- 1 day ago
Stanley Wilson's suspension and Krumrie's injury were the only thing that stopped this team from beating the 49ers
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:03I'm fantasizing about what you see happening in the Super Bowl.
00:07You've probably played that game a million times.
00:10Tell me what your biggest fantasy has always been as you've been growing up about the Super Bowl.
00:15Well, I think the greatest thing for a quarterback when you're in the fourth quarter
00:20is about 32 seconds to go on the clock.
00:23You're inside their 25-yard line, and you drop back.
00:28Back to throw, Montana.
00:30You find Eddie Brown in the back of the end zone.
00:32Steps up, throws.
00:36The game's over, and you win.
00:39And the 49ers have won the Super Bowl.
00:41Problem right there.
00:43They should have aimed to crush their opponent.
00:45I don't get why athletes do this.
00:47Oh, bottom of the ninth inning.
00:50Game seven.
00:52Buzzer beater, game seven.
00:55Oh, last second touchdown.
00:59Then they go and lose because they didn't aim to crush their opponent.
01:02They aim to beat their opponent last minute.
01:06I want to win by like 30.
01:10Or five if it's baseball.
01:16That would be the ultimate of any Super Bowl.
01:22I want to win.
01:22Then they go and won't win.
01:44Then they go and lose.
02:44Offensive mastermind and quarterback guru.
02:47Third down and two. Third down and two.
02:50As a coach, he taught some of the best quarterbacks the finer points of throwing a football.
02:57As a player with the Cincinnati Bengals, Weich knew how to throw a spiral.
03:02He just didn't do it very often.
03:04Veteran Sam Weich, a proven backup quarterback, but certainly no superstar.
03:09Sam Weich was awful, and I mean this.
03:12I was the highest paid player per minute of playing time in the history of the league, mainly because I
03:18never played.
03:19Weich stayed in Cincinnati for three years, learning from head coach Paul Brown and quarterback coach Bill Walsh.
03:27Bill and I were really good friends.
03:29We weren't that far apart in age.
03:31I can remember he said one day, you know, if you keep at this, I think you'd make a good
03:35coach.
03:35At quarterback number 14, Sam Weich, function like another coach.
03:39Which was his way of saying, you're not a very good player, but you might be a good coach.
03:45In 1979, Walsh became head coach in San Francisco.
03:49This man's setting down, he's got a good chance inside there.
03:52One of his first calls was to Weich, who was hoping to become a high school coach.
03:57On the same day that Bill Walsh called me to say, I'm going to take the job of the 49ers,
04:02would you be interested in coming out and coaching the passing game?
04:04On that same day, I got the rejection letters from two North Carolina schools saying, Sam, we are rejecting you
04:11on your qualifications.
04:12You've never coached.
04:13We are looking for an experienced coach.
04:15But Weich was qualified to mentor the 49ers rookie quarterback.
04:20Let me tell you, when you're coaching Joe Montana, it's real easy.
04:23You fold your arms, you take about three good, giant steps backwards, stay out of his way.
04:28That way you get to be a good coach.
04:30In 1981, Joe Montana led the 49ers to a Super Bowl win over Weich's former team.
04:37Two years later, Weich's former team hired him to be their new head coach.
04:42You're on your own.
04:44Well, thanks for that short introduction, Paul.
04:46I appreciate that.
04:48Years ago, when I was a rookie in 1968, I used to take real good notes.
04:53And Paul Brown used to take one playbook each year.
04:56And he would always take the playbook from the player that he thought took the best notes.
05:00Well, he selected my playbook.
05:02And he had remembered that.
05:04That's how he said that he came back to me, that he was impressed by my note-taking and thought
05:09I'd be a good coach.
05:11Sam Weich's life had come full circle.
05:14He was back where his career had started, working for the man who used to be his coach.
05:20And on the day Weich was hired, Paul Brown returned Weich's old playbook.
05:25There he is.
05:26In the coming years, Weich would transform that place inside which the NFL had never seen.
05:36Great job!
05:45In 1984, Sam Weich's first season as head coach in Cincinnati, Boomer Esiason was drafted by the Bengals a second
05:53round.
05:54He arrived with a big arm and a big ego.
05:58I was very upset that I was not a first-round draft pick.
06:01And when I think back to that time, I wonder what happened.
06:05I think partly my personality was to blame.
06:08I was not afraid to say what was on my mind.
06:10What kind of call is that?
06:12I always felt like when I played football that I wanted to be who I was as a person.
06:16That I did not want to be some cookie-cutter quarterback.
06:19Should have passed it.
06:21Well, except we've been blowing them out running.
06:23I always thought of Sam and me as a, like a bunking bronco with a guy that's trying to tame
06:29him.
06:30Oh, so he was a bunking bronco, okay.
06:34He threw the ball so hard that sometimes the ball would fly on him, so he'd overthrow receivers.
06:39They used to joke around he was the only person that could overthrow.
06:43I never said that more than once or twice.
06:46Oh, you know, it is like we gave up on that.
06:50I think you could probably describe him, any animal that's wild.
06:53Because he needed to be tamed a little bit.
