����vlog

SOLEDAD: THIS IS THE WEEKEND THAT FOOTBALL LENGTHS ARE PLAYED AND WHAT IS DESTINED TO BE A SUPER BOWL FOR THE AGES. BUT AS HISTORY MAKING GAMES GO WE THINK YOU HAVE TO LOOK BACK, WAY BACK TO JANUARY 20, 1980. THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS VERSUS THE L.A. RAMS. IT WAS A GAME PLAYED OUT AGAINST THE BACK DROP OF AN INTERNATIONAL CRISIS AND NEARLY FORGOTTEN STORY ABOUT BIG PLAYS ON AND OFF THE FIELD. HERE IS OR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JOIE CHEN. >> THE CITY OF COONS WAS ON THE VERGE OF ANOTHER TITLE. >> BY ANY MEASURE LOS ANGELES WAS THE UNDERDOG THAT SUPER BOWL SUNDAY. THE STEELERS TERRY BRADSHAW WAS VOTED M.V.P. BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER KEY PLAYER ON THAT DAY AND ANOTHER LIFT MAKING HANDOFF ALTHOUGH IT DON'T KNOW 7,500 MILES AND A WORLD AWAY. >> I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT MORNING NOVEMBER 4 WHEN I'M SEEING THEM COME OVER THE WALL AND THE GATE, THERE WAS NO SECURITY WHATSOEVER. >> ONLY 29 DAYS EARLIER ROCKY SICKMAN ARRIVED AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN TEHRAN AS A MARINE GUARD. HE BECAME ONE OF 52 AMERICANS HELD HOSTAGE FOR 444 DAYS. INTERROGATED, THREATENED AND VERY OFTEN LEFT COMPLETELY ALONE. >> YOU ARE THINKING THAT WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT US BECAUSE THE WORLD IS GOING ON WITHOUT US. YOU HAD TO GO BACK TO A GOOD PLACE AND GOOD PLACE WAS GROWING UP IN THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON, MISSOURI PLAYING FOOTBALL. >> THE FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE MISSOURI STATE CHAMPION WASHINGTON BLUE JAYS SAYS THAT THREE THINGS SAVED ALMOST IN THROWS DARK DAYS. FAITH, FAMILIAR AND FOOTBALL. >> EVERY FOOTBALL I CAUGHT, EVERY PASS I DROPPED, EVERY BLOCK, EVERYTHING THAT I RECOMMEND INSISTED AND DRAMATIC BACK TO THOSE DAYS AND THEY WERE HAPPY DAYS AND GREAT DAYS THAT REALLY HELPED KEEP ME ALIVE. >> MEANWHILE AN UNLIKELY LIFE LINE APPEARED OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND. THEN A CUB REPORTER FOR AN L.A. RADIO STATION ALEX PAEN GRABBED HIS CHANCE AT THE BIGGEST STORY. >> OF ALL THE HOSTAGES WAS THE ONLY PRIVATE CITIZEN AND SO THEN THAT LOCALIZED THE STORE FOR ME AND I RAN INTO THE NEWS DIRECTOR AND SAID I WOULD LIKE TO COVER THAT. WE HAVE A LITTLE HOSTAGE. >> HE SAID WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY. >> LESS THAN A MONTH LATER PAEN WAS IN TEHRAN. >> DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTINGOVER INTO? >> NOT REALLY. AT THAT AGE, I WAS 26, YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO GET IN ANY TROUBLE. THE NEXT DID I I WENT TO THE SINGLE I -- SINGLE R EMBASSY AND THERE WAS A HUGE CROWD. IT WAS SCARY BECAUSE I HAD MY TAPE RECORDER OVER MY SHOULDER AND I WADED THROUGH AND THEY ARE PUSHING AND YELLING "DEATH TO AMERICA." >> SLOWLY HE WON OVER THE GUARDSED A BECAME THE CONDUIT FOR MILLIONS OF LETTERS FROM HOME. >> THERE IS ME HOLDING UP ONE OF THE ENVELOPES THE CARDS CAME IN. >> YES, AMERICA, THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE. >> THEY OPENED THE DOOR AND BRING IN THIS PILE OF CARDS AND WE LOOK AT EACH OTHER LIKE WHAT THE HECK IS THERE. WE STARTED PICKING THEM UP AND READING LIKE WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU. >> THE HROFRPBLGS DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE YELLOW RIBBONS OF HOPE THAT AMERICANS HAD TIED EVERYWHERE. >> WE HAD TO IDEA THAT THE WORLD WAS REUNITED TO TRY TO BRING THE HOSTAGES HOME. >> THEN PAEN MADE ANOTHER SPECIAL DELIVERY. THE SUPER BOWL. THE COOKOFF WAS AROUND 3:00 A.M. FOR RAN TIME. JIMMING A LINK TO A TAPE RECORDER HE RECORDED THE WHOLE GAME. >> AT SECTION IN THE MORNING I BUNDLED UP AND WENT TO THE MANY SI AND GAVE THE CASSETTES TO THE MILITANTS. BUT AS I WAS HANDING THEM I WAS HOLDING THEM AND SAID YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD ALLOW THE HROFRPBLGS TO HEAR THIS. THEY SAID YES, YES AND SOME OF THEM THERE WERE SEVERAL OF THEM SAID WE WANT TO HEAR IT, TOO. >> ALL OF A SUDDEN THE GUARD OPENS THE DOOR AND WE JUMP AND HE BRINGS IN A TAPE RECORDER AND HE SAYS THIS IS A RECORDING OF THE SUPER BOWL. WE ALL LOOK AT EACH OTHER LIKE RECORDING OF THE BOWL? GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE. >> IN THAT UNREAL MOMENT ALEX PAEN SCORED A VICTORY FOR THE AGES. >> HE HAD A MISSION AND HE SUCCEEDED IN THAT MISSION, GOD LOVE HIM. >> TODAY THE ST. LOUIS SOLDIERS MUSEUM HASEK SICK'S STORY AND HE THINKS OF OTHER HEROES INCLUDING THOSE WHO DIED TRYING TO RESCUE THE HOSTAGES. AND AMERICANS STILL IMPRISONED ALL AROUND THE WORLD. FOR HIM THE SUPER BOWL WILL NEVER BE JUST A GAME AGAIN. BUT A MOMENT WHEN AMERICA CAME TOGETHER TO EMBRACE OTHER AMERIC