CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

4
LETTERS

13
SCORECARD

63
BOXING

64
PRO BASKETBALL

68
COLLEGE BASKETBALL

96
FOR THE RECORD

98
POINT AFTER

18
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
It will be Buffalo against the Big Apple in Super Bowl XXV, and the high-scoring Bills are solid favorites
BY PAUL ZIMMERMAN

24
NFL PLAYOFFS

Jeff Hostetler emerged as a star as the Giants defeated the Niners 15-13 in the NFC title game
BY RICK REILLY

Of all the Bills who shone in their AFC rout of Los Angeles, Thurman Thomas was most dazzling
BY PETER KING

32
HEY, MISTER!
Keith Jennings, the little big man they call Mister, has led East Tennessee State to the big time
BY STEVE RUSHIN

36
A GREAT 30TH FOR THE GREAT ONE
The Kid, a.k.a. Wayne Gretzky, has reached the big three-oh, but you wouldn't know it from his game
BY JAY GREENBERG

70
SUPERHEROES

Joe Namath says he still gets goose bumps when he reflects on how his Jets triumphed in Super Bowl III
BY PAUL ZIMMERMAN

Was Percy Howard's only NFL reception, for a Cowboy score in Supe X, a blessing—or a curse?
BY STEVE WULF

Doug Williams and Timmy Smith, Redskins stars in the 1988
game, seem long gone from the NFL
BY JILL LIEBER

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN W. McDONOUGH

PHOTO

GREGORY HEISLER

NOT JUST ANOTHER JOE: As the silver anniversary Super Bowl approaches, Joe Namath, 47, reflects on his greatest game—and perhaps the greatest in Super history—in which he led the underdog Jets past the Colts in 1969 (page 70).