Super Bowl 55: Dave Klein ends 54-year consecutive run

Dave Klein is one of just two American sportswriters to have covered every single Super Bowl since the very first, back in 1967 - but this year his streak will come to an end.

Once a newspaper columnist on the Newark Star-Ledger and now a blogger, the 81-year-old has decided he won't be able to attend Super Bowl 55. The twin factors of age and the current Covid pandemic mean he will not make it to the big game in Tampa Bay this Sunday.

That leaves 92-year-old Jerry Green of the Detroit News as the last man standing as an 'ever present' after he changed his mind and decided he would attend., external But Klein is at peace with his own decision to end his run of consecutive Super Bowls at a staggering 54.

With a dry wit and marvellous recall, he's a walking encyclopaedia of Super Bowl history - and is still amused at how the game has grown into one of the biggest in American sport, watched by a global TV audience now measured in hundreds of millions.

"I think the first game was much more of a novelty than an event," Klein told Sportsound Extra Time.

"Super Bowl 1, as it's now known, was between the champion teams of two leagues (the game was created as part of a 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and its rival the American Football League) and so there was already a natural rivalry there.

"But no-one, including me, thought the game would go on to become as important as it has. In fact, we didn't think it would last very long - which shows you how clever we sportswriters are!

"The tickets for that first Super Bowl were like $10 each and it wasn't even sold out. But then the NFL took over and it became this thing that just grew and grew - and so did the tickets, incidentally.

"It is so markedly different now, a corporate event, a worldwide television event. I do still enjoy the football - I just don't enjoy all the 'publicity game' and commercials that come with it."

For the first time in over half a century, Klein will watch the big game from the comfort of his own home on the television.

Nevertheless, he's anticipating a fascinating match-up in Tampa Bay as Tom Brady leads the Buccaneers, the first team ever to play in their home stadium in a Super Bowl, against the reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

"It's a mark of passage between those younger quarterbacks who play the game a little differently and the older quarterbacks so good they can still play today's game," he says.

"Tom Brady doesn't run with the ball, he just sits there in the pocket until he finds a receiver. Whereas Patrick Mahomes makes it happen by moving around and the threat of him running keeps defences off balance. It's an interesting contrast.

"Overall, Kansas City has a wonderfully built team, strong in every area. Tampa Bay has a few weaknesses but they are overcome by the gift and abilities of Tom Brady. That's what will make it such a fascinating game to watch."

Whatever the result, Tom Brady, with a record six Super Bowl rings already won during his stellar career, is seen by many as the sport's greatest-ever quarterback - but, given his perspective of over 50 years of watching the game, who does Klein rate?

"In a different age, Bart Starr (two-time Super Bowl winner with the Green Bay Packers) was a truly great quarterback in a very different game to now. I don't know if a 25-year-old Bart would be able to compete now, what with all the '50 shades of football' there are these days," he muses.

"But if not Bart, it's got to be Joe Montana and Brady - although I am only sorry that Johnny Unitas (Super Bowl 5 winner with the Baltimore Colts) didn't get to play in a lot more Super Bowls. To my old mind, he's still, on his day, the best quarterback I ever saw."

And the best head coach?

"That's not a fair question because I think being a great coach also often depends on having great players," he says. "But I would pick out three - Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells."

While his Super Bowl streak may be coming to an end, Klein is determined not to stop writing about football just yet (he covers the New York Giants with his E-Giants blog) - and will continue to report on the sport that's dominated his working life: "Sure - what else would I do?!"