In June 2011, Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine decided to count down the best of the best, the top 25 plays in franchise history. Obviously, this wasn't the easiest of tasks, but some 30,000-plus words later, we feel pretty good about the results. Now here in a 25-part summer series, we share our list for one and all. Without further ado, we continue with No. 6 and a snippet from the Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine story:
6) A Pick for MVP, Jan. 28, 1996:
The day of Super Bowl XXX, cornerback Larry Brown felt good, even telling his wife he would have a big game that morning. The Cowboys were double-digit favorites, hoping to win their third Super Bowl in four years, although this one under second-year head coach Barry Switzer, not Jimmy Johnson.
Brown's first interception came midway through the third quarter, that one, admittedly, was a gift, returned 44 yards. The ensuing 1-yard touchdown run gave Dallas a 20-7 lead. However, the Steelers, playing with seemingly all the momentum after a recovered on-side kick, seemed poised for at least a game-tying drive with four minutes remaining, the ball on their own 32-yard line. Two snaps later, Brown read a pass route and secured the win for the Cowboys with his second interception of the game, this one returned to Pittsburgh's 6-yard line, some 33 yards.
"The second one wasn't O'Donnell's fault at all," Brown recalled in 2010. "We just made a great play. We worked all week on being aggressive, and on that play we blitzed the house. O'Donnell threw to the spot where the receiver (Andre Hastings) was supposed to be, but I beat him there. When Hastings ran inside, I stole a quick look at O'Donnell, and the way his shoulders were angled, there was no doubt he was throwing there, so I made the break."
After the game, Brown was named the game's MVP. He was the first – and to date only – cornerback to receive the honor.
"Everybody summed up my whole season with the Super Bowl," Brown said in 1996. "They forgot I had a pretty good season. I picked off six and returned two for touchdowns. For me, the Super Bowl was just another game."
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