A Super Bowl of Redemptions

Sam Darnold (left) and Kenneth Walker III

Siri, what is Super Bowl Sunday?

Liberal Siri: It is America's annual tribute to violence, unregulated capitalism, and cholesterol.

Conservative Siri: It's the most wonderful time of the year!

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Super Bowl LX was played last night, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, home of the San Francisco 49ers, although it's closer to San Jose than to San Francisco. In fact, it's further from downtown San Francisco (43.6 miles) than my home of East Brunswick is from Midtown Manhattan (39.7 miles).

It was a chance at redemption for the Seattle Seahawks, after their loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, 11 years earlier, when their head coach at the time, Pete Carroll, made the dumbest play call in the history of football.

It was a chance at redemption for their quarterback, Sam Darnold, who had previously washed out with the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers, and had been rejected by the Minnesota Vikings, despite getting them to a 14-3 regular-season record last season, before failing in the Playoffs. It was even a chance at redemption for his Southern California hometown, San Clemente, which is where Richard Nixon moved after he resigned the Presidency in disgrace.

Some people thought it was a chance at redemption for the Patriots: For the 1st time in 29 years, they were playing in a Super Bowl without Bill Belichick as head coach and Tom Brady at quarterback. They had been 6-3 in Super Bowls when suspected of cheating, and 0-2 in them before that when not.

There would be no redemption for the New York Jets or their fans. If the Patriots won, that would be the Jets' arch-rivals winning it -- again! If the Seahawks won, that would be Darnold winning it, reminding them of how their team totally mishandled him.

Unfortunately, for most of the game, it was looking like the worst-played Super Bowl, both teams combined, ever. For the 1st 46 minutes of the game, into the 4th quarter, the score was Seahawks 12, Patriots 0. Being a Yankee Fan, and thus hating all New England sports teams (though not the region of New England itself), and being a fan of fairness, and thus hating all cheating, I was happy about the score.

But, despite the fact that there were no turnovers until a Patriot fumble in the last 15 seconds of the 3rd quarter, the level of play was terrible. The Patriots had 4 1st Downs, while the Seahawks had 4 field goals, and neither team had scored a touchdown. There was a decent shot at the 1st shutout in a Super Bowl, and it wasn't even because the Seattle defense was so strong: It was that the New England offense, coached by Mike Vrabel and quarterbacked by Derek Maye, was so inept. They had not gotten further downfield than the Seahawks' 43-yard line.

Seahawk kicker Jason Myers was beginning to look like he would be the 1st placekicker to be named the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl. He ended up becoming the 1st man to kick 5 field goals in a Super Bowl, matching his uniform number; and scoring 17 points overall. (James White of the Patriots scored 20 -- 3 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion -- in Super Bowl LI, and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles tied that record in Super Bowl LVII.)

Finally, with 13 minutes and 24 seconds to go, Darnold threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to AJ Barner, to give the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. Very briefly, the Patriots started to make it interesting, getting to 19-7 and driving for a 2nd touchdown, and we were all, "Oh, here we go again: No Belichick, no Brady, but are the Patriots cheating again? Is this gonna be another comeback like Super Bowl LI between the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, 28-3 becomes a Patriot overtime win?

But, no: That drive ended with 8:37 to go, with an interception by Julian Love that led to Myers' 5th field goal. It was then that I saw in the eyes of Maye the look of a quarterback who knew he was going to lose the Super Bowl. I had seen it before, in the eyes of Craig Morton in 1978, Ron Jaworski in 1981, Joe Theismann in 1984, Dan Marino in 1985, Tony Eason in 1986, John Elway 3 times in the late 1980s before he finally won two in the late 1990s, Jim Kelly 4 times in the early 1990s, Kurt Warner in 2002, Peyton Manning in 2014, and even 3-time winner Patrick Mahomes last year.

And on the Pats' next drive, Uchenna Nwosu intercepted a weak Maye pass, and returned it 45 yards for, Cliché Alert, the nail in the coffin. These 2 turnovers were a quick redemption for the Seahawk defense, which people were beginning to doubt. Final score: Seattle 29, New England 13.

The Seahawks had won their 2nd Super Bowl, and Seattle's 4th World Championship, following their win in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, the 1979 NBA Championship of the now-on-hiatus Seattle SuperSonics, and the 1st Stanley Cup won by an American team, in 1917, but the long-defunct Seattle Metropolitans. If you count Major League Soccer, add 2 for the Seattle Sounders: 2016 and 2019. If you count the WNBA, add 4 for the Seattle Storm: 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020. So that would be 10 titles for the Queen City of the Northwest.

Mike McDonald, at 38, became the 3rd-youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, following Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams in LV and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers in XLIII, who were each 36. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 135 yards, the most in a Super Bowl in 28 years, and was named the MVP. And Darnold joined a select group of quarterbacks who had been mishandled by teams before being signed by teams willing to take a chance on them, and leading them to Super Bowl glory: Len Dawson, Earl Morrall, Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams, Brad Johnson, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford.

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As for the entertainment: The opening ceremony was led by Bay Area-based rock band Green Day, who played the title track of their best-known album, American Idiot. It was written in reflection of the President at the time, George W. Bush. Who knew that, one day, we would have a President whose words and actions would make him look even more idiotic?

