The 1987 New England Patriots came into the season on what was, for the franchise in the era prior to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, a high point. They had reached the Super Bowl for the first time in 1985 and followed that up with an AFC East title in 1986. Head coach Raymond Berry […]
It had been a dry football decade for the good people of the Twin Cities as the 1987 Minnesota Vikings prepared for the season. After their team dominated its division and won three NFC titles in the 1970s, the winning slowed down in the 1980s. The last playoff appearance had been in the strike-torn year […]
The 1980s hadn’t been kind to the Houston Oilers. After a three-year stretch from 1978-80 where they made the playoffs each year and reached two AFC Championship Games, the Oilers fell hard. They hired a colorful new coach in Jerry Glanville for the 1986 season and the result was a 5-11 season. But Glanville and […]
The Seattle Seahawks were a steady, if unspectacular contender through much of the 1980s. They made the playoffs in 1983 and 1984. Even though 1985 and 1986 were non-playoff years they still produced a combined record of 18-14. The 1987 Seattle Seahawks fit into the general pattern, as they returned the postseason and then lost […]
The 1987 Cleveland Browns came into the season off consecutive playoff appearances, but with each one ending in heartbreak. In 1985, they lost an AFC divisional round game in Miami after leading 21-3. In 1986, they lost an AFC Championship Game at home to Denver when the Broncos drove 98 yards in the final five […]
The 1987 Denver Broncos gave their fans a season much like the one they saw in 1986. For the most part, that was extremely good. There was a run to the playoffs, a great year from quarterback John Elway and a thrilling victory in the AFC Championship Game. Unfortunately the ending was also familiar with […]
After winning Super Bowl titles of 1981 and 1984 and reaching the NFC Championship Game in 1983, the San Francisco 49ers weren’t accustomed to early playoff exits. That’s what happened to them in 1985 and 1986, as they were twice handled by the New York Giants. After the 1987 San Francisco 49ers had a fantastic […]
The city of New Orleans got an NFL franchise in 1967 and for two decades experienced what can be described as mediocrity—if you’re being nice. After twenty years they had never made the playoffs, not even had so much as a winning season. They’d only finished .500 twice. The 1987 New Orleans Saints ended all […]
The 1987 Chicago Bears were a part of the 1984-90 high point of the franchise’s modern history, an era that included the 1985 run to a Super Bowl trophy. In the 1987 the Bears won a fourth consecutive division title and were a 2-seed in the playoffs. But they were also a part of an […]
Indianapolis’ playoff run might have ended in the second round, but the 1987 Indianapolis Colts had finally given their still fairly new home city a taste of postseason football. In the ensuing years, with the greatness of Peyton Manning and now the potential emergence of Andrew Luck, it’s something that’s taken for granted. But in ’87, just getting there was a big deal and the achievement of Meyer, Dickerson & Co., should not be forgotten.
Russell Wilson became the second African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl when he led the Seattle Seahawks past the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The first one to do it was Doug Williams—oddly enough it was also against the Broncos, back in 1987 when Williams quarterbacked the Washington Redskins.
But Williams had a more interesting path—he spent the bulk of the year as the backup and didn’t become the starter on the playoffs. It was an interesting path in an interesting year—to put mildly—in the NFL. Let’s look back on the 1987 Washington Redski
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of sports history articles aimed at preserving the best moments of the modern sports era, from 1976 to the present. The focus is team sports—college & pro basketball and football, major league baseball and hockey. This article offers a snapshot of 1987 sports, a year that saw Bob Knight, Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson all return to championship form.