Pittsburgh Steelers legend, Greg Lloyd shared in his XL Primetime interview Wednesday afternoon with Joe Cowart and former Steelers lineman, Leon Searcy on Jacksonville’s 1010XL & 92.5FM sports radio his thoughts on Neil O’Donnell and the Super Bowl XXX loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Lloyd was asked by Searcy and Cowart to comment on O'Donnell:
"Listen, everybody’s heard of Jimmy Hoffa, right? I can kind of leave it at that, between you and me and everybody in the world, when’s the last time you seen him?"
Searcy replied, “That would be never.” Lloyd continued:
"Now I ain’t saying I had nothing to do with it. I’m not saying me and Kevin [Greene] had anything to do with it. I’m just saying that he hasn’t been seen since the Super Bowl."
Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers Kevin Greene (91) and Greg Lloyd play during an NFL game against the New England Patriots on Dec. 5, 1993, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
O’Donnell you might remember was promptly allowed to leave Pittsburgh and sign with the New York Jets the following season and he bounced around the league starting 39 games in spot duty for the Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, and Tennessee Titans. He appeared in two playoff games for the Titans late in his career, but the appearances were inconsequential as he threw only two passes.
Lloyd is obviously joking. But if you are of a certain age and watched that Super Bowl with a smarmy Cowboys fan who may or may not have been related to you, and then watched O’Donnell flawlessly find a wide-open Larry Brown for the nail in the coffin of Super Bowl XXX, you might share this sentiment. Lloyd goes on to state:
"I have no ill feelings. We can say OD did what he did, he threw interceptions, he did whatever, but as a defense, if you can’t score, you can’t win. As a team, we lost that game. We got to the Super Bowl as a team, so we lost as a team. I know we can start pointing fingers now, however many years later, but at the end of the day, we had our chance."
Lloyd the player was never this zen. He played with a controlled rage on the ragged edge and was at the height of his powers as a player in Super Bowl XXX. He was injured in the second game of the 1996 season and while respected, he was never the same player and ultimately limped to the finish in Carolina just three seasons removed from Super Bowl XXX. Lloyd concluded with:
"At the time, at the moment, if you had asked me that question right after the game, I would have had a whole lot of explicits to give you, but now, no. We had our opportunity; Dallas was the best team that day. If we don’t make the mistakes we made, when you’re playing a game like that, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes usually wins."
Searcy who is obviously still upset by the memory, replied “The heck with that, two picks cost us.” Lloyd laughed and said:
"Me and you will talk about that in private."
Lloyd and the Steelers fell behind early to the Cowboys 13-0 in the second quarter and it looked for a moment that it might turn into another NFC romp. With just under four minutes remaining, O’Donnell led the Steelers on a 12-play drive that produced the Steelers first touchdown of the game and drew them to 13-7 at halftime. The Steelers got the ball first in the second half and after both teams’ initial drives stalled, O’Donnell threw an interception to Larry Brown who returned it to the Steelers 18-yard line. Two plays later courtesy of Emmitt Smith, Pittsburgh was behind 20-7.
(Photo: Getty Images)
I remember the sick feeling like it was yesterday as just a little over a quarter and a half remained. The Steelers could do nothing with the ball and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, hope was fading. But after a furious rally, the Steelers had stormed back and trailed just 20-17 with four minutes remaining when O’Donnell found Brown again and the Super Bowl XXX MVP sealed the Steelers fate that day.
It is a painful wound for a Steelers fan, I can only imagine how painful it is for Lloyd and Searcy. While they are mostly lighthearted in the interview, the scars are still there. Lloyd was my favorite Steeler of this era and his reference to his close friendship with Greene and that they may or may not have abducted O’Donnell post Super Bowl is quite entertaining. Thank goodness however, they released him unharmed. Well, almost. He did have to go play for the Jets.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? If you haven’t heard the interview, you can find it on the 1010 XL app. It is a free download and well worth the listen. Please comment below your thoughts about Super Bowl XXX and Lloyd, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
