Last Tuesday the NFL owners decided to relocate Super Bowl LV to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2021. The host was originally Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, but floods have delayed construction on the new stadium.
Tampa Bay Will Host Super Bowl LV 2021
The next three Super Bowls will be in Minneapolis, Atlanta and Miami. Miami and New Orleans have each hosted the Super Bowl 10 times. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in their only Super Bowl in San Diego, which has hosted the Super Bowl three times. Super Bowl LV will be the fourth time that Tampa Bay has hosted the Super Bowl. Two of those Super Bowls were not competitive but memorable because of a standout performance by an all-time great and one of the deepest defenses in NFL history.
Here are the three Super Bowls that took place in Tampa.
Super Bowl XXV – 1991 New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
The New York Giants made it to the Super Bowl, but Jeff Hostetler was their quarterback instead of Phil Simms (who was the Giants signal caller when they won it all in 1986). The Buffalo Bills were the more talented team who had some serious offensive firepower with Jim Kelly at quarterback, Thurman Thomas at running back and Andre Reed and James Lofton at wide receiver. They were also led by Bruce Smith on defense.
Smith had the top play in the first half of the game when he sacked Hostetler in the end zone for a safety, which put the Bills ahead 12-3 in the second quarter.
The Giants scored two touchdowns with a 14-yard touchdown catch from Stephen Baker and a touchdown run from Ottis Anderson. With the Bills trailing 17-12 in the fourth quarter, Thomas ran for a 31-yard touchdown. Thomas was the star of the game with 135 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards and one rushing touchdown. But Giants kicker Matt Bahr won the game with a 21-yard field goal, his second of the game.
This Super Bowl was also known for Whitney Houston’s National Anthem.
Super Bowl XVIII – 1984 Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington Redskins 9
The Raiders had notable players like Howie Long and Lester Hayes on defense and Jim Plunkett at quarterback. They had to knock off the Redskins who were looking to repeat as champions after their win over the Miami Dolphins for the first championship in their franchise.
The Redskins had a young Darrell Green on defense and Joe Theismann at quarterback. Running back John Riggins won the Super Bowl MVP for the Redskins and he ran behind a great offensive line with Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby and Jeff Bostic.
But the star of the game was running back Marcus Allen. Allen had the defining moment of his career by running the ball 20 times for 191 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. If Allen was a borderline Hall of Famer, that performance put him in.
Super Bowl XXXV – 2000 Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7
Tiki Barber was just entering the prime of his career and Shannon Sharpe was close to the end. The best offensive player was probably Ravens left tackle Jonathan Ogden. Otherwise the game was about defensive star power with Michael Strahan, Jessie Armstead and Jason Sehorn on the Giants and Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson, Chris McAlister, Peter Boulware and Sam Adams playing defense for the Ravens.
The two teams combined for 265 passing yards. The Ravens scored 34 points with two offensive touchdowns, an interception returned for a touchdown and a kickoff returned for a touchdown.
The Ravens defense forced five turnovers and picked off Giants quarterback Kerry Collins four times.
In 2021 fans will get to see what the next Super Bowl in Tampa Bay brings.
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