The Super Bowl’s most spectacular fantasy performances ever
As we gear up for Super Bowl XLIV it can’t hurt to reminisce about some of the great moments in the history of the biggest sporting event in America.
Playoff fantasy leagues are a relatively new phenomena, especially considering how many Super Bowls were played before regular fantasy football was even invented.
How do Larry Csonka’s performances in Super Bowl’s VII and VIII compare with Kurt Warner’s in XXXIV? We can use fantasy points as our guide.
Each edition of this series will take short capsule looks at each Super Bowl’s best performances, then we’ll take the best of the best and put them in a rankings list that will be updated every article.
This project is admittedly starting a little late, so I’ll apologize now for the all-out blitz we’re going to call up to Super Bowl day, but I suspect it’ll be an enjoyable blitz. Check back today at 8 p.m., and at noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. every day through Saturday to see how your most memorable performances stack up.
We’re using standard scoring with PPR: 1 pt/20 passing, 1 pt/10 rushing/receiving, 4pts/passing TD, -1 INT, 6 pts/(rushing/receiving TD).
Today we’ll start the series with Super Bowls I through IV:
Super Bowl I: Packers 35, Chiefs 10
MVP: Bart Starr
Fantasy MVP: Packers wide receiver Max McGee 32.8 points. McGee had seven catches for 138 yards and two TDs in the first pro championship, easily outperforming Starr.
Super Bowl II: Packers 33, Raiders 14
MVP: Bart Starr
Fantasy MVP: Raiders wide receiver Bill Miller 25.4 points. Miller caught two TDs and had 84 yards. Starr scored just 15 points, less than Raiders QB Daryle Lamonica (17). Packers kicker Don Chandler made four field goals and scored 14 fantasy points.
Super Bowl III: Jets 16, Colts 7
MVP: Joe Namath
Fantasy MVP: Jets running back Matt Snell, 26.0 points. Snell scored a TD and had 161 yards of total offense to go with four caatches. Jets receiver George Sauer was the closest contender with eight catches and 133 yards (21 points).
Super Bowl IV: Chiefs 23, Vikings 7
MVP: Len Dawson
Fantasy MVP: Vikings receiver John Henderson, 18 points. Henderson didn’t score a TD, but made seven catches for 111 yards.
Rankings after Super Bowls I-IV:
Packers WR Max McGee, SBI………………28
Jets RB Matt Snell, SBIII…………………….26
Raiders WR Bill Miller, SBII………………..25
Jets WR George Sauer, SBIII………………21
Vikings WR John Henderson, SBIV……..18
*This ranking will be expanded to include 10 players after the next four Super Bowl fantasy reviews.
