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Show NAT'L §s Teams ready for Superbowl Sunday 3 ANUARY i 24 . By THE ASSOCIATED s, PRESS » John Elway arrived at his first Super Bowl in o 1987, at age 26 already of .o* heroic stature for orchest’ ®lgi ¥ LTEC) fating the 98-yard drive that won the AFC championship for the Denver Broncos. It was Elway vs. the New York Giants that year; Elway vs. the Washington Redskins a year later; and Elway vs. the San Francisco 49ers two years after that. When it was over, it was Opponents 3, Elway 0 by a combined score of 136-40, three more NFC victories in a string of 13 straight Super Bowl wins for the conference. Now, at 37, Elway is back for John Elway IV, in this case Elway vs. the Green Bay Packers, probably his last chance for a Super Bowl ring. Defending champion Green Bay is led by Brett Favre, a three-time NFL MVP at 28 and a lot like Elway in his younger days — a quarterback who could evade most rushers, gun the ball through defenders at 90 mph or sling it close to 80 yards downfield. “He was my idol,” Favre says. ""He could do things I could only dream of doing. He was someone you wanted to watch headed for another AFC West championship. But they lost in Kansas City, lost in Pittsburgh, lost in San Francisco and ended up 12-4, second to the Chiefs in the division and forced to enter the playoffs needing to win at least twice on the road to reach San Diego. They started by avenging the loss to the Jaguars, beating them 42 17 at Mile High Stadium. Then they beat Kansas City and Pittsburgh on the road and made it to their fifth Super Bowl. If they lose, they become the first franchise to lose five. T call it our revenge tour,” says Gary Zimmerman, the Broncos’ left tackle. “It made it sweeter to get here by beating the teams that beat us.” Green Bay’s road was a little easier. But the Packers losing two of their first seven and looking unimpressive in most of their five wins. “We didn’t know exactly how to act,” Holmgren says. “People expected us to blow everyone out. We ended up trying not to lose instead of trying to win.” Then Holmgren gave players time off during their bye week and they came back looking as good as last year’s champs, beginning with a 28-10 victory over New England in a replay of the '97 Super Bowl. Green Bay enters the Super Bowl with 10 victories in its last 11 games, the only loss to previously winless Indianapolis, 41-38. With apologies to Favre and Levens, ™~ who ran for 1,435 | yards, defense is the . |2 reason for Green because you always want to watch &9 season. ; ) % Favre is certainly # the most dangerous things in sports that ire out of the ordinary.” “Now that I can do some of those things, it’s like player on the roster. But it’s the defense that keeps him from forcing the ball into trouble, as he did earlier in his career. The Packers have allowed only 109 points in their last 10 victories. The key is Gilbert Brown, the nose tackle who is listed at 345 pounds and is almost impossible to move when healthy. He’s missed two thirds of the Packers’ plays this season with a variety of injuries but says he’s fine now. “Three forty-five? Is that what they say? He looks to me like 400 and quick,” Shanahan says. & \_lr‘ San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, the site of SuperBowl XXXII set for this Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos. looking in a mirror.” In some ways, so is this Super Bowl. While the Packers are favored by nearly two touchdowns, the fifth straight time an NFC team has entered the game a double-digit favorite, they are very similar to the Broncos. Besides Elway and Favre, there are running backs Terrell Davis of Denver and Dorsey Levens of Green Bay, and offensive systems that are variants of the California offense introduced by Sid Gillman and perfected by Bill Walsh. Coaches Mike Shanahan of Denver and Mike Holmgren of Green Bay came to their jobs after interning as offensive coordinators in San Francisco, where Walsh and George Seifert won five Super Bowls with that offense. Despite all that, this has been Elway’s week and Elway will be the sentimental favorite when the game kicks off at 6:18 p.m. EST at Qualcomm Stadium — the same stadium that the Redskins beat the Broncos 42-10 in the second of Elway’s three losses. Elway still shudders when he thinks of that game a decade ago when Washington scored 35 of its points in the second period after the Broncos had taken a 10-0 lead. But these Broncos are better and more resilient. They're better because Davis ran for 1,750 yards this season, making Elway just the second most important player on the offense. They also had to overcome adversity, becoming just the fourth team to win three