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• The New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI. The victory was the first league championship for the Giants since 1956. The Giants actually trailed 10-9 at the half before scoring 26 unanswered second half points to secure victory. This was the second of four Super Bowl losses for Denver before finally breaking through in Super Bowl XXXII.

• Fast Facts

  1. January 25, 1987
  2. Site: Rose Bowl
  3. Location: Pasadena, CA
  4. Attendance: 101,063
  5. MVP: Phil Simms
  6. Television: CBS

• Driving Mr. Elway

  The Broncos won the AFC West with an 11-5 record, and defeated the New England Patriots in the divisional playoffs. Then in the AFC Championship Game, they trailed at Cleveland 20-13 with 5:32 to play with the ball at their own 2-yard line. That's really the point where the legend of quarterback John Elway began to grow, as he led the Broncos down field on a game-tying drive that ended with a TD pass to Mark Jackson with 39 seconds remaining. The Broncos then won the game in overtime on a Rich Karlis field goal, sending them to their second-ever Super Bowl appearance.

• Gatorade, is it "on" you?

  The Giants were the dominant team in the league that year, going 14-2 to win the NFC East. Their defense led the way, featuring Leonard Marshall, George Martin, Terry Kinard, Carl Banks and two future hall-of-famers in Harry Carson and league MVP Lawrence Taylor. To celebrate victories, Carson would douse head coach Bill Parcells with a shower of Gatorade from the team's sideline Gatorade bucket, a tradition now generally practiced by all teams at all levels of football.

• Here I come, Mickey

  But despite the defense's dominant presence, it was Giants quarterback Phil Simms who stole the show in the Super Bowl. He set a record for completion percentage (88% on 22-of-25 passing) in a post-season game, and was named MVP of the game. He also became the first person ever used in the "I'm Going to Disneyland" television advertisement campaign.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  National Football League | New York Giants | Denver Broncos | Phil Simms | John Elway | Lawrence Taylor | Harry Carson | Tom Jackson | Dennis Smith | Bill Parcells | Dan Reeves | Super Bowl I | Super Bowl II | Super Bowl III | Super Bowl IV | Super Bowl V | Super Bowl VI | Super Bowl VII | Super Bowl VIII | Super Bowl IX | Super Bowl X | Super Bowl XI | Super Bowl XII | Super Bowl XIII | Super Bowl XIV | Super Bowl XV | Super Bowl XVI | Super Bowl XVII | Super Bowl XVIII | Super Bowl XIX | Super Bowl XX | Super Bowl XXII | Super Bowl XXIII | Super Bowl XXIV | Super Bowl XXV | Super Bowl XXVI | Super Bowl XXVII | Super Bowl XXVIII | Super Bowl XXIX | Super Bowl XXX | Super Bowl XXXI | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXIII | Super Bowl XXXIV | Super Bowl XXXV | Super Bowl XXXVI | Super Bowl XXXVII | Super Bowl XXXVIII | Super Bowl XXXIX | Super Bowl XL | Super Bowl XLI | Super Bowl XLII

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