06:55Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
06:58There was no taming nose-tackle Tim Crumry.
07:00A 10th-round draft pick who, like a siason, was surprised he was selected so late.
07:06I'm still hot.
07:07I'm still pissed off.
07:09You get me rolling on that.
07:12I was too light, too short, too slow.
07:16And one thing that can't measure a computer is your heart.
07:18I got a heart of gold.
07:20I'm going to make the team and I'm going to play a long time.
07:22Crum Rye was the prototypical nose tackle, farm boy from Wisconsin, former wrestling champ, a badass with a bad ear.
07:32This is a trophy of all wrestlers. It's a cauliflower ear. If you see somebody with a cauliflower ear, he's
07:38a wrestler now.
07:40Crum Rye foremost was a football player, and number 69 loved proving that he belonged in the NFL.
07:48Here's a guy that basically had the biggest chip on his shoulder that I had ever seen.
07:53I mean, he was so ticked off at his draft location.
07:58Every practice was like third and one on the afternoon.
08:02And it would always be a fight. It would always be pushing and shoving.
08:05I mean, he won 100 miles an hour.
08:08At times, it got to be uncomfortable.
08:10We'd all be wondering, is there something wrong with this guy?
08:12I was the pain in the ass guy.
08:14I was the guy going 100 miles an hour, raising hell, making all the guys mad at me.
08:19I was scared somebody was going to cut me.
08:21I was scared people were going to say, hey, he's not as tough as he's supposed to be.
08:25Tim was the spirit of the defense.
08:27He was the one that everyone looked at and said, hey, if he can go that hard, that many snaps,
08:31then we can do it.
08:32And I think it was a big part of everything coming together.
08:36Before everything came together for Weich, the Bengals nearly fell apart.
08:40In 1987, Weich was facing his mentor, Bill Walsh.
08:45The Bengals had the lead, the ball, and they presumed a 2-0 start to the season.
08:51But on fourth down, with six seconds remaining, instead of punting or taking a safety, Weich decided to run the
08:58ball.
08:59Six seconds seemed like we could make a nice little sweep, jog around, back and forth, and just fall down.
09:05The game would be over.
09:06And the play will be ruled dead right there.
09:09So there's two seconds left.
09:10The 49ers will have a chance to throw on.
09:13Right to the near side.
09:14Here's Montana throwing for the end zone.
09:17Right, right.
09:18He's got it.
09:20Touchdown, 49ers.
09:21That's one of the hardest losses I've ever been a part of, and it was my fault, the whole thing.
09:27We come into the locker room, and I mean, there's going to be a mutiny.
09:30The team is going to want to kill Sam.
09:33Weich had lost his team, literally.
09:37Following that, NFL players went on strike, which was an awkward time for newly appointed player rep, Boomer Esiason.
09:46I was crazy passionate about carrying out the wishes of the players that I played for.
09:50I never thought in my wildest dreams that it was the right thing to do, simply because of the amount
09:56of money that was going to be lost.
09:58And no one had more money to lose than Esiason.
10:02Two weeks before the strike, he had signed a five-year, six-million-dollar contract.
10:07So I was against it initially, and then when we got into it, I had no other way but to
10:13go full speed ahead, which is what I did.
10:15I put my reputation on the line, and it was a really tough situation.
10:21I figured that a picture is worth a thousand words.
10:25So I decided to sit in front of this bus.
10:27I want the guys, though, to be independent thinkers and individuals enough to evaluate whether they want to be on
10:35a picket line, laying in front of buses, acting silly like they are right now,
10:39or whether they want to be professional adult men that want to live in this community.
10:45I've never regretted that moment, because I really thought that that got my teammates' support behind me, because they knew
10:52I had the most to lose.
10:54Boomer, have you guys got workouts planned for the day, for during the day?
10:58No.
10:58Have you got workouts planned for during the week?
11:00No.
11:01You're not going to work out?
11:02No.
11:03We're just going to go over and hang out at the Clarington Hotel.
11:05Okay.
11:08Okay.
11:08Well, that'd be a mistake.
11:09We don't have a football.
11:10We don't have any pads.
11:11We don't have any helmets.
11:11How are we supposed to work out?
11:12I'll bring you some footballs from home so you guys can work out.
11:16So I did run practice, and the first practice that I ran, I had a hat, I think, that said
11:20coach on it.
11:21I had a whistle, and I had a clipboard, and I asked everybody to come out to a LaSalle high
11:26school in northern Cincinnati.
11:27I even invited the press to come, and I brought everybody around, and I said, okay, guys, welcome to practice.
11:33The first thing we're going to practice today is how to take the safety at the end of the game
11:37so we don't lose a game.
11:39And I put Chris Collinsworth in as the punter.
11:41We snapped the ball.
11:43Chris ran out the clock.
11:44We go home.
11:46We win the game instead of losing a game.
11:47And then I called practice.
11:49That was it.
11:50It was over with.
11:51And essentially, so was the season.
11:54The 87 Bengals never recovered from the strike, finishing 4-11.
12:00There was plenty of blame to go around, but most of it fell on the coach and quarterback.
