We continue our series looking back at the four Super Bowl appearances by the Minnesota Vikings.
This week it’s Super Bowl VIII vs. Miami on Jan. 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium in Houston.
The Dolphins were in the Super Bowl for the third straight year. They had a 12-2 record during the regular season after going 14-0 on the way to a perfect 17-0 mark the previous season.
Miami won both of its playoff games handily, beating Cincinnati 34-16 and Oakland 27-10. The Raiders had broken Miami's 18-game winning streak in Game Two of the season, 12-7.
The Vikings opened the season with nine straight wins. After losing two of their next three, they finished with two more wins to also finish the regular season 12-2.
To reach the Super Bowl, Minnesota beat Washington 27-20 and Dallas 27-10.
It was the first time a Super Bowl was played in a stadium that was not the home of an NFL team. The Houston Oilers had played home games at Rice before moved to the Astrodome in 1968.
Early in the week of the game, Vikings coach Bud Grant blasted the NFL for inadequate training facilities for his team at Delmar District High School, a 20-minute bus ride from their hotel. "This is shabby treatment," said the usually soft-spoken coach. "This is the Super Bowl. It's not just another pickup game."
He said that the Dolphins were given much better quarters at the Oilers facility that was within walking distance of their hotel.
"The field is excellent, but the locker room is terrible,” Grant commented “There is no place to hang clothes, and most of the shower heads don't work. There are no sleds or dummies on the field for our men. I don't think our players have seen anything like this since junior high school." Asked what he planned to do about the situation, Grant replied, "This is a National Football League problem. It is Pete Rozelle's problem. They have had a year to get ready for this game, and this is what we wind up with."
Grant's remarks drew a reprimand and threat of a fine from Rozelle.
The Dolphins dominated the game, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions on their way to scoring the game’s first 24 points in a 24-7 win.
Miami’s Larry Csonka became the first running back to be named the game’s Most Valuable Player as both his 145 rushing yards and his 33 carries were Super Bowl records.
Pregame, halftime
The Longhorn Band of the University of Texas performed before the game. Country singer Charley Pride sang "America the Beautiful" and the National Anthem.
The Texas band performed at halftime along with Miss Texas 1973 Judy Mallett playing the fiddle.
TV
The game was televised on CBS with Ray Scott on play-by-play. Pat Summerall and Bart Starr were analysts.
The cost of a 30-second commercial that year was $103,000. NBC is said to be asking $6 million for this year’s Super Bowl. One of the ads in 1974 featured New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath and a young actress named Farrah Fawcett.
At the time Fawcett was not well known although she had appeared in commercials for such products as Ultra Brite toothpaste, Max Factor cosmetics, Mercury Cougar automobiles, and Beautyrest mattresses.
Her earliest acting appearances were guest spots on The Flying Nun (1969) and I Dream of Jeannie (1969–70). She made numerous other television appearances, including Getting Together, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Mayberry R.F.D., and The Partridge Family. She also appeared in four episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man with husband Lee Majors, on The Dating Game and S.W.A.T.
Fawcett also had a recurring role on Harry O alongside David Janssen as the title character's girlfriend, Sue. She had a sizable part in the 1969 French romantic-drama Love Is a Funny Thing and played the role of Mary Ann Pringle in Myra Breckinridge in 1970.
She would go on to portray Jill Munroe on the TV series ‘Charlie’s Angels’ but was probably best known for her iconic swimsuit poster. It’s considered to be the best-selling poster of all time.
By federal law it’s required to post a picture of said poster at this time:
Fawcett's famous swimsuit poster went on to sell more than 12 million copies that would appear on bedroom walls around the world. I never had the poster but did have the picture on a T-shirt that I was told was distracting when I wore it pitching in slowpitch softball.
No. 1 song
The number one song in the U.S. that Super Bowl Sunday was Show and Tell by Al Wilson. Here he is on Soul Train being introduced by Don Cornelius.
