Super Bowl XXX took place on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Dallas Cowboys were making their third appearance in four years against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas scored on each of its first three possessions, taking a 13-0 lead on Troy Aikman's 3-yard touchdown pass to Jay Novacek and a pair of field goals by Chris Boniol. Neil O'Donnell's 6-yard touchdown pass to Yancey Thigpen 13 seconds before halftime pulled Pittsburgh within 6 points, and the Steelers had the ball near midfield midway through the third quarter. But O'Donnell's third-down pass was intercepted by Brown at the Cowboys' 38-yard line, and his 44-yard return carried to Pittsburgh's 18. After Aikman's 17 yard completion to Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith ran one yard for the touchdown that put Dallas Cowboys ahead again by 13 points. The Steelers rallied, though, behind Norm Johnson's 46 yard field goal, a successful surprise onside kick, and Byron (Bam) Morris's 1-yard touchdown run with six and a half minutes to play in the game.

And when they forced a punt and took possession at their own 32 yard line trailing only 20-17 with four and a quarter minutes remaining, it appeared they might have a chance to break the National Football Conference's recent domination in the Super Bowl. But on second down, Brown struck again, intercepting O'Donnell's pass at the 39 and returning it 33 yards to the six. Two plays later, Smith barreled over from four yards out for the clinching touchdown with less then four minutes to go. Pittsburgh Steelers limited the Dallas Cowboys' powerful running game to only 56 yards and enjoyed a whopping 201-61 advantage in total yards in the second half, but could not overcome the three interceptions (another came on the game's final play) thrown by O'Donnell, the National Football League's career leader for fewest interceptions per pass attempt. In all, O'Donnell completed 28 of 49 passes for 239 yards. Morris rushed for a game high 73 yards on 19 carries. For Dallas, Aikman completed 15 of 23 pass attempts for 209 yards. Cornerback Larry Brown's two interceptions led to 14 second half points and helped lift the Dallas Cowboys to their t0hird Super Bowl victory in the last four seasons and their record tying fifth title overall. Larry Brown's interceptions foiled the comeback efforts of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and earned him the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the game's most valuable player.

The Cowboys' victory was the twelfth in a row for National Football Conference (NFC) teams over American Football Conference (AFC) teams in the Super Bowl. The Dallas Cowboys won their third Super Bowl title in four years when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The game was viewed by the largest audience in U.S. television history 138.5 million people, January 28. The game was televised on NBC, with commentators Dick Enberg, Phil Simms, and Paul Maguire.