Kevin Dyson: Super Bowl ‘Energy Was Just Different’
Feb 11, 2022, 12:35 PM
Wide Receiver Kevin Dyson #87 of the Tennessee Titans handles the ball during the NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 27, 2002 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Titans defeated the Bengals 30-24. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Super Bowl week is tough for a number of former NFL players, especially for ones that never played in the biggest game or came up short of a W. Some will watch no matter what and others will just tune it out.
One player who still thinks about the Super Bowl and still watches is former University of Utah wide receiver Kevin Dyson. He played in a pair of Super Bowls, one with Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV and later with the Carolina Panther in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Dyson is known for two huge plays in NFL history. They both came during the 2000 playoffs with the first one being the touchdown in a play aptly dubbed the Music City Miracle. With just 16 seconds left on the clock, the Titans were receiving the kick-off from the Buffalo Bills. Dyson ended up being on the receiving end of a Frank Wycheck cross-field pass in the playoffs to defeat the Buffalo Bills in the 2000 playoffs and taking it for the game-winning score.
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Then the Super Bowl came a few weeks later but he said it wasn’t until warmups that he really felt the magnitude of playing in the biggest game of his sport.
“It amps up more because it is the Super Bowl and you know the magnitude of the game. The moment I realized it was different was when I came out for warmups,” Dyson said. “Thursday I was getting ready and doing interviews with all of these different stations. The moment I came out of the tunnel for my pregame warmups – I am not talking about my team warmups – my typical routine. Just my shorts, t-shirt, and headphones on. That is when it hit me and the energy was just different, and I’ve tried to describe people but I can’t do it justice.”
It is his first Super Bowl game that Dyson can’t stop thinking about. That year they played the St. Louis Rams and they were having a special season with Kurt Warner as their quarterback who came out of nowhere to lead the “Greatest Show on Turf.”
Kevin Dyson breaks down the infamous #SuperBowl play where he came up just 1-yard short. pic.twitter.com/vHq094Tnas
— Unrivaled w/Alex Kirry & Scott Mitchell (@KSLunrivaled) February 11, 2022
The Titans had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime when they had the ball at the 10-yard line with six seconds left, but he came up 1-yard short on a slant pattern. That is a play that Dyson thinks about quite a bit because just the smallest change on that play and he could be the proud owner of a Super Bowl ring.
“We still have the people talking about it as one of the biggest moments of all sports, all moments to actually be on that stage. It’s fun,” Dyson said. “[I think about that play] a lot. I don’t know if there could have been anything done anymore aside from me being able to get through that tackle … to make the play.”
That is one of those plays that every athlete at any level goes back to think about where they came up just short, whether it is little league, high school, or in Dyson’s scenario – the Super Bowl.
Even being on the losing end of such a significant play, Dyson still enjoys watching the Super Bowl.
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