DENVER'S DAVIS A HEADACHE FOR GREEN BAY.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Terrell Davis looked out and saw the field jumping, instead of the players. He saw two Gilbert Browns, if you can imagine. He saw a fuzzy football game, a Super Blur.

Davis' teammates looked in and saw clear, hard determination.

It was all about Terrell Davis' eyes, not John Elway's arm, as Sunday's Super Bowl turned out.

When Davis, the 1,700-yard running back, left the game for most of the second quarter after taking a knee to the head, he had double vision and the Denver Broncos' best-laid plans were in severe doubt.

Then, when he returned to the backfield after the halftime break, he fumbled his first carry to set up the the Green Bay Packers' tying field goal.

But when the Broncos looked into those eyes on the sidelines, they knew everything would be OK.

``I know that look,'' said fellow running back Derek Loville. ``It's just a look, a deep stare that says, `I'll make up for it.' ''

Davis let the Broncos down only once. He wouldn't let them lose.

Despite missing nearly a quarter, and taking oxygen and smelling salts on the bench, the third-year pro rushed 30 times for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record-tying three touchdowns, including the 1-yard touchdown burst that gave the Broncos a 31-24 victory at Qualcomm Stadium.

Davis, a San Diego native who played at Long Beach State and Georgia, was named the Super Bowl MVP, the first to win the award in his hometown.

Now the rest of the world knows that the Broncos knew, this guy's tough.

``I thought about this when I was laying in bed last night - coming home, playing well - but I never imagined something like this,'' he said during a postgame press conference cut short because he felt faint.

It was a perfectly clear, 70-degree day for the Super Bowl. But not for Davis. He was partly cloudly.

``I got dinged,'' he said, sharing his limited recollection of the play, a 4-yard run for a first down deep in Packers territory on the Broncos' second touchdown drive of the first quarter.

On his knees for a matter of seconds, Davis thinks he blacked out. He was helped to the sideline, where he spent three Denver series.

``I felt bad for him,'' said Broncos guard Brian Habib. ``Of all the games for this to happen. But I knew he'd fight through it.''

The problem was reported as either a concussion or a recurrence of the migraine headaches that bothered him last in 1996.

``I thought it was the onset of a migraine,'' said Davis, who wears braces on his teeth to correct a jaw misalignment that doctors thought caused the headaches. ``I took some medication, and the long halftime helped. There's been a history of that for me. Fortunately, we know when it will come back.''

``He just needed time to get his eyes in order,'' Loville said. ``He knew, `There's no game next week, so I gotta give it all I got.' ''

The Broncos, unlike the bettors who made them 12-point underdogs, thought they could wear down the defending champions by letting Davis pound away. If he hadn't recovered, they'd have been in trouble.

``At halftime, he was still seeing double or triple,'' Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. ``We had a (new) game plan for the third quarter that involved him not being in there. Then he came out (of the trainers' room) and said, `Hey, I'm starting to focus, I can go.' ''

On the first play of the third quarter, Davis fumbled when he was hit by cornerback Tyrone Williams after a 3-yard gain to the Broncos 26.

``He came out and said, `I'm fine,' '' Shanahan said. ``I said, `OK, because we're going to give you the ball again on the next play.' ''

They did. He ran for 6 yards. Of course, he had bigger runs Sunday.

One came on the Broncos' first drive, the one that showed they weren't overmatched. Davis went 27 yards around left end to the Packers 14. Four plays later, he went 1 yard to make it 7-7.

One came on the Broncos' last drive, the one that came with the score tied at 24 and one of the most entertaining if not best-played Super Bowls up for grabs. Davis went 17 yards - again, sweeping left - and was pushed out of bounds at the 1. Next play, with 1:47 on the clock, he dashed up the middle untouched.

His second touchdown run was also a 1-yarder, putting Denver ahead 24-17 in the third quarter.

The game that was billed as Elway vs. Brett Favre came down to Davis vs. Dorsey Levens.

And the Broncos' blockers against the Packers' defensive line. Conventional wisdom said the Broncos were too small. What they were was too quick.

Of course, Davis never had to worry about the size question. Blessed with double vision, he had a 10-man offensive line.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) ``I thought about this when I was laying in bed last night - coming home, playing well - but I never imagined something like this.''

- Terrell Davis

Super Bowl MVP

(2) Denver's Terrell Davis scores the first of his three touchdowns, tying the game at 7-7.

(3) Terrell Davis came back to his hometown, was named MVP and got to lift the Lombardi Trophy after the Broncos' upset victory.

Associated Press