This Day in Football History

2002 - Patriots celebrate first Super Bowl victory

Super Bowl XXXVI saw the New England Patriots defeat the heavily favored St. Louis Rams 20-17 at the Louisiana Superdome en route to their first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history.

"The fans of New England have been waiting 42 years for this day," owner Robert Kraft said at the time.

The Rams entered the game as 14-point favorites thanks in large part to their offense, which was nicknamed the "Greatest Show on Turf" and widely considered one of the best in NFL history. They took an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter but by halftime, they trailed the underdog Patriots 14-3.

Securing the victory for the Patriots was kicker Adam Vinatieri, who made a 48-yard field goal just as time expired. Quarterback Tom Brady, the game's MVP, was 16-for-27 for 145 yards and one touchdown while Rams quarterback Kurt Warner was 28-for-44 for 365 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

2013 - Power outage delays Super Bowl XLVII

In one of the strangest moments in Super Bowl history, football's biggest night of the year was delayed for 34 minutes after the Mercedes-Benz Superdome experienced a power outage.

Officials blamed the outage on an "abnormality" in the power system, but some, like former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, suggested the blackout was not an accident.

"I'm not gonna accuse nobody of nothing - because I don't know facts," Lewis said. "But you're a zillion-dollar company, and your lights go out? No. No way."

"You cannot tell me somebody wasn't sitting there and when they say, 'The Ravens (are) about to blow them out. Man, we better do something," he added. "That's a huge shift in any game, in all seriousness. And as you see how huge it was because it let them right back in the game."

The Ravens were leading the San Francisco 49ers 28-6 when the Superdome went dark with 13:22 remaining in the third quarter. When the lights came back on, the 49ers began to light up too, closing the gap to 28-23 by the end of the third quarter.

Baltimore held on, though, defeating the 49ers 34-31 to win Super Bowl XLVII.

2008 - Giants upset Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

The New York Giants were not expected to make the playoffs in the 2007 season let alone make it to the Super Bowl. But they surprised everyone by defeating the 12-point favorite New England Patriots to earn their third Super Bowl Championship in franchise history.

"It's the greatest victory in the history of this franchise, without question," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "I just want to say to all you Giants fans who have supported us for more than 30 years at Giants Stadium, for all those years in Yankee Stadium and some of you even back to the Polo Grounds, this is for you."

It was the first Super Bowl appearance for Giants quarterback Eli Manning who, with 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, connected with wide receiver Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard pass to clinch a 17-14 victory.