No. 1 movie
The Exorcist moved into first place as the top movie in the U.S. It would stay there for 12 weeks. Usually I would post either a clip or the trailer for the movie. Not in this case.
No. 1 TV show
All in the Family on CBS was No. 1 in the weekly Nielsen ratings.
Fun facts
Some more fun facts about Super Bowl VIII:
Having already become the first NFC Central team to even reach the NFC Championship Game, the Vikings became the first non-East Division team from either conference to play in a post-merger Super Bowl.
This was the first Super Bowl in which a former AFL franchise was the favorite. The 1970 AFC champion Baltimore Colts had been the favorite in Super Bowl V, but they were an original NFL franchise prior the 1970 merger.
On television before the game, New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath said, "If Miami gets the kickoff and scores on the opening drive, the game is over.". The Dolphins became the first team to score a touchdown after receiving the game's opening kickoff.
It was the last Super Bowl, and second-to-last game overall that used goal posts at the front of the end zone. The 1974 Pro Bowl in Kansas City the next week was the last. The goal posts were moved to the end line, in the back of the end zone, the next season.
The Dolphins, who were designated as the home team, were obligated by a now-defunct policy to wear their aqua jerseys despite having normally worn white jerseys for home games.
Miami wore two slightly different helmet decals; some had the decal that the team would adopt in 1974. Most of the linemen had the mascot dolphin leaping through the sun, while others had the 1966–1973 decal with the mascot dolphin halfway through the sun.
There were 15 future Hall of Famers in the game. For the Dolphins it was coach Don Shula, Nick Buoniconti, Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Jim Langer, Larry Little, and Paul Warfield. For the Vikings it was Carl Eller, GM Jim Finks, Coach Bud Grant, Paul Krause, Alan Page, Fran Tarkenton, Mike Tinglehoff, and Ron Yary.
It was the only Super Bowl in which the game ball had stripes. Until the late 1970s, the NFL permitted striped footballs for night games, indoor games and other special situations.
Head linesman Leo Miles was the first African-American to officiate in a Super Bowl.
Season results
Results from the 1973 season for both the Dolphins and Vikings.
Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins 21, San Francisco 49ers 13
Oakland Raiders 12, Miami Dolphins 7
Miami Dolphins 44, New England Patriots 23
Miami Dolphins 31, New York Jets 3
Miami Dolphins 17, Cleveland Browns 9
Miami Dolphins 27, Buffalo Bills 6
Miami Dolphins 30, New England Patriots 14
Miami Dolphins 24, New York Jets 14
Miami Dolphins 44, Baltimore Colts 0
Miami Dolphins 17, Buffalo Bills 0
Miami Dolphins 14, Dallas Cowboys 7
Miami Dolphins 30, Pittsburgh Steelers 26
Baltimore Colts 16, Miami Dolphins 3
Miami Dolphins 34, Detroit Lions 7
Miami Dolphins 34, Cincinnati Bengals 16
Miami Dolphins 27, Oakland Raiders 10
Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7
Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings 24, Oakland Raiders 16
Minnesota Vikings 22, Chicago Bears 13
Minnesota Vikings 11, Green Bay Packers 3
Minnesota Vikings 23, Detroit Lions 9
Minnesota Vikings 17, San Francisco 49ers 13
Minnesota Vikings 28, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Minnesota Vikings 10, Los Angeles Rams 9
Minnesota Vikings 26, Cleveland Browns 3
Minnesota Vikings 29, Detroit Lions 7
Atlanta Falcons 20, Minnesota Vikings 14
Minnesota Vikings 31, Chicago Bears 13
Cincinnati Bengals 27, Minnesota Vikings 0
Minnesota Vikings 31, Green Bay Packers 7
Minnesota Vikings 31, New York Giants 7
Minnesota Vikings 27, Washington Redskins 20
Minnesota Vikings 27, Dallas Cowboys 10
Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7