12:06I think it was an exasperating, frustrating, completely out-of-control season for the Cincinnati Bengals.
12:14You know, the fan didn't want to hear about a million-dollar quarterback sitting in front of a bus going
12:20on.
12:21And I could completely understand where the fan was coming from, but I'm still a human being.
12:27When somebody says something negative to you, and it seems to be a reoccurring theme, you're like, maybe I need
12:32to get out of here.
12:33Siason thought about leaving.
12:35Weiss wondered if he'd be fired.
12:37But Paul Brown kept his quarterback and his coach.
12:41And one year later, it really helped the situation.
12:44The hope was that the players in December, when it got really tough, would be able to look at each
12:50other and say,
12:51I know that guy's wife's name.
12:52I know how many kids he has.
12:54I know what's important in his life.
12:56We've talked about things that mean more to us other than just football.
12:59It was different.
13:01It made the chemistry come around, wakes everybody up.
13:05We're not doing it the right way.
13:07We're going to change, no matter what it is.
13:09Change is good.
13:10Weiss wanted a fresh start, but he was more concerned with how his team would finish.
13:15In 1987, the Bengals had a chance to win seven games late in the fourth quarter and lost them all.
13:23Not being able to finish off the game led to the word finish becoming the keynote for the 1988 season.
13:32Be physical, keep your poised, and finish everything we start.
13:36Finish everything, guys.
13:38From the first game, it was clear that 1988 would be a season of fantastic finishes.
13:49Right now, D. Right now, D.
13:52Here we are, right on this play.
13:55Lomax is back to throw.
13:56He's in the draft, throws it away.
13:59Incomplete.
13:59And the ball game is over.
14:01And the Bengals have opened with a 21-14 win.
14:04We're excited coming off the 87 season, but it didn't take too much to get us excited.
14:10We have a goal line stand, and hell, everybody's jumping up and down like we won the Super Bowl.
14:13We just made a good play.
14:15That's what we were paid to do.
14:16Kick their butts right now.
14:18Let's go.
14:19Stay after them.
14:21Finish everything.
14:22Lomax is going to have to throw into the end zone.
14:24Touchdown right against the end line.
14:26Touchdown to Tim McGee.
14:28Good job.
14:29They won't quit on it.
14:30I'll guarantee you they're not going to quit.
14:31Nice going.
14:33Get away!
14:34I don't want to hear any of you guys ever talk about our fourth quarter play again.
14:38Unless you've got some that I don't think you've got.
14:41We have to fight ourselves from the doldrums of last year to gain respect this year.
14:47I was watching ESPN today, and Axe Delma's making fun of the Bengals and our coach.
14:52That kind of stuff just makes you sick to your stomach.
14:56One year earlier, Boomer Esiason was the one making fun of Sam Weich.
15:01Now, quarterback and coach were having fun.
15:05Very nice.
15:06Very nice.
15:07Joe Montana was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the history of the league.
15:11Boomer is a field general.
15:12As a commander on the field.
15:14He was the ultimate.
15:16Stand or stand or move it.
15:17No, strong right.
15:18He carried himself the way a quarterback should carry himself.
15:21That's the way to go.
15:23Cocky.
15:23Way to go, Blades.
15:24A little bit arrogant, but I tell you what.
15:27He demanded respect, and he got respect from the players.
15:30He had enough ability, he was a good enough quarterback, to back up his mouth.
15:34Oh, what a play.
15:36Unbelievable.
15:37Hey, guys.
15:38You guys got a man up now here.
15:40Let's block this thing up and let's go.
15:42Let's get this show on the road right now.
15:43No matter what happened to him, he would still stay on those guys.
15:47And he created the chemistry of that offense.
15:49Attack, attack.
15:50Let's go.
15:51Let's go.
15:51Attack.
15:52Attack, attack, attack.
15:53The Bengals were running a no-huddle offense, and it looked and sounded like pure chaos.
16:01I don't think ever in the history of the NFL had there ever been an offense remotely, even to this
16:07day, close to this.
16:08Fly, Dallas Tom! Fly, Dallas Tom!
16:11At the time, everyone was saying, hey, this won't work, it's crazy.
16:16Of course, everybody's doing it now, but at that time, it was getting a lot of criticism.
16:21And it was scoring more points than anyone else in 1988, because it created mismatches in coverage and forced defenses
16:29to do something they dread.
16:31You had to think.
16:33And the old saying goes, every time you think as a football player, you hurt the team.
16:37Instead of just lining up and reacting and playing, he made you think before you had to do something.
16:42What is he going to do?
16:43There's Eddie Brown.
16:44He has a touchdown!
16:46The magician, and perhaps the best play-action quarterback ever, were playing now-you-see-it, now-you-don't, with
16:53defenses.
16:54Oh, did that fake out that secondary completely.
16:57To Weich, football was a beautiful game, and to succeed at it, he needed a quarterback with a beautiful mind.
17:05This guy thinks ahead. He's always anticipating what's coming next.
17:10He's a star.
17:11I wasn't going to call him that.
17:12If I don't call him that now, then people are going to think I'm stupid again.
17:16He would put a lot on my plate.
