Face value is an elusive concept at the Super Bowl, where the tickets for next week's XXIInd renewal started at $100. But since neither Washington nor Denver claims to be a great team, it figures to be a decent game for a change. Both the Redskins and the Broncos won conference championships in heart-stopping fashion when the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns faltered and fumbled on their goal lines. The Redskins' coach, born-again Joe Gibbs, 47, actually fell to his knees in prayer before the Vikings' final play. Recalling his days as an assistant in San Diego, Gibbs said later, "I didn't live like I should have." Now he returns to the scene of the crimes with his new virtue confirmed.
Commending the Washington fans for their leather lungs, Gibbs admitted, "I think we'd have had a hard time beating Minnesota any other place." But the limits of honesty were strained when he went on to say, "I was lucky enough to come into a great situation here in 1981. I think any other coach would have won here also." Since starting out 0-5 that season, the Redskins have won 84 of 112 games and reached three Super Bowls. All this week in San Diego, Gibbs is in grave danger of being declared a genius.
Washington's only Super Bowl victory came against the Miami Dolphins five years ago, the season of the last National Football League strike, when the Redskins had one of the few shops without a strikebreaker. This time, during the three weeks of "replacement" games last October, Washington was the only team that stayed out en masse. Something must be said for solidarity. Meanwhile, the few Denver players who crossed the line, Receiver Steve Watson among them, seemed invariably to get injured. Picketing outside the stadium, Bronco Linebacker Karl Mecklenburg did some temporary damage to his image, retrieving and tearing up an eightyear-old's autograph when the boy started to go into the game.
Of all the sagas of well-traveled scabs (some of whom will have either $18,000 or $9,000 coming from the Super Bowl), the most compelling path was taken by David Jones, a center. He began in Denver and ended up in Washington. After helping the Broncos win two of three strike games, Jones hired on with the Redskins simply as a snapper for punts and place-kicks. Knocked unconscious in the Vikings game, he was advised by doctors that another blow to his vertebrae might paralyze him. "I think someone's trying to tell me something," he said. "I'm done playing for good."
The central character of the interminable buildup, which customarily dwarfs the contest, figures to be the Redskins' Doug Williams, 32, the Super Bowl's first black starting quarterback. His initial reaction is to smile. "I can't go in there and tell the Broncos' defense I'm black and I'm doing this for black America," he says. "Maybe it's a little sweeter for me because of some of the things I've been through, but I'm doing it for the Washington Redskins and myself."