... for beating the Denver Broncos in the divisional round play offs, because otherwise my beloved Packers might never have won Super Bowl XXXI. The Broncos, AFC number one seed of that year, made the fatal mistake of resting their starters for three weeks at the end of the season since winning more games would not have helped. In football one week off is a vacation, but two is amnesia.
So the actual AFC champs, the New England Patriots pre Brady and pre Belichick, seemed rather surprised to be at the Super Bowl. Coach Bill Parcells seemed rather indifferent - this was his last game with the Patriots anyways. Still they made a game out of it with the Green Bay Packers decisively winning, 35-21.
The pregame show featured the Macarena, which was the dance craze of the summer before, with all of the staying power of a Pet Rock. Definitely a shooting star of a fad.
This was definitely a treat for Packers fans, since it was a long quarter century between Vince Lombardi 's departure from Green Bay and Coach Mike Holmgren's arrival.