Have any backup quarterbacks entered a Super Bowl as in-game substitutes and changed the outcome?
Executive summary
Yes — there is at least one clear, documented case of a backup quarterback who entered a Super Bowl as an in-game substitute and had a direct impact on the result: Earl Morrall relieved an injured Johnny Unitas during Super Bowl V and helped the Baltimore Colts to the victory [1]. Many other famous “backup-to-champion” stories involve quarterbacks who replaced starters earlier in the season or playoffs and then started the Super Bowl rather than entering the title game as a mid‑game substitute [2] [3] [1].
1. The narrow, literal question — did any QB come off the bench during the Super Bowl and change it?
On the strict reading of the question — a quarterback entering the Super Bowl game itself as a substitute and altering the final outcome — the canonical example in the reporting is Earl Morrall, who replaced an injured Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V and helped the Colts close the game and secure the championship [1]. The contemporary coverage identifies Morrall taking over after Unitas was knocked out in the second quarter, going 7-of-15 for 147 yards, and being the quarterback on the field when the Colts scored the game’s final points to win [1].
2. Why most “backup” Super Bowl stories aren’t the same thing
A larger list of backup quarterbacks who “won” Super Bowls did so by replacing starters earlier in the season or by being named the starter for the playoffs — then they started the title game rather than entering it mid‑contest [2] [3] [4] [1]. Famous examples include Tom Brady (who took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and then started Super Bowl XXXVI) and Nick Foles (who replaced Carson Wentz late in 2017 and then started and won Super Bowl LII), both of whom were season‑ or playoff replacements, not in‑game substitutes during the Super Bowl itself [1] [4] [3].
3. The roster of notable “backup who won” cases and the important distinction
Reporting compendiums list a string of backups who led their teams to Super Bowl wins — Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams, Jeff Hostetler, Trent Dilfer, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, Nick Foles and others — but the majority of those quarterbacks reached the Super Bowl as starters after taking over earlier, not as mid‑game relief during the title game [5] [2] [4] [1]. Jeff Hostetler, for example, took over late in the season when Phil Simms was injured and then started Super Bowl XXV for the Giants, rather than entering the Super Bowl as an in‑game substitute [3] [2].
4. How “changed the outcome” should be read and what the sources support
If “changed the outcome” means “was the decisive on-field quarterback during the winning moments of the Super Bowl after entering the game,” Morrall’s Super Bowl V role fits the bill: he replaced an injured starter during the championship game and was the quarterback when the Colts rallied to win [1]. If the question instead covers backup QBs who reshaped a season and then won the Super Bowl as starters, the list is much longer and includes Brady, Foles, Warner and others — but those cases are different in kind because the quarterback began the Super Bowl as the starter, not as an in‑game substitution [1] [2] [4].
5. Limits in the record and how reporting frames the story
Available reporting and compiled lists emphasize the memorable “backup wins Super Bowl” narratives and enumerate many players who were backups for much of a season but started the Super Bowl; those sources are explicit about season‑long takeovers versus in‑game relief but do not suggest a long list of midgame Super Bowl substitutions that reversed titles beyond Morrall’s instance [2] [1] [6]. If other in‑game substitutions materially changed Super Bowl outcomes, they are not prominent in the sources provided; the coverage consolidates the distinction and cites Morrall as the clear example of in‑game replacement contributing to the victory [1] [2].