17:17He would expect a lot from me.
17:19Robert! Take my plate! Change the plate!
17:22He would never let me wear a wristband on my arm to cheat.
17:26And really, what they should give you, they should have a cheat sheet for you.
17:29They should, because this is not a normal offense.
17:32And he would always grill me mentally, every day.
17:34What are you expecting? If they bump each other? Bump, bump. What coverage?
17:37I'd like that guy to go back, cover three.
17:39Shoot!
17:4058G release!
17:41All right.
17:41Three!
17:426.47 bend in.
17:44I think I passed my oral exam today.
17:46He actually tried, but it was just fascinating every time he would come up with something.
17:53And early in 1988, it was virtually unstoppable.
17:57In the Bengals' 6-0 start, the former bucking Bronco threw 15 touchdown passes.
18:04Once he finally got me refined...
18:06...4, I mean, say only you went 6-4 the rest of the season.
18:11And the way he wanted me, we took Bill Walsh's 49er, West Coast, very cerebral system to another level of
18:20thinking.
18:20And it was remarkable that we could all get together on the same page and pull it off.
18:29...of a legend and a dance craze.
18:32And Icky does a one, put a dance, and spikes the ball.
18:35You remember the old Oldsmobile commercials, not like your dad's Oldsmobile?
18:39That kid, he's got all the moves.
18:41This is not your father's old.
18:44I learned it from you, Mom.
18:45When he came back, he started telling the story about this dance.
18:50Well, I think he'd been doing it a couple of times, but it hadn't caught on quite like it was
18:54about to catch on.
18:56It caught on because Woods kept scoring touchdowns.
19:00And after many, he performed his signature moves.
19:04At first, I was like, oh, that's such a silly dance.
19:08But, you know, now that it's been hitting, everybody likes to dance.
19:11Everybody's like, oh, that's a great dance.
19:13I really like it.
19:15He really wasn't a very good dancer, if you know the truth.
19:18And Icky, I love you, baby, but, uh, nah.
19:21You didn't have to be a good dancer to do the Icky Shuffle.
19:25Hey!
19:26It's such a simple, man!
19:28But not everyone could follow the simple steps.
19:32No, hell no, I can't dance.
19:34I can't dance at all.
19:35I never did it.
19:36I think I tried to sneak it once at home when nobody was watching just to see if I actually
19:41could do it.
19:42That comes part of winning.
19:44And if you win enough, you deserve the right to do a little bit of that stuff.
19:48The NFL disagreed and later in the season decided the shuffle wasn't suitable for the end zone.
19:56I told Icky before the game I wanted him to go ahead and do it.
19:59That's crap.
20:01That's a bonehead move by the National Football League, and they ought to change it.
20:05The officials told me that.
20:06The official that threw the flag came over and said, this is a crazy rule.
20:09I wish they'd take it out.
20:11It was the only thing we agreed on all day.
20:13I can't, to this day, go to a speaking engagement somewhere that someone doesn't ask me, would you do the
20:19Icky Shuffle?
20:21Weich never did the dance, but he did keep giving the ball to Icky.
20:26During the second half of the season, the once-pass-happy Bengals became a power running team.
20:31With Woods and number 21 James Brooks, combining for 29 touchdowns during the regular season.
20:42But perhaps the most surprising Bengal runner was Stanley Wilson.
20:48Twice he had been suspended for drug use, but in 1988, he was back.
20:54I thought he was clean when he returned.
20:55He acted like he was.
20:56He had the look of a guy that was.
20:58He was certainly fighting it.
20:59He actually had an author follow him around.
21:01He was going to write a book about how he was going to beat this addiction.
21:04If they call Stanley Wilson a dopehead and a coke addict again, I hope that y'all will throw the
21:10flag.
21:10That's taunting.
21:11He's a good football player, and he's a good guy.
21:13You know, some guys are just bad actors, and you're just not pulling for them.
21:16Then Stanley Wilson types, you're pulling for them.
21:19You want them to succeed.
21:21You did it.
21:22Great job.
21:24I used to have him over after home games, and he would have a bowl of ice cream with me.
21:28The reason I brought him over there is that I was told by doctors that you're most susceptible to get
21:34back into drugs when you're celebrating or when you're depressed.
21:37Well, figure it out.
21:38Either win or lose, you're celebrating or depressed.
21:42By the end of the regular season, there wasn't much to be depressed about in Cincinnati, as Riverfront Stadium was
21:48transformed into the jungle.
21:50Hi, everybody, and welcome to the jungle, sometimes referred to as Riverfront Stadium.
21:55Welcome to the jungle.
21:56It was insane.
21:58If anybody ever wanted to do a study in fan behavior, all you had to do is take a look
22:04at the 87 Bengals and compare it to the 88 Bengals.
22:07Because the 87 Bengals were booed at home, and I was like the number one enemy.
22:12But in 88, all those Bengal fans that were embarrassed the year before all became one.
22:18The contrast in both years, same people involved, was remarkable.
22:23Just crazy stuff, you know, appearances, things that you never dreamed of because we were never exposed to because we
22:30didn't win.
