Subway Super Bowl
The New York Giants (representing the National Football Conference) have never played the New York Jets (representing the American Football Conference) in the Super Bowl. An all-New York professional football championship game has been called the “Subway Super Bowl” since at least 1983.
When the New York Yankees (representing baseball’s American League) played the New York Giants or Brooklyn Dodgers or New York Mets (representing baseball’s National League) in the World Series, that event has long been called a “subway series.” The New York baseball fans needed only to travel on the subway to attend all of the games. The Super Bowl has never been played in New York City and is played at a neutral site, so the nickname “Subway Super Bowl” is not a perfect fit.
Other potential nicknames for a Giants-Jets Super Bowl include “Broadway Bowl” and “Big Apple Bowl.”
24 April 1983, New York (NY) Times, pg. S4 ad:
Both New York teams start out with new coaches. And both have ambitions which could lead to a subway Super Bowl.
(Inside Football—ed.)
18 November 1983, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Giants a Mere Shadow of Preseason Press Clipping,” pg. C4:
Finally, the New York sporting press boldly and prematurely declared last summer, after 18 years, there would be a subway Super Bowl between the Jets and ...
4 November 1986, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Giants begin to Look Like Super Bowl Fare,” pg. D1:
Having affectionately smothered the Mets under tons of ticker tape, New Yorkers have turned to another tantalizing possibility of the postseason - a subway Super Bowl between the Giants and Jets. Actually, it would be more of a Frequent Flyers Super Bowl. The Giants and Jets play in the same stadium at the Meadowlands, but the Super Bowl will be held several thousand miles away in Pasadena, Calif.
12 November 1986, Washington (DC) Post, “Token Shot at Subway Super Bowl” by Gary Pomerantz, pg. C4:
Even the most jaded cynic in Gotham must admit that although it’s highly unlikely that both the New York Jets and New York Giants will reach the Super Bowl this season, it’s less highly unlikely now than ever before.
19 December 1997, Washington (DC) Post, “Over the River and Through the Swamp, to the Super Bowl We Go” by Norman Chad, pg. B7:
Along the sidewalks of New York, there is talk of a subway Super Bowl. Actually, that would be along the toll roads of New Jersey, there is talk of a turnpike Super Bowl. The New York Giants and the New York Jets—a k a “New Jersey’s Finest”—could meet in Super Bowl XXXII next month, provided the Jets slip into the playoffs this weekend, then both teams win three times each in the postseason.
Amarillo.com
Web-posted Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Don’t count on a Subway Super Bowl
By DAVE GOLDBERG
AP Football Writer
Fear not.
The nation will not be subjected to a Subway Super Bowl even though New York’s Jets and Giants have reached the midway point of the NFL season at 6-2.
New York (NY) Times
Sports of The Times; Joe and L.T. Mull a Most Unlikely Dream: A Subway Super Bowl
By DAVE ANDERSON
Published: December 5, 2000
HIGH in a Park Avenue skyscraper, Joe Namath and Lawrence Taylor could overlook the city each once owned. The two best players in New York pro football history were being honored among the 100 most important people in New York sports in the 20th century (Namath tied for eighth with George Steinbrenner and Casey Stengel), and seeing them together prompted a fantasy:
If only they had played against each other—Namath maybe or maybe not getting a bullet pass away just before L. T. pounced on him.
When they played, each went to the Super Bowl: Namath with the Jets who stunned the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, and L. T. with the Giants who won both XXI and XXV. Yesterday, as members of the Chase Sports 100, they each discussed New York’s latest dream, a Subway Super Bowl.
New York (NY) Times
The Parity of Victory, the Agony of Defeat
Published: December 31, 2002
(...)
There’s no such thing as a subway Super Bowl, and we would be the last to be chauvinistic about the chances of the miraculous local survivors, the Giants and the Jets.
New York (NY) Daily News
WOODY & JETS SEEKING REBIRTH
BY GARY MYERS
Saturday, August 26th 2006, 7:41AM
In some years, the prospects of a Subway Super Bowl actually seem realistic, even though the Giants and Jets have made the playoffs in the same year only four times.
And while the Mets and Yankees could soon energize the city with another Subway Series, last night’s 13-7 Giants victory over the Jets in their annual preseason game will be the last they see of each other this season. There is no chance they will meet up in Miami on Feb. 4 in Super Bowl XLI.
Just a couple of years ago, the 2006 season projected to be the time both would be serious contenders. The Giants held up their end, but the Jets have gone backward after Doug Brien missed those two field goals in the playoffs in Pittsburgh, preventing them from getting to the AFC Championship Game following the 2004 season.
Reuters.com
New Yorkers dream of “Subway Super Bowl” faces acid test
Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:49am EST
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers have started dreaming of a first “Subway Super Bowl” following strong starts to the season by the Giants and the Jets, although both sets of fans will see their teams tested in the next round of games.
The Giants have not missed a beat since shocking the unbeaten Patriots 17-14 in the last Super Bowl by posting an NFC-best 9-1 record, while the Jets (7-3) are flying high at the top of the AFC East after beating New England last week.
The road triumph on Thursday was a breakthrough win for the Jets, who have struggled in the shadow of the dominant Patriots in recent years.