Super Bowl LVII, played today at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is a matchup between two of the league’s most historic franchises. The Kansas City Chiefs were a charter member of the American Football League, playing their first three seasons as the Dallas Texans, and were owned by AFL co-founder Lamar Hunt. The Philadelphia Eagles have played since 1933; only six franchises are older.
Less known, though, are the numerous ties that South Dakota has to the Super Bowl.
Joe Foss, the Medal of Honor recipient and 20th Governor of South Dakota, followed his political career with a stint as the first commissioner of the fledging American Football League. Foss is credited with the idea of the Super Bowl. In late 1963, he wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, suggesting a “World Series of professional football” between the rival leagues. It would be three years later, in 1966, that the first “NFL-AFL World Championship Game” would be played, a two more years before Rozelle, a consummate marketer, dubbed the third matchup “Super Bowl III.”
One of the early Super Bowl dynasties belonged to the 1970s Miami Dolphins, who won Super Bowls VII and VIII and notched the NFL’s only perfect season in 1972. The Dolphins owner and founder was Joe Robbie. Robbie was a native of Sisseton and USD graduate who, at the age of 33, served as a Democrat in the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing Mitchell, In 1950, Robbie was the Democratic nominee for Governor, losing to Attorney General Sigurd Anderson. Robbie subsequently relocated to the Twin Cities at the invitation of U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, a fellow South Dakota transplant. In the late 1960s, Joe Foss invited Robbie to be the founding owner of the AFL’s Miami franchise, and Robbie owned the team until his death in 1990. The Dolphins still play in the stadium Robbie built in South Florida, which was known as “Joe Robbie Stadium” from 1987 to 1996.
In addition to Foss and Robbie, many South Dakotans have played in the NFL, several of whom have ties to South Dakota politics:
Dean Wink, a native of Moville, Iowa, played college football for Yankton College, and then joined the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he played defensive end and defensive tackle in 1967 and 1968. Wink became a rancher in Meade County, and served in the State House in 2009-16 and 2021-22 before beginning his first Senate term in 2023. While in the House, Wink served as appropriations chair, speaker pro tem, and speaker.
Jim Langer, of Little Falls, Minnesota, was an SDSU standout and then enjoyed a twelve-year career as an offensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins and the Minnesota Vikings. Langer was inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1987. His daughter-in-law, Kris Langer, represented Dell Rapids in the State House from 2014-16 and the State Senate from 2017-20, and was senate majority leader in 2019-20.
Adam Vinatieri, a Rapid City native, is widely considered to be the greatest kicker in NFL history. Vinatieri kicked for SDSU and then joined the New England Patriots from 1996-2005. He won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, and kicked game-winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII. He then joined the Indianapolis Colts from 2006-19, where he won a fourth Super Bowl. Vinatieri’s sister, Christine Erickson, served in the State House in 2013-14 and on the Sioux Falls City Council from 2014-22.
Chad Greenway, of Mount Vernon, was a standout linebacker for the University of Iowa and was drafted 17th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. During an eleven-year career, Greenway was twice selected to the Pro Bowl. Greenway’s grandmother, Laska Schoenfelder, was a public utilities commissioner from 1989 until her death in 2001. Her father, Red Lyon, was an eight-year legislator from Perkins County in the 1960s and 1980s.
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