Host selection process NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXXIV to Atlanta during their October 31, 1996, meeting in New Orleans. A total of five cities submitted bids:
Miami (
Joe Robbie Stadium),
Atlanta (
Georgia Dome),
Tampa (
Raymond James Stadium),
Phoenix/
Tempe (
Sun Devil Stadium), and
Los Angeles (
Coliseum). The Los Angeles host committee originally was going to partner with
Pasadena (
Rose Bowl), but switched their plans to the Coliseum after a renovation plan was announced. However, the Los Angeles bid was dismissed when their delegation failed to convince the owners that planned stadium renovations would be completed in time. This was the second time that Atlanta hosted the game, the first being
XXVIII. Atlanta garnered a sympathy vote as
Falcons owner
Rankin Smith was terminally ill. Due to logistical conflicts, Atlanta would not be able to host the Super Bowl again until 2005, and some NFL owners desired to award the game to the city before Smith died (which occurred nearly a year later in October 1997).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner
Malcolm Glazer protested afterwards, feeling that he had been promised the game after securing funding for a
new stadium. The reasons are many, including, some suggest, mismanagement by executive John Shaw. The franchise
moved to
a taxpayer-funded stadium in
St. Louis, Missouri for
the 1995 season but continued to struggle. In 1997, the team hired
Dick Vermeil as their head coach, bringing him back to the NFL after 15 years of retirement. Vermeil had previously turned the
Philadelphia Eagles from one of the worst teams in the league into a Super Bowl team in 1980, but his first two seasons with the Rams were hardly stellar, winning just five games in 1997 and four in 1998. Little was expected of the Rams for 1999. Indeed,
ESPN The Magazine's 1999 NFL preview predicted the Rams would be the worst team in the NFL, worse even than the
Cleveland Browns, who had returned as an
expansion team that year.
Trent Green, who had just been signed as the Rams starting quarterback, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, making undrafted
quarterback Kurt Warner the team's new starter. Warner, who started the season as a backup to Green, had previously played for the
Iowa Barnstormers of the
Arena Football League and the
Amsterdam Admirals of
NFL Europe. The Rams proceeded to shock the NFL with an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record and outscored their opponents 526–242, the highest scoring margin (284) of any Super Bowl champion. The Rams' high-powered offense, run by offensive coordinator
Mike Martz, was nicknamed "
The Greatest Show on Turf". In Warner's first NFL season in
1998, he played only one game and threw just 11 passes. But in 1999, he experienced one of the most spectacular seasons ever by a quarterback, recording a
passer rating of 109.2, completing 65.1 percent of his passes for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns, and just 13 interceptions, and earning the
NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Besides Warner, several other Rams compiled significant statistics. Halfback
Marshall Faulk, in his first year with the Rams after spending five seasons with the
Indianapolis Colts, had the best season of his career and won the
NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award, while finishing second in MVP voting to Warner. He scored 12 touchdowns, rushed for 1,381 yards, and recorded a team-leading 87 receptions for 1,048 yards. In all, Faulk gained a record 2,429 total yards and became just the second running back in NFL history to gain over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season (
Roger Craig was the first to do it, in 1985). Faulk held the NFL record for yards from scrimmage in a single season until Tennessee's
Chris Johnson broke it in 2009. Faulk wasn't the only weapon at Warner's disposal in 1999. Veteran receiver
Isaac Bruce was the top Rams receiver with 77 receptions for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns. while breakout rookie wide receiver
Torry Holt recorded 52 receptions, 788 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Even the team's third wide receiver,
Az-Zahir Hakim, was a big contributor by catching 36 passes for 677 yards and 8 touchdowns, while also returning punts for 461 yards and another touchdown. The Rams' offensive line was led by
Pro Bowlers
Orlando Pace and
Adam Timmerman. Timmerman, acquired by the Rams in 1999, had previously won
Super Bowl XXXI with the
Green Bay Packers. On special teams, receiver
Tony Horne returned 30 kickoffs for 892 yards and 2 touchdowns, giving him an NFL-leading 29.7 yards per return average. Overall, the Rams' offense led the league in total yards gained (6,639), scoring (526 points), and passing touchdowns (42). The Rams' defense led the league in fewest rushing yards allowed (1,189) and fewest rushing touchdowns allowed (4), while giving up just 242 points. Overall, the defense ranked 4th in the league in fewest total yards (5,056). The line was anchored by Pro Bowl defensive end
Kevin Carter and defensive end
Grant Wistrom. Carter led the league with 17
sacks, while Wistrom recorded 8.5 sacks and 2 interceptions, returning both for touchdowns and a combined total of 131 yards. Behind them, the Rams had three linebackers:
London Fletcher (66 tackles and 3 sacks),
Mike Jones (4 interceptions for 96 return yards and 2 touchdowns, and 2 fumble recoveries for 51 return yards and a touchdown), and
Todd Collins (72 tackles, a sack, and 2 interceptions for 16 yards). The secondary was led by Pro Bowler
Todd Lyght (6 interceptions),
Dexter McCleon (4 interceptions), and rookie
Dré Bly (3 interceptions). This was the Rams' first playoff appearance since
1989 and only the second
Super Bowl appearance in team history.