22:31We were winning.
22:32Those things came alive.
22:33I didn't even know you could have a radio show as a player.
22:35I even got a radio show.
22:36Can you imagine that?
22:39The Bengals even had their own theme song.
22:41Who they?
22:42Who they?
22:42Who they think they're gonna beat them Bengals?
22:44Who they think they're gonna beat them Bengals?
22:47Where they play?
22:47In the jungle.
22:49There ain't nobody.
22:51I don't know where that came from.
22:53Yeah, that was Sam's goofy little thing.
22:55Okay, I wrote it.
22:56Nobody.
22:56I mean, you know, who comes up with that?
23:00So the Bengals, 60 minutes away from what they hope, the division title.
23:06They've got a second down and nine looking at them right here.
23:08Boomer, a play action off to his head.
23:10There's the man down.
23:11A Brown.
23:13A Bengals down to the 20th.
23:18The Siason's late touchdown pass helps send the game to overtime,
23:22where White's watched kicker Jim Breach attempt to win it.
23:26I can remember standing there and I'm wearing the only thing on the sideline
23:31that's not NFL properties endorsed, a pair of leather gloves.
23:34But I can remember looking down at those gloves and thinking,
23:37what are you wearing these gloves for?
23:39There's a big game going on and I'm worried about the gloves.
23:41The wall is put down.
23:43The kick is up.
23:44The Bengals are division champion.
23:47Yes, sir.
23:48The man with the finish everything mantra
23:50had finished the regular season 12-4.
23:53The NFC Central back then was probably the strongest division of football.
23:58Browns were good.
24:00Believe it or not.
24:02Oilers were good.
24:04Steelers have been good since 1972.
24:11And that's about it.
24:16For the fourth year in a row,
24:18Tim Crumry had led the team in tackles.
24:20And Boomer Esiason was the NFL's MVP.
24:25Weirdest thing happened to me.
24:26I was driving into my neighborhood.
24:28Must have been 50 houses.
24:29Had little black and orange Boomer signs after I was named MVP.
24:34All these people, one year later, wanted to show support for me.
24:39Probably one of the proudest days of my entire life as a human being and as a football player
24:44because it really meant a lot to me.
24:46That stadium and play a game that meant so much to so many.
24:51Sam used to say to us,
24:52Listen, if you don't eat all your lunch, don't throw it out.
24:56You know, put it over here in this part of the room
24:58because I'm going to give it away to people who need it more than we do.
25:02And we saw that as like, this is a hell of a human being right here.
25:05Oh, I love you.
25:06White cared about people and about his players.
25:08All right.
25:09This is hugging time.
25:11A football head coach is supposed to be a guy that's going to be a grinder.
25:15That's going to make it uncomfortable for everybody and hold everybody accountable.
25:18All of us have a great love for each, fraternal love right now.
25:22It ain't ever going to be broken.
25:24But for 1988, he was one of us.
25:26I'm inviting anybody that can find it
25:28and I'm going to write the directions right up here to my house right now
25:31after this is over with.
25:33Got this big screen in the bedroom.
25:36Sam was a players coach, but he'd let you have it.
25:39Shut up.
25:40Let me have it.
25:41We can throw the ball and we can run it.
25:43We cannot do the same thing.
25:46Don't be a selfish football player.
25:48I'm not going to sit here and tell you that, you know,
25:50when he got, like, Vince Lombardi-ish on us,
25:53we all didn't roll our eyes because we knew that wasn't his personality.
25:56But his communication skills were terrific.
25:58Sam always had a knack of triggering me.
26:01Kick his ass.
26:02Now kick his ass.
26:03You know, Tim, you're kind of looking fat today.
26:06You know, I said, what do you mean I'm fat?
26:08I've been running six miles every other day.
26:09I'm not fat.
26:10He goes, nah, you might be fat.
26:11Just walk away.
26:12He drives you nuts, but he made you think.
26:15A lot of boys, baby.
26:15And before each kickoff, he put one final thought in each of his players' minds.
26:21I did it to relax a little bit myself, selfishly.
26:24But I also did it to let the players know that one last time I'm on your side.
26:30Fulcher, your best game ever.
26:33And they'll be looking back in Oklahoma.
26:36Everybody in Oklahoma's watching.
26:37I think.
26:39They have TVs there?
26:40Yeah.
26:40Okay.
26:41You know, I can picture it in my mind, him walking up to me, me reaching up and shaking his
26:45hand.
26:46And we'll get him, coach.
26:47And he says, I know he will, Tim.
26:48We'll get him.
26:49Let's go, Timmy.
26:50Be nasty.
26:51Be nasty.
26:51We're going to kick him.
26:52Don't worry.
26:53I mean, it's simple.
26:54It's a handshake.
26:55An exchange of two or three words.
26:58But it's a memory you'll last for a lifetime.
27:02In the divisional playoff against Seattle, Stanley Wilson had a memorable game.
27:07He scored twice and was part of a ground attack that gained 254 yards rushing.
27:13I couldn't have been any happier for Stanley Wilson.
27:16Come on.
27:16Come on, Stanley.
27:17Get it, Stanley.
