This Day in History: January 31, 1988

Sunday, January 31, 1988. Twenty years ago. I was 14½. My then-youngest brother was 3 days old. And after 15 minutes of Super Bowl XXII, I was concerned, bordering on distraught, as the Redskins were down 10-0 to the Denver Broncos. Then the 2nd Quarter started:

In the first minute of the quarter, Williams connected with wide receiver Ricky Sanders for an 80-yard score. Four minutes later, the quarterback hit wide receiver Gary Clark with a 27-yard touchdown pass. After a 58-yard TD run by running back Timmy Smith, Williams struck again, this time on 50-yard pass to Sanders. The final score of the comeback quarter came on an 8-yard pass to tight end Clint Didier.

That was the greatest 15 minutes of football I ever expect to witness. Doug Williams put on a show. After scoring 35 points in the quarter, the Redskins won 42-10.

NFL Films offers the inexplicably incomplete video It’s bad enough to omit most of the record-breaking 2nd Quarter, but it’s inexcusable to omit Gary Clark’s touchdown. Gary Clark!