Tennessee Titans The Titans advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history, after originating as a charter member of the
American Football League. From 1960 to 1996, the team was owned by
Houston, Texas businessman
Bud Adams and known as the
Houston Oilers. By 1995, however, Adams, like Rams owner
Georgia Frontiere, was lured to move his team from Houston, in this case to a new stadium in
Nashville, Tennessee. Since this new stadium was not ready until the 1999 season, Adams decided to move his team to
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in
Memphis, Tennessee in
1997 after playing before small Houston crowds in
1996. The renamed Tennessee Oilers also played before sparse Memphis crowds, and thus spent the
1998 season playing at Nashville's
Vanderbilt Stadium. After the new Adelphia Coliseum (now known as
Nissan Stadium) was completed in 1999, the team's name was changed to the Tennessee Titans. With the Titans' Super Bowl appearance, every former AFL team had now played in the Super Bowl, including the original eight AFL teams and two AFL expansion teams: the
Miami Dolphins and the
Cincinnati Bengals. The 1999 Titans were led by quarterback
Steve McNair and running back
Eddie George. McNair had missed five games due to injuries during the season, but he was still able to put up solid numbers, throwing for 2,179 yards and 12 touchdowns with 8 interceptions. Despite his injury problems, McNair finished the season as the second-leading rusher on the team with 337 yards and 8 touchdowns. When McNair was out with injuries, the team was able to rely on backup quarterback
Neil O'Donnell, who threw for 1,382 yards and 10 touchdowns, with only 5 interceptions. George also had an outstanding season, rushing for 1,304 yards, and catching 47 passes for 458 yards (his receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns were all career highs). In all, George scored a grand total of 13 touchdowns, and was selected to play in the
Pro Bowl for the 3rd consecutive year. Another contributor on the Titans' offense was fullback
Lorenzo Neal, who frequently served as George's lead blocker and was widely considered one of the best blocking backs in the league. The team did not have any outstanding deep threats, but wide receiver
Yancey Thigpen recorded 38 receptions for 648 yards, wide receiver
Kevin Dyson had 54 receptions for 658 yards, and tight end
Frank Wycheck caught 69 passes for 641 yards. Thigpen, however, would not play in the Super Bowl because of a right foot fracture he suffered in the AFC Championship Game. Up front, their line was anchored by Pro Bowl tackle
Bruce Matthews. On special teams,
Derrick Mason racked up 1,030 combined return yards and a touchdown. The Titans' defense was also extremely effective. Pro Bowl defensive end
Jevon Kearse anchored the line, recording 14.5 sacks to go along with 8 forced fumbles and was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year. The linebackers corps was led by
Eddie Robinson, who recorded 64 tackles and 6 sacks, while also recovering and forcing 3 fumbles. Their secondary was led by cornerback
Samari Rolle, who led the team with 4 interceptions, and veteran safety
Marcus Robertson, who would miss the game with a broken leg.
Playoffs Playing in his first ever NFL playoff game, Warner threw for 395 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 1 interception, as the Rams defeated the
Minnesota Vikings, 49–37 in St. Louis, by scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half. Bruce caught 4 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Faulk gained 101 combined rushing/receiving yards and scored 2 touchdowns. Although Vikings quarterback
Jeff George threw for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns, three of his scores occurred late in the 4th quarter, after the Rams had already put the game away. The Rams then narrowly defeated the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11–6 at home, in a hard-fought defensive struggle in the
NFC Championship Game. The first half ended with the Rams leading 5–3 on a
Jeff Wilkins field goal and after a bad snap by the Buccaneers went through their own end zone for a safety. The Buccaneers then scored a field goal in the 3rd quarter to take the lead. But Warner threw a 30-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to receiver
Ricky Proehl with 4:44 left in the game. Meanwhile, the Titans started out their postseason by narrowly defeating the
Buffalo Bills, 22–16 in Nashville, on a famous, trick kickoff return play that became known in NFL lore as the
Music City Miracle. The Titans jumped to a 12–0 halftime lead with an
Al Del Greco field goal, a safety by Kearse, and a McNair touchdown run. However, the Bills came back to take the lead, 13–12 with
Antowain Smith's two touchdown runs in the second half (the two-point conversion after Smith's second touchdown failed). In the 4th quarter, the Titans regained the lead after Del Greco kicked his second field goal. With 16 seconds left in the game, Bills kicker
Steve Christie made what seemed to be the game-winning 41-yard field goal to give his team the lead, 16–15. However, Neal received the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball off to Wycheck, who then lateraled the ball to Dyson on the other side of the field, who eventually ran 75 yards to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. The play was reviewed to determine whether Wycheck had lateraled the ball to Dyson or made an illegal forward pass. Referee
Phil Luckett upheld the original call on the field of a touchdown, giving the Titans the win. The Titans then defeated the
Indianapolis Colts, 19–16 in Indianapolis. After both teams exchanged field goals in the first half, George scored on a 68-yard touchdown run to give his team a 13–9 lead. Del Greco then kicked two more field goals in the 4th quarter to put the game away. George finished the game with a franchise playoff record 162 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Del Greco made four field goals. The Titans then eliminated the
Jacksonville Jaguars, 33–14, in the
AFC Championship Game at Jacksonville. The Jaguars finished the 1999 regular season with a league-best 14–2 record, and advanced to the AFC title game after crushing the
Miami Dolphins 62–7 and limiting future
Hall of Fame quarterback
Dan Marino to just 11 of 25 completions for 95 yards and 1 touchdown, with 2 interceptions. However, the Titans' defense dominated the Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game, forcing 6 turnovers. ==Pre-game notes==