Craig’s 1985 game helped show him that he belonged
By Ron Kroichick
On the night before his Super Bowl debut in January 1985, Roger Craig sat alone in his hotel room, quietly envisioning how the game might unfold. He had played in big games at Nebraska, with huge crowds. But this was different. This was the Super Bowl. He was nervous.
The next day, as Craig fidgeted in the makeshift locker room at Stanford Stadium, one of his 49ers teammates approached him. Linebacker Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds noticed Craig’s uneasiness, offered reassurance and then exhorted him to play every play as if it were his last.
Craig, always a picture
of wide-eyed, high-stepping intensity, soon climbed into another realm.
“My heart was racing as we got closer and closer to the introductions,” he recalled last week. “Hacksaw helped calm me down a little. He just elevated my focus.”
More than three decades later, Craig still exudes energy and excitability at age 55. He works for Tibco, a Palo Alto software company, hosts the San Jose Rock N’ Roll Marathon and has run 38 marathons since he set aside his helmet and shoulder pads.
That’s apparently not enough. Craig hopes to one day complete a 50-mile run, or maybe even 100 miles.
“It just cleanses me and helps me think clearly,” he said of his running habit. “It motivates me to do things in life.”
Craig seldom lacked motivation during his 11-year career as an NFL running back, during which his teams (49ers, Raiders, Vikings) reached the playoffs in all 11 seasons. He earned three Super Bowl rings with San Francisco.
Still, he floated in the background early in his career, mostly overshadowed by quarterback Joe Montana and wide receiver Dwight Clark. That started to change on Jan. 20, 1985, when Craig stitched his name into Super Bowl lore.
He became the first player to score three touchdowns in one Super Bowl. But this stretched deeper — the 38-16 victory over Dan Marino and the Dolphins also showcased Craig at his slashing, versatile best.
He gained 58 yards rushing and caught seven passes for 77 yards. And the focus that Hacksaw Reynolds helped sharpen before the game surfaced in plain sight: Craig landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated, galloping across the goal line with his typically firm gaze.
That cover jarred Craig. He first saw the magazine in an airport, as he prepared to return to his native Iowa to spend time with family and friends.
His initial thought: So much for hiding behind Montana and Clark.
“I thought teams were going to come after me,” Craig said. “I went back home and trained my butt off. I wanted to show people I was going to be ready when I came back the next season.”
That worked out just fine. In 1985, Craig became the first running back to gain more than 1,000 yards rushing and more than 1,000 receiving in the same season. He ultimately gained nearly 8,200 yards on the ground for his career, and caught 566 passes.
Now, when he sees that Sports Illustrated cover, it’s usually because a 49ers fan wants him to autograph it.
As for Craig’s highstepping habit, captured nicely on the SI cover, that traced to his days at Central High School in Davenport, Iowa. He ran high hurdles in addition to playing football, and he can still hear his running backs coach, Jack Leabo, shouting, “Get your knees up!”
It became Craig’s signature, especially on the NFL’s biggest stage.
“I went back home and trained my butt off. I wanted to show people I was going to be ready when I came back the next season.“ Roger Craig, former 49ers running back, on the season after his first Super Bowl game