The 1995 Steelers were winners, even though they lost.
At least that’s how the story on Page A-1 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described things Jan. 29, 1996, the day after Super Bowl XXX.
The Steelers lost, 27-17, to the Cowboys ending their season 20 years ago today. The Cowboys were the team of the 1990s — America’s Team — and the Steelers had just begun to break away from the mediocrity of the 80s (missing the playoffs six years in the decade).
So, the Post-Gazette lauded the Steelers’ 1995-96 season as a success, comparing it to the progress the city had made in getting beyond the painful decline of its industrial past:
“For now, it remains to the Pittsburgh Steelers to assess what this season has meant. It has been a team that, like the region from which it draws an unceasingly loyal legion of fans, has gotten up off its back again and again. Let history and bookies note: they covered the spread.”
The game itself is remembered not for the play of Dallas’ many stars, including quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, receiver Michael Irvin and cornerback Deion Sanders, but for Sanders’ fellow defensive back Larry Brown’s two interceptions of Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell’s passes. O’Donnell threw three interceptions, and Brown earned Super Bowl MVP honors for his performance, which helped hand the Steelers their first Super Bowl loss in five appearances.
“It just got away from me,” O’Donnell said of the last interception. “It slipped totally out of my hand.”
Steelers fans remember O’Donnell’s interceptions, yes, but they also likely remember the emotional plotline of Rod Woodson, who played well in his first game back after tearing his knee in the season opener. Woodson broke up a pass from Aikman to Irvin on a key third down, celebrating by pointing to his formerly injured knee after the play.
Coach Bill Cowher also described the team’s season as a success in Ed Bouchette’s story on the front of the Super Bowl Steelers Extra special section: “It’s been one great run. We didn’t get to the top of the mountain, but it was a great run along the way.”
Of course, we know things would only get better. Cowher would get his first — and the Steelers’ fifth — Lombardi Trophy 10 years later (and another Super Bowl three years after that), ending a drought dating back to 1979.
Though it would take another 10 years to return to the Super Bowl, Super Bowl XXX served as a turning point for the team and the city, firmly placing the focus on the future instead of the past. Again, from the front-page story:
“No longer locked irretrievably into glories of the past, the Steelers, like their city, still look very new this morning.”
