10 of the most memorable NFL moments from the 90s
The NFL in the '90s was a league where dynasties roamed. Of the decade's first seven Super Bowls, five were won by the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, before the Denver Broncos won back-to-back championships in 1998 and 1999. Then there's also the woe in Buffalo, where the Bills advanced to four straight Super Bowls, winning none. So many tears.
Sustained dominance on that level creates lasting memories. It also creates enduring sadness (again, deepest apologies, Bills fans). From Frank Reich's heroics to Leon Lett's bumbles and fumbles, let's get all nostalgic and relive '90s football.
10. Art Modell is forever an enemy in Cleveland
Much like the 80's for football fans in Baltimore, the 90's are defined by loss in Cleveland, however brief it was. After promising to never relocate his team Art Modell moved the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore for the start of the 1996 season, claiming the franchise was sinking financially in northern Ohio and he had lost $21 million.
The NFL void in Cleveland was only temporary, and the Browns returned as an expansion franchise in 1999. But the wound Modell left was deep, and when he died in 2012 every NFL stadium showed a video tribute except Cleveland at the request of his family, fearing it wouldn't be well received.
9. Frank Reich leads "The Comeback"
Bills fans mostly remember the 90's through tears as they peer off a ledge. But the thing about losing four straight Super Bowls is you have to be good enough to get there four straight times, and along the way there's heroics aplenty.
Quarterback Frank Reich was one of those heroes during Buffalo's 1992 Wild Card Weekend comeback win over the Houston Oilers, a comeback so improbable that it's been given the honor of a "THE" distinction (The Comeback). The Bills recovered from a 32-point deficit by scoring five second-half touchdowns to win 41-38, and four of those came on passes from Reich, including a 38-yard heave to Don Beebe.
8. The halftime show that started halftime shows
First he was on top of the scoreboard, then the other scoreboard. Then he blew your damn mind, and by the time Michael Jackson was finished during his 1993 halftime show, he had created the spectacle Super Bowl halftime extravaganzas are now.
7. Gary Anderson isn't perfect
The year was 1998, and in the final minutes of the NFC Championship game the Minnesota Vikings led the Atlanta Falcons by a touchdown. A late fourth-quarter drive to cement a win and the Super Bowl berth stalled, but the Vikings were still in field goal range for the sure-footed Gary Anderson. It was the same Gary Anderson who hadn't missed a field goal all season to that point, and was perfect on 39 attempts.
So then of course he stepped up, and sailed one just slightly wide left. The Falcons followed with a game-tying touchdown and they won in overtime. Minnesota still hasn't been to a Super Bowl since 1976.
6. The Dirty Bird
It's not possible to find a more 90's NFL thing than this jittery, limb convulsing dance first popularized by Jamal Anderson. He cared little about his location too, shaking his ample shoulders in any endzone.
5. Oh, Leon
Long before Jerry Jones built Jerry World, the Cowboys played in the old and creaky Texas Stadium, and they were exposed to the elements. On this particular day those elements were angry, with snow and swirling wind for the traditional Thanksgiving Day game, this time against the Dolphins. With 15 seconds left Dolphins kicker Pete Stoyanovich lined up for a potential game-winning 40-yard kick that would be near automatic in normal conditions. The icy and snowy hell led to a low kick and a block by tackle Jimmy Jones, and the ball bounced towards the end zone.
All the Cowboys needed to do was let it die so the clock could run out, they would win, and then everyone would go back to eating turkey happily. Then for reasons only he will ever understand, Leon Lett tried to recover the loose ball. He failed in the most miserable fashion, the Dolphins recovered again, and Stoyanovich kicked a chip shot from the goal-line on the free play he was gifted.
4. Don Beebe never, ever gives up
Every time anyone watches this play, inside they're still screaming "JUST HOLD THE BALL UP LEON! HOLD IT UP!”.
The play had no impact on the game whatsoever, one the Cowboys would win 52-17 to take Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 with ease as their early 90's juggernaut rolled along. But still the combination of Leon Lett's overconfidence and Don Beebe's little-man hustle while completely ignoring the scoreboard lives on as one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history. That memory is powered by sheer disbelief.
3. When John Elway became a helicopter
John Elway is forever an American hero. He was 37 years young when he ran those eight yards, diving to secure a key first down. His jump and spinning body crashing to the ground will always be remembered as the iconic moment in his career.
It's a play that prolonged what would eventually be a 92-yard touchdown drive after a Terrell Davis plunge a few snaps later, giving the Broncos a lead over Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII they wouldn't relinquish.
2. Barry Sanders walks away on his own terms
At the time, it seemed so abrupt, so jarring. Days before training camp in the summer of 1999 Barry Sanders retired, doing so after he had just rushed for 1,491 yards, and he was only one season removed from joining the short list of running backs who have posted more than 2,000 yards in a season (that list now sits at seven in league history).
For the football-watching public, there was no explanation. But for Sanders it was simple: “my desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it”
1. Wide right
Never have two words summarized a franchise's failure quite like "wide right". Scott Norwood's slight -- so, so slight -- shank with four seconds left in Super Bowl XXV ended the first of four straight Super Bowl losses for the Buffalo Bills, this time to Bill Parcells' New York Giants in a matchup of the league's best offense and best defense that year. The combined score in the Bills' next three Super Bowl losses: 119-54.