O'Brien's Kick Gives Colts Title

MIAMI (AP) - Rookie Jim O'Brien, steadied by one time Super Goat Earl Morrall, kicked a 32-yard field goal with five seconds remaining Sunday that brought the Baltimore Colts a 16-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the most tense and most bizarre game in the short five-year history of the Super Bowl.

As O'Brien trotted onto the field with nine seconds showing on the clock the 36-year-old Morrall- the much-abused goat of the loss to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III- took time to talk to the 22-year-old freshman from Cincinnati.

"Earl told me to kick it straight and through just as I always try to do," said O'Brien in the Colts' dressing room as he searched for the words to describe the incredible drama of the last seconds.

"You have to concentrate and can't worry," O'Brien explained. "I knew if I missed it there was still overtime."

And so O'Brien stepped back, swung his foot into the kick and split the uprights, bringing to an end the contest that seemed to be heading for the first sudden death finish in Super Bowl history as the setting sun draped the artificial turf of the Orange Bowl in shadows.

"It was a good solid hit," O'Brien said, savoring it. "It was the only good one I had all day."

It came at the end of 60 minutes of warfare in which the Colts went into the second half trailing 13-6 and with quarterback Johnny Unitas sitting on the bench with battered ribs while, the battle for the $15,000 winners' shares bore to its astonishing finish.

And it came with Morrall at the helm- the scorned quarterback of two years ago running the show when the Colts pulled into a tie on Tom Nowatzke's two-yard run. And it was Morrall holding the ball when O'Brien won it under the most intense circumstances in the history of pro football's No. 1 spectacle.

It left even Unitas happy, despite the pain from his battered ribs and the small role he played in the victory.

"I'm happy for Earl," Unitas said. "He did a fine job. I did not mind not going back in. That was the coach's decision. Earl was down in the dumps after our other Super Bowl. It was great he could come back."

But as much as Morrall and O'Brien contributed to the victory, Super Bowl V also will be remembered for the opportunities that Dallas failed to convert.

"We beat ourselves," said Dallas Coach Tom Landry. "The fumbles and two interceptions killed us."

The last interception was the big one, middle linebacker Mike Curtis stealing a Craig Morton pass with just over one minute remaining after the Colts had turned the ball over to the Cowboys seven times through the fourth quarter.

The pass was intended for Dallas player-coach Dan Reeves, but bounced off his hands and into Curtis' at the Cowboys' 40. When Curtis was brought down, the ball was on the 28 and the hands on the clock on the open end of the stadium showed just 59 seconds remaining.

Morrall, calm, possessed, with 15 years experience and the haunting specter of the Super Bowl defeat behind him, disdained any attempt at personal redemption by positioning O'Brien for a field goal while running down the clock to kill any opportunity for a Dallas comeback.

And so he sent rookie Norm Bulaich into the middle of the Cowboys' forward wall. The play gained one yard. But, more important, it ate up 29 seconds.

Back to the huddle, out of the huddle, signals called at the line of scrimmage, and Morrall again handed off to Bulaich. The result, two yards and 21 seconds. Now just nine seconds remained as the Colts called time out.

O'Brien trotted onto the field as both teams pressed forward on the sidelines. Morrall knelt for the center snap, placed the ball, O'Brien kicked-and Baltimore had it all.

The loss in Super Bowl III now will be behind them. Morrall will have gained a measure of revenge and, certainly, personal satisfaction. And the Colts, champions of the American Conference in this first Super Bowl under pro football's new two-conference alignment, will reign as champions of the entire world of professional football

The Cowboys, on the other hand, will take away what the Colts took away after Super Bowl III, the $7,500 losers' share and the public abuse that goes with having lost the prestigious game.

And they will almost certainly live with their failure to convert the opportunities Baltimore gave them to put it out of reach while the label that has been applied ever since 1966- the Cowboys can't win the big ones- undoubtedly will be resurrected.

What role fate will dictate for the fallen Unitas, however, remains for the future to dictate.

All through the week-long preparations he was the focal point, the guy the spotlight was on. But while he was in there he completed just three of nine passes, had two intercepted and fumbled once on a play that led to a Dallas touchdown.

And at 37, only the future can tell whether he ever will have another opportunity to lead a team to a Super Bowl title.

During a 15-year career he has been acknowledged as the greatest quarterback in pro football history.

The Cowboys built a 13-6 halftime lead on field goals of 14 and 30 yards by Mike Clark and Morton's seven-yard pass to Duane Thomas while Baltimore was able to counter only with Unitas' 75-yard touchdown pass to John Mackey on a pass that was tipped by a Dallas defender.

The Colts were continually turning the ball over and when the second half opened the same way with Jim Duncan fumbling the kickoff it seemed that once again Lady Luck was not to be on their side.