27:18Come on, Stanley.
27:19It was the crowning achievement of him overcoming all that he had had to overcome the previous
27:24two seasons.
27:26And he is back on the big stage.
27:28And he was doing exactly what he always wanted to do.
27:32Cincinnati's defense held Seattle to 22 yards rushing.
27:37But it was the Seahawks' defense, most notably the often-injured Ken Clark and Joe Nash,
27:43who became the story of this game.
27:46Well, you're telling him to get hurt.
27:48Look at this bullsh**.
27:49You can't tell him to get hurt.
27:51He's doing right.
27:52It was obvious what they were doing, but it was their way of trying to slow down the no-huddle
27:56offense.
27:56And Joe Nash knew that he didn't have to play third down, so he would always get hurt after
28:01second down.
28:01I'm no doctor.
28:03I can't tell whether he's hurt or not.
28:04When he's down there-
28:05I'll give you a clue.
28:06If he's down on every third down, you can get your MD tonight.
28:10Well, at least they tried to do it on the field of play, as opposed to some other teams
28:13who tried to do it in the commissioner's office, and then steal the concept the next
28:16year and go on to four straight Super Bowls.
28:18That other team was Marv Levy's Buffalo Bills, the Bengals' opponent in the AFC Championship.
28:25Marv Levy said he would feign injuries like Seattle did, and he would make a farce to
28:29the game.
28:30I wonder if their team feels ashamed of the way their coaches perform during the week.
28:34Marv and I laugh about them.
28:35Marv's a good friend of mine.
28:36I ought to.
28:37I've got on my website a newspaper clipping of Marv's headlines that the no-huddle is
28:41no fair.
28:42This was right after the 88 season, and the next year, of course, they're running it.
28:46Exactly.
28:46It is not the last time the Bills complained about another team using it, or voted against
28:53another team using something, but then ran it the next year.
28:57Actually, the next year is when they invented it.
28:59No huddle or not, the Bills were no match for the Bengals.
29:03Looks to the end, so lobs it off, and a flyer, touchdown!
29:06Oh, baby!
29:08Hand off to Icky, right side, touchdown!
29:12Nicky Woods, Bengals have won the AFC Championship.
29:15I was like delirious, running off the field in the arms of my backup quarterback, Mike
29:21Norsef, realizing what we just accomplished, and where we were headed to.
29:27As improbable a trip as any NFL team could have ever been on.
29:32I'm going to King's Island!
29:35You just kept repeating, I can't believe I'm going to the Super Bowl.
29:38You don't remember the bad games.
29:40As the years go on, those disappear.
29:44You hang on to that forever.
29:47We move, we move!
29:48We move, we move!
29:50We move, we move, we move!
29:52We move, we move, we move!
29:53It was great.
29:54It's the cheesy 80s, what do you expect?
29:56And we were doing hip-hip parade cheers in the locker room.
30:00As the Cincinnati Bengals arrived for Super Bowl XXIII, America was told what the players
30:06learned at a team meeting the previous night.
30:09There's a major story breaking out of the Bengal camp, and it isn't good from Cincinnati's perspective.
30:15Stanley Wilson, who has twice before been suspended because of involvement with drugs,
30:19the Bengal running back suspended on the eve of the Super Bowl.
30:23We get into the meeting room, and I said, man, Stanley Wilson's, you know, had another
30:27episode with the drugs, and he won't be playing tomorrow.
30:30I remember guys taking their playbook and slamming them on the ground, and they're dropping
30:35their head into their hands.
30:37And this is where the conflicting emotions really hit, I think, all of us.
30:40You know, Chris Collinsworth got up in front of the team and said, you know, we've got
30:43to win this one for Stanley, and the rest of the guys, I think they were going to kill
30:47Chris for saying that, because we were all mad at Stanley.
30:50Didn't mean enough to him to make the right choice.
30:53That was more important.
30:54And I went up and did the hardest thing I ever did in coaching, ever.
30:58I sat on the edge of the bed at a Stanley Wilson who was in tears, and all he could
31:02say
31:02to me was, Sam, I'm so sorry.
31:05I'm so sorry.
31:08Tears running down.
31:09He really looked like he'd been in a fight in a hose.
31:13He was just soaking wet with sweat.
31:16And I said, Stanley, you know, you're not going to play tomorrow.
31:18You may never play again.
31:21Stanley Wilson never did play another game in the NFL, but Sam Weich wouldn't have missed
31:26Super Bowl XXIII for the world.
31:29And the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, Sam Weich.
31:38I basically was showing off.
31:41I mean, that's all it was.
31:42I wanted to be a part of that in every way I could.
31:44Come on, man.
31:46Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it.
31:48But this was our coach.
31:49I could think that every single one of us in that line going, what the hell is he doing?
31:54As opposed to, we're not going to win because Stanley Wilson's not here.
32:00The Bengals' chances of winning took another big hit early in the first quarter, when a
32:05routine play changed the course of the game and Tim Crumry's career.
32:14And Tim Crumry, slow getting up.
32:17I knew it was pretty bad because Tim didn't get up.
32:20Come on, Timmy.
