By Staff
Jan. 28, 2001
To put it bluntly, I could really care less who wins today's Super Bowl.
After all, the Saints aren't there. Neither are the Titans.
There's no big underdog to root for, and to tell you the truth, I'm just not turned on by the past two weeks of trash-talking.
I'll watch today's game, however, if for nothing else to see which commercials I'll be laughing at for the next few months. But I'll also have my fingers crossed for a big No. 74 to get on the field.
That No. 74 is Baltimore's Orlando Bobo, a 6-foot-3, 340-pound reserve offensive lineman. Chances are you won't see him. Bobo has played in just seven games for the Ravens this season, and he's been inactive for the entire postseason.
But I've seen Bobo play plenty of times before. In the mid-1990s, he ran over plenty of defensive linemen while playing for East Mississippi Community College.
Bobo went on to play at Northeast Louisiana and hooked on with the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent three seasons before coming to Baltimore.
Goode says even if Bobo doesn't touch the field today, the experience will be an unforgettable one.
Goode, who like Bobo is from West Point, says he hasn't talked to the former Scooba Tech standout during the postseason, but expects to soon.
Goode says Bobo often visits West Point and even has a hand in the family restaurant there. He also said the gentle giant donated money to help get EMCC's football games broadcast on the radio this past season.
Goode should know. He played in the Super Bowl ironically in his final NFL game ever. And ironically, it was the last time Baltimore was in the big game, when Goode helped the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V 30 years ago.
Goode was an All-Pro center with Johnny Unitas behind him, although Johnny U was injured in the Super Bowl and didn't finish the game.
But folks like Teddy Hendricks and Ray Perkins did, and so did Mike Curtis who had the game-clinching interception for the Colts in the final seconds.
Goode says he doesn't think the three-ring circus surrounding the Super Bowl has changed much.
Goode said he felt like the distractions of the Super Bowl were one of the reasons the game has often not lived up to its billing. He said if he could give any advice to Orlando Bobo … it'd be to enjoy the moment, and just in case the Ravens win, to hang on to that ring.
Rocky Higginbotham is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.