The two teams sparred through the first minutes of the half before Morrall hit Nowatzke with a 45-yard pass over the middle that brought the ball to the Dallas 15.

Nowatzke was clearly 10 yards in the open, but the plodding running back picked up as a free agent after he was let go by Detroit was pulled down from behind by Herb Adderley.

Two ground plays left it third-and-six, and then Morrall was intercepted in the end zone by linebacker Chuck Howley.

The Cowboys again were unable to get rolling, and the Colts tried one more time. The clock was ticking against them at this point- and it was a time to pull out all stops.

So Morrall called for the "Flea Flicker." On the Flea Flicker, he hands off, then gets a return throw, and passes, presumably throwing the defense off. He had tried it in Super Bowl III- and missed an open receiver- and he had been the goat of that game from that moment on.

But he went to it again. He pitched to Sam Havrilak but when Havrilak looked to pitch back, Morrall had a Cowboy standing near him. Havrilak quickly righted himself, spotted Eddie Hinton breaking into the clear and hit him on the 20. Hinton raced full speed toward the goal line and the tying touchdown, but was brought up short at the five on a jarring tackle by Cornell Green. Suddenly the ball spurted loose and, chased by a horde of players, rolled into the end zone- and out. It was a touchback. (Video)

Morton tried to hit Walt Garrison with a short pass, but it was tipped into the air and intercepted by Rick Volk, who returned 31 yards to the three yard line. Nowatzke, originally signed by the Colts as linebacking insurance, plowed one yard closer on the next play and then ripped into the end zone from two yards out for the tying score.

Each team had one more chance at the ball before Curtis made the interception that resulted in O'Brien's field goal with five seconds left.

O'Brien kicked off and the ball was returned to the Dallas 40. Morton had one pass left. He tried to get it to Garrison but Jerry Logan jumped up to intercept at the Baltimore 29 and it was over.

There were 80,055 people in the packed stands of the Orange Bowl and a record estimate of 64 million more watching on television.

And this one will probably be remembered as much for the last-minute heroics as the opportunities Dallas blew in the first half.

The stigma of being unable to win the big ones has remained with Dallas since NFL championship game defeats by Green Bay in 1966 and 1967. They also had been in playoff games in 1968 and 1969 and lost.

But 1970 was different. They won their last five regular season games with a ball-control offense revolving around Thomas, then defeated Detroit 5-0 in a playoff game and won the National Conference title by beating San Francisco, 27-10.

And so they were installed as slight favorites in this first Super Bowl that, lacked the drama of AFL-NFL confrontations but that many thought had the best opportunity to wind up in a tense, down-to-the-last-minute struggle.

It did. But it shouldn't have.

Dallas had enough opportunities in the first half to have put it out of reach.

The first break came when Howley intercepted a Unitas pass. But Dallas had to give up the ball on a punt. Ron Gardin, however, fumbled and Cliff Harris recovered for Dallas at the nine.

But the Cowboys had to settle for Clark's 14-yard field goal with 5:32 left in the period after Morton overthrew Reggie Rucker in the end zone.

When the Colts were unable to move the ball Morton got the Cowboys moving smartly bringing the ball to the 12 with a 41-yard pass to Bob Hayes that resulted in a flare-up and several punches thrown between Hayes and Logan.

Baltimore also was penalized half the distance to the goal for Fred Miller's roughing Morton on the play and for the second time in the period, the Cowboys had the ball inside the 10 with an opportunity for a touchdown.

But, they again had to settle for a field goal, this time a 30 yarder by Clark after Morton was unable to spot Thomas free in the left side of the end zone while he was being dumped by Bubba Smith.

Then came another bizarre play- Unitas throwing over the middle, intending a pass for Hinton. But Mel Renfro tipped it and Mackey caught it at the Dallas 49 and raced the rest of the way for the touchdown and a 6-6 tie just 50 seconds into the second quarter.

With an opportunity to take the lead, O'Brien's conversion was blocked by Mark Washington, who careened in from the right side of the Dallas line to get a hand on the ball.

The teams then exchanged punts several times before Unitas was hit as he scrambled by Lee Roy Jordan and Howley. He fumbled at the Baltimore 29. Jethro Pugh recovered and this time the Cowboys turned it into a touchdown.

The key play was a 17-yard pass to Reeves that put the ball on the seven. At that point, Morton called the same play he had failed to see Thomas on before- a toss to the flat where the running back was a tackle screen set up.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

DAL- FG Clark 14

Second Quarter

DAL- FG Clark 30

BAL- Mackey 75 yard pass from Unitas (Kick blocked)

DAL- Thomas 7 yard pass from Morton (Clark kick)

Fourth Quarter

BAL- Nowatzke 2 run (O'Brien kick)

BAL- FG O'Brien 32