdrew 30 years ago after growing tired of mistreatment by Boston fans. Buckner had retired back with the Red Sox in 1990, but people in New England never let go of the 1986 World Series.
Norwood retreated to his native Virginia and avoided the spotlight. He didn’t return to Buffalo publicly for almost 20 years, but fans there generally didn’t hold the missed field goal against him. Norwood appeared at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2011, when he was honored with the 26th annual Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Distinguished Service Award and received a genuinely warm welcome.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
