America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions is an American annual documentary series created by NFL Films (broadcast on NFL Network and CBS). Its 59 installments profile the 59 winning teams of the National Football League (NFL)'s annual Super Bowl championship game; each episode chronicles an individual team.
A spin-off debuted on September 18, 2008, titled America's Game: The Missing Rings which chronicled five teams considered to be the best at the time to have not won the Super Bowl.
Format America's Game weaves together archival NFL Films footage, videotape, audio clips, and interviews into a new program with new talking head style interviews from three or more of the winning team (players, coaches, or administrators) and narration from a celebrity.
In instances of teams winning multiple Super Bowls closely together different people are interviewed for each episode. For example, though Bill Belichick coached the New England Patriots to three Super Bowls in four years (2001, 2003, and 2004) he was only interviewed for the episode on the 2004 team. For the original run of 40 episodes, only two subjects were interviewed twice: Bill Curry (1966 Green Bay Packers and 1970 Baltimore Colts) and Joe Greene (1974 and 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers). Recurring interviewers would become more commonplace when the show resumed on an annual format: Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin (2007 and 2011 New York Giants), Ray Lewis (2000 and 2012 Baltimore Ravens), Peyton Manning (2006 Indianapolis Colts and 2015 Denver Broncos), Julian Edelman (2014, 2016 and 2018 New England Patriots), LeGarrette Blount (2016 New England Patriots and 2017 Philadelphia Eagles), Rob Gronkowski and Devin McCourty (2014 and 2018 New England Patriots), Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes (2019, 2022, and 2023 Kansas City Chiefs). Ernie Accorsi and Rich Dalrymple are the only non-players or coaches to be interviewed for the series—both were their respective team's director of public relations (Accorsi was later promoted to general manager by the Colts).
Of the "Blue Ribbon" top 20 teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys are represented most often as a franchise with three championship teams each. The Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders are each represented twice.
According to Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, only 20 teams were ranked instead of 40 because they feared negative mail from fans of the franchise whose team was ranked the lowest. Sabol stated that, while the panel chose the 1972 Dolphins as the #1 team, several voters hedged and said Miami's unbeaten season was "the greatest team achievement." Of the voting methods, Sabol said, "That's what I think people were voting on, rather than, 'Could this team beat the '85 Bears?'"
Airing For its initial airings the show was divided into two waves, with the first series being a weekly series counting down the top 20 winning teams, as selected by a 53-person panel of "Blue Ribbon" experts on the NFL. The first 18 episodes aired on NFL Network beginning in November 2006 and the final two programs on CBS the day before Super Bowl XLI in February 2007.
The remaining 20 champions' episodes aired during the NFL's off-season, February through April, before the 2007 season began. The first episode of the remaining 20 champions aired on Thursday, February 8, 2007.
The show began its run with a one-hour "preview special" at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on November 17, 2006, followed by the first of the countdown shows the following week. The "official" premiere episode aired on November 24, the day after the first live regular season game telecast on NFL Network.
After some speculation on the future of the series, the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, winners of Super Bowl XLI had their episode air on September 5, 2007, one night before the season opener. The 2007 New York Giants also received an episode, signaling that the series would be annually renewed at the beginning of the next NFL season; annual releases have come every year since.
Unannounced episodes Although the 1990 New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XXV, did not make the top 20 as chosen by the Blue Ribbon panel, their episode's debut was moved up from spring 2007 to the free-preview period of NFL Network that was offered on Cablevision and Time Warner Cable in late 2006. The program debuted on December 29 at 12:31 a.m Eastern (December 28, 9:31 p.m. Pacific). It started 31 minutes late because of the length of the Texas Bowl and a full one-hour NFL Total Access that followed. Although most participating systems were located in the New York tri-state area, some cable viewers in Kansas also received it. Alec Baldwin narrated and Ottis Anderson, Carl Banks, and Jeff Hostetler told their experiences of the season. The special of the 1971 Dallas Cowboys aired at 1 a.m. Eastern time December 30 (10 p.m. Pacific December 29) as part of the same preview, one week before the scheduled premiere. This was an hour behind schedule, as the Insight Bowl (that aired in place of what would have been a new episode) ended in overtime.
