Japanese fans loved the spectacle and the action and were awed by the size of the players who brought American football to Tokyo.
"This is a really manly sport. It's great to watch," said Tochimichi Tsuchiya, a real estate company president, as he watched the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks 10-7 in the Tokyo Dome on Sunday."But it's not really the kind of sport that will catch on in Japan," he said. "The players have to be too big. We don't have that many sumo-size athletes."
The big players in the game were in the Broncos secondary, which intercepted three passes by Seattle quarterback Kelly Stouffer in the second half to secure the victory.
Interceptions by Alton Montgomery and Michael Brooks set up 10 Denver points in the third period, and a pass interception by Elliott Smith ended a fourth-quarter Seattle threat in the Broncos end zone.
Brooks' interception set up a 32-yard scoring pass on the following play from quarterback Gary Kubiak to Mark Jackson.
Seattle drew to within 10-7 with 4:14 left in the game when Stouffer scrambled free and threw 36 yards to Louis Clark, who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone. The Seahawks ran out of time in a final desperation drive.
Neither team could score with its first offensive units, although quarterbacks John Elway of Denver and Seattle's Dave Krieg were accurate with their short passes. Elway completed all eight of his attempts for 64 yards and Krieg hit eight of nine for 86 yards.
"The crowd seemed pretty quiet in the first half, but there wasn't much to cheer about, either," said Bill Stenstrom, an American serviceman based just outside of Tokyo. "They seemed more motivated in the second half. I think they're pretty into the game."
The crowd heartily cheered every crunching hit and long pass, both at the time of the actual play and again when the replay was shown on the stadium's big screen. The crowd made several half-hearted attempts at "waves" before hitting its stride in the second half.
The exhibition game is the second in as many years to be played in Japan and had much of the pomp associated with stateside NFL games. Mascots and cheerleaders who flew out with the teams entertained the sellout crowd of 48,827.
But from the minute fans stepped inside the dome to be greeted by ushers bowing deeply, it was clear this was no ordinary NFL game.
Along with such traditional ballpark fare as hot dogs, French fries and beer, stadium vendors sold tempura, curry beef and sake, the Japanese rice wine.
Prices also were strictly Japanese, with programs selling for about $13 and team T-shirts for $20.