Super Bowl XXVII : THE SPOTLIGHT

"That was enough for me," McGee was quoted as saying in the book "Lombardi," written by Green Bay teammate Jerry Kramer. "I practically ran over him getting out of the room.

"I met some blonde the night before and I was on my way to pay my respects. I didn't feel I was letting the team down any, because I knew there wasn't a chance in hell I'd play.

"I waddled in about 7:30 in the morning, and I could barely stand up for the kickoff. On the bench, Paul (Hornung, his roommate) kept needling me, 'What would you do if you had to play?' And I said, 'No way, there's no way I could make it.' "

When McGee heard Coach Vince Lombardi call his name early in the game, he figured he had been caught sneaking out and expected to get fined.

It turned out to be worse. Starter Boyd Dowler had injured his shoulder while blocking on a sweep.

"Get in the game," Lombardi told McGee, who recalled: "I almost fainted."

But he didn't. He caught seven passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

A REAL HEADACHE

Lyndon Johnson said of Gerald Ford that he had played too many games without his helmet. But although he reached the Oval Office, Ford never made it to the Super Bowl.

Thurman Thomas, on the other hand, is preparing to play in his third consecutive Super Bowl with the Buffalo Bills. Presumably, he will make it two out of three wearing his helmet.

Thomas, the NFL's most valuable player in 1991, missed the first two plays of last year's Super Bowl because he couldn't find his helmet.

"Somebody moved it from where I left it," was Thomas' explanation.

After the Washington Redskins' 37-24 victory, the missing helmet was cited as evidence that the Bills didn't have their minds on the game.

"I know people are going to be asking me about my helmet and all that, but that's fine," Thomas said. "People will probably be asking me about that for the rest of my career."

FOOLED 'EM

Injury lists are almost sacred these days, but Joe Namath said the New York Jets kept secret an injury to future Hall of Fame receiver Don Maynard before Super Bowl III against the Baltimore Colts.

Early in the game, Maynard got open deep, but Namath missed him by inches.

"It was still an important play," Namath told the Detroit News in 1989. "Maynard was open. He got beyond their bomb-proof secondary. If his leg was healthy, we'd have scored. But he put the fear of God into them. It was a real show of courage, going all out like that. Because of that one play, they kept up their double coverage. That opened things for George Sauer on the other side."

Maynard didn't catch a pass, but Sauer caught eight for 133 yards in the Jets' 16-7 upset.

STICK TO SEX

1989's great prediction: Dr. Ruth Westheimer made the Cincinnati Bengals her favorite for Super Bowl XXIII when she learned that the San Francisco 49ers and their wives would be staying in separate hotels.

"I think that in many cases, couples being apart will create more tension than good," the sex therapist said. "For one thing, maybe she is going to ask him, 'Where were you last night?' And then he's going to ask her the same thing."

Final score: Sleep-aparts 20, Sleep-togethers 16.

STICK TO COACHING

Would you want this man to be your television analyst? Mike Ditka, the week before Super Bowl XXIV: "If it was a 7-10 game series, you'd have to go with the 49ers. But in one game, anything can happen, and I just have a feeling Denver might do it."

Or they might not: San Francisco 55, Denver 10.

NOT QUITE ONE-FOR-ALL

Denver Coach Dan Reeves, asked if he had imposed a curfew before Super Bowl XXII: "We're a one-man team, so John Elway has a curfew. The other 44 guys can do what they want."

CANNON FODDER

Think this week is exciting for the media? Here's how CBS' Will McDonough, formerly of the Boston Globe, remembered the days leading up to Super Bowl II between Green Bay and the Oakland Raiders:

"John Rauch, coach of the Raiders, is a bore. He says nothing at press conferences. Everyone is getting frustrated. Finally, legendary New York sportswriter Jimmy Cannon, in his own style, gets up and says, 'OK, this guy comes up and puts a gun to your head. He says, "You tell me whether you are going to run more or pass more, or I blow your head off." '

"Rauch thinks for a second and answers, 'I believe in a balanced offense.'

"Three writers jump to their feet and yell simultaneously, 'BANG!' "

TALKING HEAD

Win or lose--he won Super Bowl XVII and lost XVIII--for sheer volume of material, it was hard to top Joe Theismann. Here was the Washington Post's Tony Kornheiser on the Redskin quarterback:

"Don't you remember his virtuoso performances in L.A. and Tampa? Others may have thought those were Super Bowls, but Joe turned them into mini-series. To Joe, Super Bowl week was just one extended audition tape.