Episodes Original run (2006–2007) Top twenty The following list compiles the top 20 Super Bowl teams, as determined by the experts. The teams listed below were revealed in countdown form in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLI. The first 18 episodes aired on NFL Network, while the top two teams' specials were shown on CBS on February 3, the day before Super Bowl XLI. Each episode in the top 20 would be introduced with, "NFL Network presents America's Game, a countdown of the 20 greatest Super Bowl champions, and now, number ___"
Eps Rank Year Team Game Narrator Team Commentary Air Date1201983Los Angeles RaidersSuper Bowl XVIIIAlec BaldwinMarcus Allen, Todd Christensen, and Howie LongNovember 24, 20062191999St. Louis RamsSuper Bowl XXXIVMartin SheenD'Marco Farr, Dick Vermeil, and Kurt WarnerDecember 1, 2006318 1969 Kansas City ChiefsSuper Bowl IVLen Dawson, Willie Lanier, and Jim LynchDecember 8, 2006417 1994San Francisco 49ersSuper Bowl XXIXBruce WillisSteve Young, Brent Jones, and Merton HanksDecember 15, 2006516 1996 Green Bay PackersSuper Bowl XXXIKevin BaconBrett Favre, Mike Holmgren, and Desmond HowardDecember 22, 2006615 1971Dallas CowboysSuper Bowl VIMartin SheenBob Lilly, Roger Staubach, and Duane ThomasJanuary 5, 2007714 1991Washington RedskinsSuper Bowl XXVIDonald SutherlandJoe Gibbs, Mark Rypien, and Charles MannJanuary 12, 2007813 1986 New York GiantsSuper Bowl XXILaurence FishburneBill Parcells, Phil Simms, and Lawrence TaylorJanuary 19, 2007912 1998 Denver BroncosSuper Bowl XXXIIIKevin BaconTerrell Davis, Mark Schlereth, and Shannon SharpeJanuary 26, 20071011 1977Dallas CowboysSuper Bowl XIILaurence FishburneThomas Henderson, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, and Charlie WatersJanuary 27, 20071110 1976Oakland RaidersSuper Bowl XIJohn Madden, Ken Stabler, and Phil Villapiano1209 2004New England PatriotsSuper Bowl XXXIXTroy Brown, Tedy Bruschi, and Bill BelichickJanuary 28, 200713081984San Francisco 49ersSuper Bowl XIXGene HackmanRuss Francis, Keena Turner, and Dwight HicksJanuary 29, 20071407 1975Pittsburgh SteelersSuper Bowl XBruce WillisLynn Swann, Dwight White, and Mike Wagner1506 1966 Green Bay PackersSuper Bowl IDonald SutherlandBill Curry, Willie Davis, and Bart StarrJanuary 30, 20071605 1992Dallas CowboysSuper Bowl XXVIIAlec BaldwinTroy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Ken Norton Jr.January 31, 20071704 1989San Francisco 49ersSuper Bowl XXIVGene HackmanTom Rathman, George Seifert, and Jerry RiceFebruary 2, 20071803 1978Pittsburgh SteelersSuper Bowl XIIIBruce WillisRocky Bleier, Mel Blount, Randy Grossman, and Joe Greene1902 1985 Chicago BearsSuper Bowl XXAlec BaldwinMike Ditka, Jim McMahon, and Mike SingletaryFebruary 3, 2007 on CBS2001 1972Miami DolphinsSuper Bowl VIIManny Fernandez, Don Shula, and Larry Csonka
Non-ranked Beginning February 8, NFL Network began to broadcast the remaining twenty champions' episodes. The 2005 Steelers were not eligible to be in the Top 20 as the voting was done prior to Super Bowl XL. Eps Year Team Game Narrator Team Commentary Air Date21 1970Baltimore ColtsSuper Bowl VEd HarrisBill Curry, Mike Curtis, Bubba Smith, and Ernie AccorsiFebruary 9, 200722 1980Oakland RaidersSuper Bowl XVJim Plunkett, Gene Upshaw, and Matt MillenFebruary 16, 2007231990New York GiantsSuper Bowl XXVAlec BaldwinOttis Anderson, Carl Banks, and Jeff HostetlerDecember 29, 2006re-aired February 15, 200724 2001New England PatriotsSuper Bowl XXXVIMartin SheenTom Brady, Lawyer Milloy, and Adam VinatieriFebruary 8, 200725 1993Dallas CowboysSuper Bowl XXVIIIEd Harris Bill Bates, Emmitt Smith, and Jimmy JohnsonFebruary 22, 200726 1979Pittsburgh SteelersSuper Bowl XIVJohn Banaszak, L. C. Greenwood, and John StallworthFebruary 23, 200727 1973Miami DolphinsSuper Bowl VIIIDick Anderson, Bob Kuechenberg, and Mercury MorrisMarch 1, 200728 1987Washington RedskinsSuper Bowl XXIIGene HackmanDoug Williams, Jeff Bostic, and Darrell GreenMarch 2, 200729 1988San Francisco 49ersSuper Bowl XXIIIEd HarrisBill Walsh, Harris Barton, and Roger CraigMarch 8, 200730 1974Pittsburgh SteelersSuper Bowl IXFranco Harris, Joe Greene, and Andy RussellMarch 9, 200731 2000Baltimore RavensSuper Bowl XXXVAlec BaldwinBrian Billick, Trent Dilfer, and Ray LewisMarch 15, 200732 1995Dallas CowboysSuper Bowl XXXEd HarrisDarren Woodson, Rich Dalrymple, Daryl Johnston, and Larry BrownMarch 16, 200733 1982Washington RedskinsSuper Bowl XVIIAlec BaldwinRuss Grimm, Joe Theismann, and Rick WalkerMarch 22, 200734 1981San Francisco 49ersSuper Bowl XVIGene HackmanDwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, and Randy CrossMarch 23, 200735 1997Denver BroncosSuper Bowl XXXIIAlec BaldwinJohn Elway, Howard Griffith, and Neil SmithMarch 29, 200736 1968New York JetsSuper Bowl IIIJoe Namath, Gerry Philbin, and Don MaynardApril 2, 200737 2005Pittsburgh SteelersSuper Bowl XLTom SelleckJerome Bettis, Joey Porter, and Bill CowherApril 9, 200738 1967Green Bay PackersSuper Bowl IIChuck Mercein, Dave Robinson, and Jerry KramerApril 16, 200739 2002Tampa Bay BuccaneersSuper Bowl XXXVIILaurence FishburneWarren Sapp, Jon Gruden, and John LynchApril 23, 200740 2003New England PatriotsSuper Bowl XXXVIIITom SelleckCharlie Weis, Rodney Harrison, and Willie McGinestApril 30, 2007
Annual specials (2007–present) Following the original 40-episode run, America's Game resumed in an annual format. Beginning with Super Bowl XLI and the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, a new episode would air each September, usually the day before the regular season started, in order to commemorate the reigning Super Bowl Champions. Each episode would feature a celebrity narrator who was a fan of the team, or was from the area where the reigning champions reside. The new episodes would air on NFL Network.