Super Bowl IV Hall of Famers Celebrate 30th Anniversary in Super Bowl XXXIV Coin Toss in Atlanta

Business Wire, Jan 11, 2000

Sports Editors & Football Writers

ATLANTA--(BW SportsWire)--Jan. 11, 2000

Hunt, Bell, Grant, Krause, Lanier, Page & Stenerud

to Participate in Ceremony

The 30th Anniversary of Super Bowl IV will be celebrated in the pre-game coin toss for Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome, the National Football League announced today.

Seven Hall of Famers from the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings will be reunited for the ceremony.

Hall of Famers from Super Bowl IV participating in the Super Bowl XXXIV pre-game coin toss will be former Minnesota head coach Bud Grant, Chiefs Founder Lamar Hunt, Chiefs linebacker Bobby Bell, Vikings defensive back Paul Krause, Chiefs linebacker Willie Lanier, Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page and Chiefs kicker Jan Stenerud.

In Super Bowl IV, played on Jan. 11, 1970 before a then-Super Bowl record crowd of 80,562 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, the AFL squared the Super Bowl at two games apiece with the NFL as the Chiefs downed the Vikings, 23-7.

Kansas City built a 16-0 halftime lead behind quarterback Len Dawson and a solid defense. Dawson, the fourth consecutive quarterback to be chosen the Super Bowl's top player, completed 12 of 17 passes, including a 46-yarder to Otis Taylor in the third quarter for the touchdown that broke the game open.

Stenerud booted three field goals for the Chiefs, including a 48-yarder. The Kansas City defense limited Minnesota's strong rushing game to 67 yards, intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles.

The victory represented a remarkable comeback for Dawson and the Chiefs. After losing to Oakland in the regular-season finale to finish second in the Western Division of the AFL, the Chiefs rallied to eliminate the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets in the inter-divisional playoffs and then downed the Raiders, to whom they had lost twice during the regular season, in the AFL championship game.

Super Bowl IV matched the conservative Dawson against Minnesota's free-wheeling Joe Kapp. Both teams had run up big point totals during the regular season while featuring stingy defenses. Grant wasn't sure what to expect from the Chiefs.

"It's hard to plan for a team when you've only seen them on three films," he said. "We've got nine years of Bart Starr on film. All we know about the Chiefs is that their style is similar to that of the Dallas Cowboys."

Kansas City's plan and execution proved to be too much for the Vikings. The Chiefs' first-half superiority set the tone for the entire game. They registered 10 first downs to only four by the Vikings, who made none by rushing in the opening 30 minutes. The Vikings crossed midfield only twice and had not advanced beyond the Chiefs' 38-yard line.

Dawson's touchdown pass to Taylor sealed the verdict.

"I didn't know they had the safety blitz on until I saw Paul Krause coming," Dawson said. "If it had been a pocket pass or a play-action, I would have been hit for a loss. I was just lucky I could get the ball away quickly."

Taylor caught the short pass in the right flat and literally took matters into his own hands to complete the play that gave the Chiefs a 16-point lead. The Kansas City defense took it from there, leaving a lasting impression on Kapp.

"We went into the game wanting to run the ball, and they were able to take it all away with great defensive play," Kapp said. "We wouldn't come up with the big play when we wanted to. That's what got us here, but we couldn't do it today."

The tradition of the Super Bowl coin toss involving former greats of the game began at Super Bowl XII in 1978 with legendary halfback Red Grange. A specially minted coin commemorating previous Super Bowl games has been used in 21 of the past 24 Super Bowls.

The 2000 Super Bowl coin, minted by the Balfour Company, will feature the helmets of the two participating teams and the Super Bowl XXXIV logo.

The honor roll for the Super Bowl coin toss is as follows:

Super Bowl XII    Red Grange

Super Bowl XIII   George Halas

Super Bowl XIV    Art Rooney

Super Bowl XV     Marie Lombardi

Super Bowl XVI    Bobby Layne

Super Bowl XVII   Elroy Hirsch

Super Bowl XVIII  Bronko Nagurski

Super Bowl XIX    President Ronald Reagan and Hugh McElhenny

Super Bowl XX     Bart Starr

Super Bowl XXI    Willie Davis

Super Bowl XXII   Don Hutson

Super Bowl XXIII  Nick Buoniconti, Bob Griese and Larry Little

Super Bowl XXIV   Mel Blount, Terry Bradshaw, Art Shell and
                  Willie Wood

Super Bowl XXV    Pete Rozelle

Super Bowl XXVI   Chuck Noll

Super Bowl XXVII  O.J.  Simpson

Super Bowl XXVIII Joe Namath

Super Bowl XXIX   Otto Graham, Joe Greene, Ray Nitschke and
                  Gale Sayers

Super Bowl XXX    Super Bowl Most Valuable Players
                  (Joe Montana tossed coin)

Super Bowl XXXI   Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll,
                  George Seifert and Hank Stram

Super Bowl XXXII  Joe Gibbs, Eddie Robinson and Doug Williams

Super Bowl XXXIII Raymond Berry, Roosevelt Brown, Art Donovan,
                  Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Tom Landry, Gino Marchetti,
                  Don Maynard, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker,
                  Andy Robustelli

Super Bowl XXXIV  Bud Grant, Lamar Hunt, Bobby Bell, Paul Krause,
                  Willie Lanier, Alan Page, Jan Stenerud