Game 31: Herbert Hoover vs. Super Bowl XXXI

Here is a crossroads battle, a meeting of two opponents heading in opposite directions.

The once-great Green Bay Packers, entering Super Bowl XXXI in 1997, were resurgent. A generation had passed since the Packers had last been in an NFL title game, Super Bowl II in 1968.  It had been a hard fall. But the Pack had the NFC's best regular-season record and blazed through the playoffs. Now they were on the road to glory again with the biggest prize in sight.

Herbert Hoover entered office in 1929 as the United States began its slide into The Great Depression. The stock market crashed in October. Poorly regulated banks, and then other companies, failed. Soon a quarter of the country was unemployed. The nation spiraled into an abyss. Hoover, a self-made millionaire, seemed neither compassionate nor capable enough to hold back the pain. He served one term and was done.

The Packers and Patriots played it close for a while.  Pats QB Drew Bledsoe matched Packers QB Brett Favre in the first half, as they each tossed two TDs (Favre also ran for a TD to close the half). A New England touchdown toward the end of the third quarter pulled the Patriots within six points, at 27-21. Then the Packers ran away with it -- literally.  Flashy returner Desmon Howard carried the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a backbreaking touchdown: 35 to 21. That's how it ended. The Patriots' quest to "squeeze the cheese" had failed. Green Bay was riding high once more. Somewhere up there Coach Lombardi was smiling. Score one for the Super Bowls.

Score after this match: Presidents 16, Super Bowls 15

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