You asked for it, so here it is: What follows is the editor’s letter from the mag’s Editor-in-Chief, Ben Osborne, for SLAM Presents TD: Special Super Bowl Issue. It’s available now everywhere SLAM is sold, in four unique collectable covers. In the mag, we rank every Super Bowl-winning team that ever took the field, from “worst” (and yet, still amazing) to first. It’s got great writing, great photos and great design. Keep supporting us, and we’ll keep pumping out the magazines. Purchase our new issue digitally via the SLAM app here or order a print copy here. Go buy it and we’ll make more! —Ed.

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As the insane television ratings that mark the “Game” as the most-watched program every single year indicate, Super Bowl Sunday has become a de facto national holiday. Which is totally cool. But how many of you are actually paying attention to what’s happening on the field if it isn’t related to a box pool or point spread?

I know the difference because for all the games I haven’t cared too much about, thank goodness, I am a New York Giant fan (and not a word about bandwagons; I fell in love as a 9-year-old while Earnest Gray and friends were going 3-12-1). By 1986 our Bill Parcells-led GMen had grown into the best in the game, and at the end of that season I got to learn what Super Bowl Sunday was really all about—and re-learned it four times since (three of them happily).

I am proud of this issue for the historic knowledge it provides to anyone who cares about the game of football—leave this thing on your coffee table and invoke debate and learning for all your guests—but I know first hand that those who love it the most will be those who have been on the happy side of a Super Bowl Sunday.

Lastly, here’s how to read this mag: We took every Super Bowl winner and ranked them in order of greatness. Example: if the ’85 Bears played the ’75 Steelers, who would win? That team is higher. Each two-page recap includes the winning team’s regular-season record and the date, MVP and a classic photo from the SB in question.

Enjoy it all.

Peace,

Ben Osborne