games as a wild card and make it to the Super Bowl. In 1996, the Broncos finished 13-3, after starting 12-1 and clinching home field in the AFC with a month left in the regular season. Then they were shocked by Jacksonville 30-27 in their first playoff game. This year, they started 6-0 and seemed DIGEST JERRY JONES TALKS TO GEORGE SEIFERT: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reportedly is meeting with former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert to discuss the team’s vacant head coaching position. Quoting a source it didn’t name, The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday George Seifert that Jones and Seifert would be joined by Larry Lacewell, the team'’s pro and college scouting director. Jones declined to comment on the report, but said he won't hire anyone to replace Barry Switzer until after the Super Bowl, because he plans to interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis. NFL rules prohibit teams from discussing job possibilities with members of Super Bowl coaching staffs until after the game is played. Green Bay and Denver meet Sunday. NBA SIGNS MARKETING DEAL WITH TOY-MAKER MATTEL: The NBA and toymaker Mattel Inc. have reached a deal on an exclusive licensing agreement, the league confirmed yesterday. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the deal gives Mattel world-wide rights to all NBA-themed toys and games. A spokeswoman for the league said the report was correct. The venture, which also takes in the Women’s National Basketball Association and USA Basketball, including both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, is expected to generate more than $300 million during the next five years. “The NBA is so promotional and so appropriate with kids right now that we have numerous opportunities,” Bruce Stein, president of Mattel Worldwide and chief operating officer of Mattel Inc., told the newspaper. A’S FILE $48 MILLION CLAIM OVER COLISEUM RENOVATIONS: The Oakland Athletics have filed a $48 million claim against Oakland and Alameda County officials over renovations to the Coliseum, the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday. The claim, sent to Coliseum attorneys Wednesday, caps a series of unsuccessful talks between stadium officials and the A’s, who are unhappy with changes made to the stadium to lure the Oakland Raiders. The demands also add to those previously made by the Raiders and Golden State Warriors after slow sales of personal seat licenses for Raiders games pushed the Coliseum into debt. Taxpayers may face a $15.5 million tab this year to keep the stadium running. LEYLAND NOW LEANING TOWARD STAYING WITH MARLINS: Jim Leyland, who said two months ago he probably couldn’t wait for the Florida Marlins to rebuild, said Thursday he is leaning toward finishing the final If Brown can contain Davis, it allows defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur to open his bag of tricks, giving Elway multiple formations to read and using strong safety LeRoy Butler and the swift linebacking corps led by Brian Williams to blitz. Reggie White, 35 and hampered by a bad back, can still be a force in big moments. Denver’s defense isn’t quite as solid — it’s last in the league in average yards per rush allowed. That means that while both teams point to Davis as the key, the game may still come down to Elway, who has led 44 game-saving drives in his 15-year career. He says he will ponder retirement after Sunday’s game — win or lose. Two weeks ago, in the 24-21 win in Pittsburgh that got the Broncos to the Super Bowl, he made the game-saving play: a third-down completion to tight end Shannon Sharpe from his own 13 with the Steelers pressing. That gave Denver the first down it needed to run out the clock. Something like that would be the dream scenario for this Super Bowl — perhaps a desperate drive in the final two minutes with the Packers leading by six points. It would be a fitting end to John Elway IV. four years on his contract. Leyland Jim Leyland : quit as Pittsburgh’s manager after 11 seasons when the Pirates chose to rebuild from the bottom up, only to have the same thing happen in Florida, where the Marlins already have gutted much of their World Series championship team. The Marlins, who claim they lost $34 million last season, will report to spring training next month without Kevin Brown, Moises Alou, Robb Nen, Devon White and Jeff Conine, all traded during the offseason. Also, No. 2 starter Alex Fernandez will miss 1998 following rotator cuff surgery. But after saying in November he probably would manage the Marlins only more season, Leyland seems content to keep managing a team he now believes isn’t that far away from winning again. |