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Super Bowl Winners

Every Super Bowl has a winner and a loser. The winners become a part of an elite club while the losers are forced to live with the torture of letting football’s Mecca slip away. Those teams which have been able to win multiple Super Bowls, such as the New England Patriots, have been able to build dynasties that elevate their franchises to otherworldly heights. Jimmy Boyd examines some of the greatest Super Bowl winners in history in this look at the past.

The first Super Bowl powerhouse was the Green Bay Packers, winning Super Bowl’s one and two by huge margins over the AFC’s K.C. Chiefs and Oakland Raiders respectfully. Vince Lombardi led the way as the first great coach in the NFL and deservedly owns the name on the Super Bowl trophy. After gaining victory in Super Bowl II back in 1967-68, Green Bay did not return to the Super Bowl until 1996-97 when Brett Favre finally led the storied Packers to another championship. Green Bay was on a quest to join the elite company of teams which have won four Super Bowls this season but came up short in the NFC Title game.

The San Francisco 49ers were the team of the 1980’s led by Joe Montana and the great Jerry Rice. The 49ers are one of the elite teams which have won four Super Bowls. They got their first in the 1981-82 season and captured their last in the 1989-90 season with a fitting conclusion to the decade.

The Dallas Cowboys are the greatest NFC power of all-time. The Cowboys have appeared in eight Super Bowls, winning five of them. This team was overpowering in both the 1970’s and the 1990’s, making five trips to the Super Bowl in the 70’s and winning all three of their trips in the 90’s.

The AFC’s powerhouse has been the Pittsburgh Steelers. If anything overshadowed the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970’s, it was Pittsburgh and its cast of playmakers. Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Lynn Swann are all among the all-time greats at their respective positions and all performed together on the same team, making it easy to see why they were so successful. Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls in the 1970’s, winning them back-to-back twice. With a win over the Seattle Seahawks in the 2006 Super Bowl, the Steelers joined the Cowboys as the only teams to win five Super Bowls.

New England is the new dynasty, and it has a chance to join this elite company with a win over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Oddsmakers feel they will accomplish this feat to achieve their fourth Super Bowl title. A win will give New England its fourth Super Bowl championship in seven years, solidifying them permanently as the team of the new millennium.

Here are some other notable Super Bowl winners: Miami Dolphins (2), Oakland Raiders (2), Denver Broncos (2), New York Giants (2), Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts (2) Washington Redskins (3).

January 22nd, 2008