32:21Get up, baby.
32:22I'm trying to get up.
32:24I'm thinking to myself, you dumbass, you broke your leg.
32:27Of all the players on defense that Cincinnati could not afford to lose, there it is, 69.
32:34Oh, baby.
32:34All right.
32:36Maybe we can see what happens to him.
32:3769, middle of your screen, working on Randy Cross.
32:41Crumry going across.
32:43Watch the leg.
32:44Oh, that is...
32:45Oh, man.
32:45Look at the foot.
32:46Ah.
32:47Oh.
32:48I don't think we want to see that one again.
32:52I don't tell you, it looks bad, dude.
32:54It looks...
32:56Nobody hit it.
32:57Nobody cut it.
32:58The turf didn't fly out.
33:00I just think it was an adrenaline thing that I was excited to be in the deal and it was
33:07a self-inflicted injury.
33:08It was nobody's fault.
33:09It was my own fault.
33:10I got too damn excited.
33:11I was just too much into the game and I probably wanted it too much.
33:15Hang tough, Tim.
33:17We're going to win it.
33:17We're going to win it.
33:18Just hang tough.
33:20I didn't want to get on a stretcher.
33:22That was like embarrassing to me to be on a stretcher.
33:25That hurt.
33:29You've worked so hard to get here.
33:30This is the supreme moment and now it's lost for him.
33:35They said, well, we have to take you to the hospital.
33:36I said, I'm not going to the hospital.
33:38I'm staying.
33:40So, they said, we're going to have to cast it.
33:42I said, well, go ahead and cast it.
33:44They said, well, we're going to have to give you some painkillers.
33:47I said, if I take the painkillers, can I remember?
33:50They said, it'll be foggy.
33:52I said, I don't want any.
33:54I said, set the leg.
33:55I said, give me a bullet.
33:56The policeman here.
33:57I said, give me your bullet like the old cowboys do.
34:00Didn't have it.
34:01It wouldn't give me the damn bullet.
34:02So, I said, give me a towel.
34:03So, I bid in a towel.
34:05Bid in a towel and they set the leg.
34:07Crumry's got a segmental fracture of the tibia.
34:09I got him in a cast.
34:11You might want to admit it.
34:12What's the tibia?
34:13The weight bearing?
34:14Are they not weight bearing?
34:14Yeah, he's a footballer.
34:18He's out for six months.
34:23Crumry would have been proud of his defensive teammates' performance.
34:33At halftime, school, three to three.
34:36I come into the locker room and Tim Crumry is still in the locker room on the gurney.
34:41And I'm like, what the hell is he doing here?
34:43I want to see the guys at halftime.
34:45You know, Boomer and everything.
34:46We'll get the ring for you.
34:47We'll get the ring for you, Tim.
34:48He was a significant part of the team and he wanted to be in the same building that we were.
34:53To me, that was like, I couldn't believe it.
34:56Tim, we're going to get it for you.
34:57Don't worry about it.
34:59Yeah, I still remember those words.
35:00I watched it through the third quarter in the locker room.
35:03And then they had to get me out of there.
35:05They didn't want me hung up in a ton of traffic at the end of the game.
35:08Crumry stayed just long enough to see the Bengals' only touchdown.
35:12The Niners of the A's averaged about 40 points in their other Super Bowls.
35:18And we scored 20 in this one.
35:20Super Bowl 23.
35:22Come on, Stanford!
35:23Run it all the way back!
35:25Let's go!
35:31Stanford Jennings!
35:32Stanford Jennings is going to go all the way!
35:37Touchdown Cincinnati!
35:39Oh my!
35:43It was just, it was magical.
35:44It was fantastic.
35:46This is my roommate.
35:47This is my roommate.
35:48We spent a lot of time together.
35:49And you've got to remember, his daughter, who was just born previous to the Super Bowl, Kelsey.
35:53What was that for?
35:55Kelsey or something?
35:56Buddy, you're back.
35:57Randy, that's what you had, Kelsey.
36:00I love you, too.
36:01When Stanford did that, everything was happening.
36:03It just felt like, okay, it's going to happen for us.
36:07This year, it's actually going to end on a high note.
36:09We've got a chance.
36:10We've got a chance.
36:10Oh, yeah.
36:11I'm still going to get my ring.
36:12I'm going to get that sucker.
36:14Late in the fourth quarter, a Jim Breach field goal set the stage for one of the most dramatic
36:19finishes in Super Bowl history.
36:23And with 3.20 left to go, the Bengals take a 16-13 lead.
36:28As Chris Collinsworth reminded me, when they took over the ball on the nine-yard line, we
36:33probably left too much time for number 16.
36:38Number 16 was the focus.
36:40But on some Bengals' minds and helmets was number 69.
36:48Play like you're world champions, now let's do it.
36:51Better than ever play.
36:52Let's go.
36:53All you've got on defense.
36:55Let's go.
37:00Like he had done so many times when he was his coach, Sam Weich watched Joe Montana march
37:06down the field.
37:10This is deja vu.
37:14What's going through my head?
37:15I was the representative to go to Disney World.
37:18If we're going to go to Disney World, if we win, okay?
