If the pressure of the Super Bowl wasn’t already enough, the day before Super Bowl XXII, Doug Williams had a six hour root canal surgery! Not only did he play the full game the next day, he played it with his jaw wired shut!
Just to make this chain of events even more bizarre, Doug Williams won Super Bowl XXII MVP AND led his team to a victory against the legendary John Elway! We can only imagine how much pain Doug Williams must have been under, most people take time off of their office jobs after a root canal surgery! He played a full contact sport the DAY AFTER.
Williams said the pain he experienced after the Super Bowl caused him to lose sleep for days! Not only was Williams the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, he was the first black quarterback to PLAY in the Super Bowl! Needless to say, 1988 was a great year for Doug Williams.