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Washington running back Timmy Smith.
As the years stack up, certain records take on more meaning. Some become almost forgotten to time.
One of the most incredible records in Super Bowl history has become one that’s starting to be lost to time as it approaches its 40th anniversary. That record is the single-game Super Bowl rushing record of 204 yards set in Super Bowl XXII by Washington rookie running back Timmy Smith in a 42-10 win over the Denver Broncos.
Smith’s record, set on January 31, 1988, just turned 38 years old.
The odds of anyone breaking Smith’s record and rushing for 205 yards in Super Bowl LIX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks on February 8 currently sits at 100-to-1.
“Is this an unbreakable record?” Sal “Cousin Sal” Iacono said on The Bill Simmons Podcast on Monday. “This is a 38-year-old record. He did it in 22 carries. It feels unbreakable.”
Smith, who also scored 2 touchdowns, would have been a shoo-in for Super Bowl MVP in most years — just not in 1988.
In a game when Smith also tied the single-game rushing touchdowns record, Washington quarterback Doug Williams took home Super Bowl MVP honors after he set the single-game Super Bowl record with 340 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes.
Incredibly, Washington wide receiver Ricky Sanders also set the Super Bowl record’s for most receiving yards (193), most combined yards (235) and tied the record for receiving touchdowns (2).
NFL Offenses May Have Changed Forever
Smith’s record might really be unbreakable. Rare is the NFL team who has anything resembling an offense built around its ground game in the last decade.
No one has even cracked the rushing list’s Top 10 in 23 years, since Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman rushed for 124 yards in a 48-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26, 2003, putting him in the No. 10 spot.
No player has run for over 100 yards in a Super Bowl since Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams ran for 104 yards in a win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVI on February 2, 2020.
The greatest indication of how much offenses have changed can be seen in the Top 10 single-game Super Bowl passing leaders.
Of those 10 spots, only 2 spots belong to quarterbacks before 2000 with Williams and 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, who threw for 357 yards in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII on January 22, 1989.
Smith Never Lived Up to Early Potential
Unfortunately for Smith, a fifth round pick out of Texas Tech in the 1987 NFL draft, his career never came close to living up to the potential he showed in the Super Bowl.
Smith tried to hold out for a contract that would have made him the highest paid running back in the NFL before the 1988 season, Washington refused, Smith reported to the team 25 pounds overweight after missing offseason workouts and most of training camp and struggled to find playing time that year.
He was released before the 1989 season and landed with the San Diego Chargers, where he was released before playing a single game.
Smith played 1 more season in the NFL, taking the field in 1 game with the Dallas Cowboys in 1990. He tried to make a comeback in the Canadian Football League in 1994 but was cut before even playing a single game.
In 2005, Smith was arrested for attempting to sell cocaine to an undercover police officer and ultimately served 2-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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