37:21And at that time, I get a group of people that get around me, including the agency, the client,
37:29the sound person, the camera person.
37:31They even brought a makeup person, for crying out loud.
37:33Getting ready to shoot this commercial, I'm going to Disney World.
37:36And with every pass that Joe Montana's completing, going, I'm going to Disney World, man.
37:40I'm going to Disney World.
37:41I've got these people around me wanting to know if I know my lines.
37:44It's a very surreal situation for me.
37:4839 seconds remain to be played in this game.
37:51Montana's going to go back and throw.
37:54Into the end zone.
37:55Touchdown, the trainers.
38:07You know, your body goes cold.
38:09It really does.
38:10I mean, I can feel the chill just run like the, the, the, uh, please keep pumping.
38:16You know, you're not pushing any oxygen up.
38:20The, uh, emotions are all so compacted that you have no emotion.
38:25You just are numb.
38:28And I'm saying, I guess I'm not going to Disney World.
38:30You know, they're running across the field looking for Joe Montana.
38:34And you talk about adding insult to injury.
38:37I saw part of the fourth quarter in the hospital bed.
38:40I felt bad for the guys because I couldn't do my part to help the guys.
38:45In a way, I let them down.
38:47I didn't, I didn't do my part.
38:49I wasn't able to, so I got hurt, but I still didn't do my part.
38:53And would have made a difference.
38:54I don't know.
38:55But I sure the hell would like to try.
38:59When he went off, uh, I told him we were going to get him the ring.
39:02You know, I hope he doesn't make me buy him one now.
39:04Three.
39:07Dan White comes across the field to look for Bill Wall.
39:11I love you.
39:12I love you.
39:12Oh, me.
39:13That was a good game, huh?
39:14Great game.
39:14I have never looked in its entirety.
39:18I've never looked at that ball game.
39:19I just found it too painful.
39:21To this day, I haven't seen it.
39:23I've never watched the whole game.
39:25I've never seen it on TV replay and don't care to at any point in time in my life.
39:32But you know what?
39:33I always think back to the great memories that our team had and the way that we did it.
39:38It was really unique in nature.
39:40We had a unique coach.
39:41We had great personalities on our team.
39:43And where we came from to where we ascended to is the most unpredictable of seasons that any team has
39:51ever had in the history of the league.
39:53You tell me, I'm a rookie.
39:56Your sixth year you're going to play.
39:58You're going to go to the Super Bowl.
39:59You're going to go to the Pro Bowl.
40:01From Wisconsin, nose tackle, number 69, Pro Bowler Tim Cromeroy.
40:09Right after it's done, I'm going to bust you leg.
40:11Would you take that?
40:12I would.
40:14Because that's what the game is worth.
40:16I'd do it.
40:17Or you could say, you're never going to get the experience of it.
40:21You choose.
40:24I'll take rehab any day.
40:27His leg on January 22nd, 1989.
40:31He'd never missed a football game from the time he was in seventh grade.
40:35And he wasn't about to start now.
40:38Doctors didn't believe.
40:39There's no way in hell he's going to do this.
40:41Coaches didn't believe.
40:42They wrote me off.
40:43I kind of got the 10th round draft choice attitude.
40:48I'm going to do this.
40:50I don't care.
40:51I'm going to do it.
40:52How's it going?
40:53It's going along pretty good.
40:54It feels pretty good.
40:56I don't get a 15-inch ride down there yet.
40:59I can't believe you're playing.
41:00I said, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut.
41:04You're going through the rehab, going through the aches and pains of that, and coming back
41:09and playing years after that.
41:11And the memories that I got that Super Bowl year, hell, I'd break my other leg and put me back
41:18in the Super Bowl I'd go today.
41:20Even if I was a coach.
41:20You can break it.
41:21I'll go as a coach, okay?
41:22Those memories are that important to me.
41:25And that's what it's all about.
41:26That's who you are.
41:28That's your identity as an individual.
41:30Today, Crumry's identity is as the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive line coach.
41:35Let's go.
41:36Let's go.
41:36You want to mess around?
41:37I'll mess around your ass.
41:39Let's go.
41:4120 years later, he's still searching for a missing ring, trying to replace an AFC championship
41:47ring with one from the Super Bowl.
41:51I live part of the dream.
41:53I'm still short one part.
41:55That's all.
41:56I'll finish everything was the reason for that season.
41:59Finish everything.
42:00And you know what?
42:01We didn't finish everything.
42:03I don't wear this ring very often.
42:05The players call this the loser's ring, by the way.
42:07And I doubt many of them wear it.
42:09I don't wear it because a ring is meant, I think, to signify first place.
42:13If you don't stay in it, you're finished.
42:16You're done.
42:17I'm still in it.
42:18I'm still going for it.
42:19I'm still trying to get it.
42:21And I'm still living those days as a player.
42:27Why do we play the game?
42:29It's to win the Super Bowl.
42:33I was lucky.
42:34I was lucky.
42:34I was close to getting it.
42:37And maybe someday it'll happen.
42:43I was close to getting it.
42:45I was close to getting it.
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