Super Bowl LVII Should Be A Blast

 Last year I stopped doing my "Stops to Super Bowl" series because ... well ... I just didn't have the time. With my work commitments and a father to six children I just didn't have the time to do all the research I loved to do on the game. That doesn't mean I don't miss it ... I just don't think I can make it what I want it to be anymore.

But this Super Bowl makes me want to bring it back. This Super Bowl really is fascinating. You have both No. 1 seeds in this game, two relatively recent Super Bowl champion organizations and a load of tidbits to fill up a book of narratives. 

*KELCE BROTHERS.  I think it is so cool that two brothers will face off in the Super Bowl. Two very outgoing brothers at that. Should make for some greats soundbites and pre-game pieces for every NFL show leading up to the game.

*MAHOMES AND HURTS. For the first time we will have Black quarterbacks facing off in the Super Bowl. You'd think this wouldn't be that big of a deal since we are 35 years removed from Doug Williams (1987) becoming the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, but it took 26 more years for the next one to win it -- Seattle's Russell Wilson (2013). Since then, only Patrick Mahomes (2020) has won it which makes for just three of the previous 56 Super Bowls to have a Black winning QB. Steve McNair (1999), Donovan McNabb (2004), Colin Kaepernick (2012) and Cam Newton also started Super Bowls but lost (both Wilson and Mahomes have also started and lost Super Bowls). 

*FLY, EAGLES. I remember when the Cowboys, Redskins/Commanders and Giants were ripping up Super Bowl titles and the Eagles were just not keeping up. Prior to 2017, the Cowboys (5), Giants (4) and Commanders (3) winning 12 Super Bowls while reaching the game 18 times. The Eagles were 0-2 in the big game, but now has the two most recent appearances and the most recent championship. While the Cowboys are always drenched in drama, the Commanders have been a mess for nearly three decades and the Giants perpetually are rebuilding, the Eagles have been making the right moves. 

*GLENDALE: Glendale, Arizona has been the site for some great Super Bowl moments. The last time the game was there (Super Bowl XLIX) was the Patriots-Seahawks game where Seattle didn't hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch and were picked off on the goal line. The previous game there was XLII when the Giants upset the unbeaten Patriots. Tempe (which is also a suburb of Phoenix) hosted Super Bowl XXX when the Cowboys beat the Steelers. 

*MOST NFL TITLES
13-Packers
9-Bears
8-Giants
6-Patriots, Steelers
5-49ers, Cowboys, Commanders
4-Browns, Colts, Eagles, Lions, Rams

*MOST NFL TITLE APPEARANCES
22-Giants
19-Bears
18-Packers
11-Patriots, Commanders, Rams
9-Browns
8-Broncos, Cowboys, Steelers

*MOST NFL TITLE GAME LOSSES
14-Giants
10-Bears
6-Rams, Redskins
5-Broncos, Browns, Packers, Patriots
4-Bills, Vikings
3-Colts, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles

*MOST NFL TITLE LOSSES WITHOUT A WIN
4-Vikings, Bills
3-Bengals
2-Falcons, Panthers
1-Chargers, Titans, Buffalo All-Americans, Pottsville Maroons

The Jaguars and Texans are the only current NFL franchises to have never played in an NFL championship game.