Whether you’re a hardcore football fan, casual fan, or just someone watching their first football game of the season Super Bowl Sunday, we have some simple facts and trivia that will help you sound like a genius at your Super Bowl party. I mean who wants to be the person left in the dark, unable to participate or add to conversations about the game? Nobody who reads Larry Brown Sports, that’s for sure.
So here we go with our facts, trivia and bullet points to prep you for your Super Bowl XLVIII party, which will feature a great matchup between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
1. This is the first time New York/New Jersey is hosting a Super Bowl. The game is being played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is the regular season home to the New York Jets and Giants (curiously named New York even though they play in New Jersey). Now here’s something you won’t read in most places. The stadium opened in April 2010 and a month later it was announced that they would host Super Bowl XLVIII. We believe the stadium was awarded the Super Bowl as a condition/reward for the Giants and Jets building a new stadium. The cost of the stadium was $1.6 billion, and it was paid for by the two teams. Most NFL stadiums are at least partially funded by public money in the form of taxes, but this one is 100 percent privately owned. Similarly, new stadiums like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and Cowboys Stadium were given recent Super Bowls right after opening, indicating the NFL makes a point of rewarding cities with Super Bowls for building new stadiums.
2. This is the first time ever that a Super Bowl is being played outdoors in a cold-weather environment. The NFL prefers to have its biggest game not impacted by the weather, so this will be an exception. They even waived a rule that the city hosting the Super Bowl must have an average February temperature of at least 50 degrees in order to host a Super Bowl. Usually the Super Bowl is hosted by warm weather cities in Arizona (e.g. Tempe or Glendale), California (e.g. LA or San Diego), Florida (Miami, Tampa or Jacksonville), Texas (Dallas or Houston) or cities that have domes (e.g. Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit).
3. This is the fifth time ever that the team with the No. 1 offense in the league is playing the team with the No. 1 defense. The Seahawks have only allowed 14.4 points per game, which is tops in the league. The Broncos are averaging 37.9 points per game, which is the best in the league. The 23.5 point difference between their averages is the greatest ever in a Super Bowl. The top defensive team has gone 3-1 in these Super Bowls. Also, the last time the top teams in terms of yards gained and yards allowed met was for the 2002 Super Bowl when the Bucs beat the Raiders. All told, that means the best defensive team has gone 4-1 in Super Bowls when playing the best offensive team. That’s one huge reason both Doc and Del like Seattle in the game.
4. Peyton Manning won a record 5th MVP this season, but he’s only won one Super Bowl. Though his regular season prowess is arguably more impressive than any player in history, Manning has only gone 11-11 in the postseason. He’s gone 1-and-done in the playoffs 8 times and this is his third time playing in the Super Bowl. He won his first Super Bowl in the 2006 season against the Chicago Bears, but lost in his next try in 2009 against the New Orleans Saints. He threw an interception returned for a touchdown in that game to help seal the victory for the Saints. No player in NFL history has won more than 3 MVP awards except for Manning, who’s won 5. 11 quarterbacks have won multiple Super Bowls. Manning would join that group (which includes his brother Eli) if he gets a win.
5. Peyton Manning might walk away from the game and retire like John Elway. Manning is 37 years old and missed the entire 2011 season after having multiple neck surgeries. There has been a lot of chatter around the Super Bowl and among players that Peyton might retire after the game. If he wins, he would be just like Elway, the former Broncos quarterback and current Broncos team executive, who won back-to-back Super Bowls to end his career. Elway had gone 0-3 in Super Bowls but won in ’97 and ’98 and retired after his second win. A connection formed between Manning and Elway, which was one of the big reasons Peyton chose to sign with Denver when he was a free agent prior to the 2012 season. That was the first time in his life Manning was a free agent.
6. Richard Sherman came across as a lunatic in his postgame interview, but he’s actually really smart. Nobody was talked about more in the lead up to the Super Bowl than Sherman, and that’s because of his incredible rant after making a huge play in the NFC Championship Game to send the Seahawks to the big game. Don’t get caught thinking that Sherman is an idiot because he behaved like a crazed lunatic in the interview; he went to Stanford and was second in his high school class at Dominguez in Compton. Two other cool facts about Sherman: he started off as a wide receiver at Stanford before switching to cornerback after injuring his knee in 2008, and he also was a track star in college, excelling in the triple jump and high jump. He also is a huge student of the game — watch this video if you haven’t seen it yet.
7. Pete Carroll can become the third coach to win the Super Bowl and college football national championship. Carroll is 63 and first became a head coach with the New York Jets in 1994. He was fired after a 6-10 season. He was the head coach of the New England Patriots from 1997-1999, succeeding legendary Bill Parcells and preceding Bill Belichick. He actually went 27-21 in New England but was still fired by owner Bob Kraft. After a year off, he was hired by USC in 2000. He was at best the Trojans’ third choice, and most fans were disappointed with the hire, but Carroll turned USC back into a dynasty. They went 83-19 under him, including 1-1 in national championship games. If he wins the Super Bowl, he’ll join Jimmy Johnson (Miami Hurricanes, Dallas Cowboys) and Barry Switzer (Oklahoma Sooners, Dallas Cowboys) as the only coaches to win a college national championship and Super Bowl.
8. Seattle’s defensive backfield is nicknamed the “Legion of Boom.” Legion of Boom is a play on words for the DC Comics “Legion of Doom” group. You can hear Seattle’s players say “LOB” in interviews, and that’s short for “Legion of Boom.” The four members of Seattle’s secondary comprise the Legion of Boom: cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are the original members. Cornerback Brandon Browner was another original member, but he’s out for the season after violating the league’s substance abuse policy. They are nicknamed “Legion of Boom” because they are exceptionally large players for their positions, and they also are hard hitters. Chancellor is 6-foot-3 and known as a hard hitter. Sherman is 6-foot-3, which is exceptionally tall for a cornerback. And at 6-foot-4, Browner was the tallest cornerback in the league. The combination of being hard hitters and tall players separates Seattle’s secondary from most other secondaries in NFL history, and has led to their success and great nickname.
Want more Super Bowl coverage from LBS? Read why Doc and Del are predicting the Seahawks to win the game.
Also see: Del’s Super Bowl prediction – Seahawks 24, Broncos 17
Also see: Doc’s Super Bowl prediction – Seahawks 20, Broncos 17
