{"id":6438,"date":"2016-01-28T08:45:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T13:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=6438"},"modified":"2016-01-28T08:58:19","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T13:58:19","slug":"20-years-later-steelers-vs-cowboys-super-bowl-xxx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/01\/28\/20-years-later-steelers-vs-cowboys-super-bowl-xxx\/","title":{"rendered":"20 years later: Steelers vs. Cowboys, Super Bowl XXX"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The <\/a>
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette front page Monday, Jan. 29, 1996 \u2014 the day after the Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX, 27-17, to the Dallas Cowboys in Tempe, Ariz. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Cowboys <\/a>
Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman warms up before Super Bowl XXX. Aikman completed 15 of 23 passes for 209 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions in the game. (Associated Press file photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Brentson <\/a>
Brentson Buckner hides his head under a towel after the Steelers’ comeback attempt fell short against the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX. (Peter Diana\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Levon <\/a>
Levon Kirkland grabs Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith’s pants to make a tackle in Super Bowl XXX. Smith had 18 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns in the game. (Bob Donaldson\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Steelers <\/a>
Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell is sacked by Dallas defensive end Charles Haley in Super Bowl XXX. (Robin Rombach\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dallas' <\/a>
Dallas’ Larry Brown (24) looks upfield after intercepting a pass thrown by Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXX to set up a Dallas touchdown. Cornerback Robert Bailey is at right. O’Donnell threw two of his three interceptions to Brown, who earned Super Bowl MVP honors. (Peter Diana\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Yancey <\/a>
Yancey Thigpen stretches in vain for a Neil O’Donnell pass in the second half of Super Bowl XXX. (John Beale\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Coach <\/a>
Coach Bill Cowher pauses in the locker room after the Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX, 27-17, to the Cowboys. (Bill Wade\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Cowboys’ Deion Sanders wrestles away a first quarter pass from Willie Williams for a Dallas first down in Super Bowl XXX. (Bob Donaldson\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Balloons <\/a>
Balloons are released over Sun Devil Stadium during the halftime festivities of Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Ariz. (Elise Amendola\/Associated Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Cornerback <\/a>
Cornerback Carnell Lake is upended as Michael Irvin (88) hauls in a reception in the first half of Super Bowl XXX. Safety Darren Perry (39) defends on the play. (John Beale\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The 1995 Steelers were winners, even though they lost.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Steelers lost, 27-17, to the Cowboys ending their season 20 years ago today. The Cowboys were the team of the 1990s \u2014 America’s Team \u2014 and the Steelers had just begun to break away from the mediocrity of the 80s (missing the playoffs six years in the decade).<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

“For now, it remains to the Pittsburgh Steelers to assess what this season has meant.\u00a0It 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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“It just got away from me,” O’Donnell said of the last interception.<\/a> “It slipped totally out of my hand.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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:\u00a0“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.”<\/p>\n

Of course, we know things would only get better. Cowher would get his first \u2014 and the Steelers’ fifth \u2014 Lombardi Trophy 10 years later (and another Super Bowl three years after that), ending a drought dating back to 1979.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

“No longer locked irretrievably into glories of the past, the Steelers, like their city, still look very new this morning.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“It’s been one great run,” said coach Bill Cowher. “We didn’t get to the top of the mountain, but it was a great run along the way.”<\/p>\n

Look at the pictures20 years later: Steelers vs. Cowboys, Super Bowl XXX<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[1345,1346,1342,1343,1344],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Thigpen.jpg?fit=1200%2C650&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7161,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/01\/06\/can-terry-bradshaw-spell-cat-the-history-of-an-insult\/","url_meta":{"origin":6438,"position":0},"title":"Can Terry Bradshaw spell ‘cat?’ The history of an insult","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Behind the scenes at Super Bowl XIII, Hollywood Henderson calls the Steelers quarterback stupid.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Steelers1979020.jpg?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9576,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/09\/11\/remembering-that-steelers-seahawks-super-bowl\/","url_meta":{"origin":6438,"position":1},"title":"Remembering that Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl","date":"September 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Steelers and Seahawks have very little in common. 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