Super Bowl XXXI was also in the Superdome and against an NFC Central team. In Super Bowl XX, the Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears, whose rivalry with the Packers is said to be the NFL's oldest. The game was the first Super Bowl to be televised in the United States by the Fox network. Play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall and color commentator John Madden, both previously of CBS, called the game. James Brown hosted all the events with help from his fellow "Fox NFL Sunday" cast members Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Ronnie Lott. This was the first of three Super Bowls to
Super Bowl XXIX Championship Games, winning Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV. But after head coach George Seifert's team lost two consecutive NFC Championship games to the Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and 1993, San Francisco brought in several veteran free agents to strengthen their defense. Among the players signed were defensive linemen Richard Dent (the MVP of Super Bowl XX), Charles Mann, Rhett Hall, and Rickey Jackson; linebackers Ken Norton Jr. and Gary Plummer; and cornerback Deion Sanders. The free agents enabled the 49ers to jump from the 18th-ranked defense in the league to the 8th, and to jump from the league's 16th-best defense