Rice Stadium is one of two university stadiums
to have hosted a Super Bowl.
On January 13, 1974, the Miami Dolphins
defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in
SuperBowl VIII at Rice Stadium. A crowd of
71,882 saw Miami continue its domination of
the NFL against a Minnesota team that offered
little serious competition. Viking Coach Bud
Grant, obviously not very happy over the
anticipated mismatch, had groused about
inadequate training facilities (at Del Mar
Stadium, not at Rice) and had a word or two
to say about the dressing rooms at Rice.
Otherwise, there was hardly a negative word
about Rice Stadium, as a venue, and the fact
that Houston has not again been selected as a Super Bowl city was reflective more on hotel
and
training facilities than on the stadium. Phyllis George and crew held forth in the
recently
constructed R-Room facility at the south end zone, where a panoramic view of Phyllis, with
the
stadium and field unfolding behind her, was afforded to television viewers. (BTW, the
other
college stadium, extant, to have hosted a Super Bowl is Stanford Stadium. The old
Sugar Bowl,
on the Tulane campus, once hosted one, also, but it's long gone.)
Oscar Mayer Super Bowl VIII recap
NFL.com Super Bowl VIII flashback
Rice Stadium as it looks today
(before the steam-cleaning job in
September, '98)
Rice Stadium under
construction in 1950,
viewed from West to East.
Old Rice Field is shown in
the upper right-hand corner.
Foley Brothers department
store throws out the welcome
mat for Santa Clara, Rice's first
opponent in the new stadium,
September, 1950. (Could you
imagine a major Houston
department store doing a
store display for a Rice home
football game these days?
Times've changed.)
It's a packed house in
the 50s. Rice officials
managed to park close
to 10,000 cars in the
open space surrounding
the stadium.
(B&W photos courtesy Glen Krajca-Radcliffe)