Openly lesbian singer Brandi Carlisle sang "America the Beautiful." Black singer Coco Jones, daughter of 1990s Patriots player Mike Jones, sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a.k.a. "The Black National Anthem," to which Trump and conservatives have objected in the past. The actual National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," was sung by Charlie Puth, a white singer; but he was accompanied by saxophonist Kenny G, who is Jewish; and 3 multicultural groups: The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, the Sainted Trap Choir, and the Color of Noize Orchestra. All 3 songs were signed for the hearing impaired by men of color: "America the Beautiful" by Julian Ortiz, Hispanic; the other 2 by Fred Beam, black. It was multicultural, it was intersectional, and regardless of whether it was designed to make Trump angry, it surely did.

The halftime show was led by Puerto Rican singer Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a.k.a. Bad Bunny. When it was announced that he would be the halftime performer, Donald Trump lost whatever passes for his mind, seeing him as an immigrant who doesn't speak English, and doesn't represent American values. Puerto Ricans have officially been American citizens since President Woodrow Wilson, a man not exactly known for his tolerance of people of color, signed the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917.

Did Bad Bunny make a political statement? Puedes apostar lo que quieras. (That means, "You can bet whatever you want." Apparently, there is no proper Spanish translation for the old Laugh-In phrase, "You bet your sweet bippy.") His delivery was almost entirely in Spanish. The show began with a stage full of people working in sugarcane fields, emblematic of Puerto Rico's poverty. He made a reference to Puerto Rico's troublesome electrical power grid, which the federal government has a responsibility to maintain, and doesn't.

He had a stage set of a block in a Puerto Rican city neighborhood, showing that Latinos and Latinas are just like Anglos, and just like any other immigrants. At one point, he fell through the stage, and seemed to crash into a private home, which the viewing audience took as a swipe at ICE's illegal entries.

In the show's most-talked-about moment, he handed an actual Grammy Award to a little boy. Officially, the boy was supposed to represent the boy he had once been, dreaming of stardom. But millions of people thought the boy was supposed to represent Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old Minneapolis resident detained by ICE for 12 days. Millions of those thought it actually was Liam, inadvertently bringing up the old racist trope of "They all look alike to me."

Guest stars included an earlier Puerto Rican singer, Ricky Martin; Dominican-American rapper Cardi B; Mexican-American actress and businesswoman, and Bay Area native, Jessica Alba; and the only English-first performer of the show, Lady Gaga, who had been the halftime performer at Super Bowl LI. Bad Bunny closed by holding up a football printed with the words, "TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA," surrounded by the flags of every nation in the Western Hemisphere -- including, it should be noted, the United States -- and, emblazoned on the main scoreboard in big capital letters, "THE ONLY THING STRONGER THAN HATE IS LOVE." The message was inescapable.

So this Super Bowl also provided a moment of redemption for all of us, not just those of Spanish heritage, because we are all descended from immigrants. I understood maybe 1 word out of 5 that Bad Bunny sang, and I am not a fan of Latin music. And I didn't immediately understand every message that he was trying to send. But I certainly understood that he was sending messages.

And Trump got the message. Instead of watching the "alternative halftime show" put on by Turning Point USA, the organization run by the recently assassinated bigot Charlie Kirk, Trump clearly watched the Bad Bunny show, and called it "disgusting," and saying it didn't uphold American values.

This has now been said so often, I have to issue a Cliché Alert for it: With Donald Trump, every accusation is a confession.

The alternative show was watched by about 6 million people. The main show, and the game it paused? About 135 million. The game itself had an average of about 125 million, slightly under last season's all-time record.

February 9, 1976: "Taxi Driver" Premieres

February 9, 1976, 50 years ago: The film Taxi Driver premieres, directed by Martin Scorcese. Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a Vietnam War veteran who drives a taxicab in New York City.

I consider the film part of a series that shows the decline of New York City. In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's showed a New York that was still classic and magical. By 1969, Midnight Cowboy showed the City to have become a garish mess of crime and poverty. In 1976, Taxi Driver showed things as even worse, where what was once good had become crazy (including Travis), and what was bad was irredeemable. Things bottomed out in 1981, with Fort Apache: The Bronx.

Travis starts, then ruins, a relationship with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), who works for Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for President. (He was played by Leonard Harris, who played another New York politician, the Mayor, in Hero At Large, starring John Ritter as another taxi driver who ends up thinking too much of himself.)

Travis buys a gun, and tries to act tough, looking at his reflection in a mirror, and saying, "You talkin' to me?" The line became the one everybody who does impressions does when imitating De Niro. He meets Iris (Jodie Foster), 12 years old and already a prostitute, and tries in vain to get her to quit that life.

He then goes to a campaign rally, planning to assassinate Palantine, but the Secret Service chase him away. He goes to the brothel where Iris works, and shoots Sport Higgins (Harvey Keitel), her pimp. A shootout results, and Travis, despite killing everybody in the room but Iris, is wounded himself.

The film's ending is ambiguous: Travis appears to recover, is hailed as a hero for what he did, is not prosecuted, keeps his job as a cabdriver, and even picks Betsy up as a fare, hearing her say she followed his story in the newspapers, and he refuses to take her money.

None of this is realistic, not even by the standards of 1970s New York City. It's been suggested that the film's epilogue is actually Travis' imagination of what should happen to him, as he dies. Scorcese has acknowledged this theory, but has refused to confirm it.

First, art imitated life: Scorcese has compared Travis to Arthur Bremer, who went around the country in the Spring of 1972, intending to assassinate President Richard Nixon; but, deciding that Nixon's security was too tight, instead went after Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who was running for the Democratic Party's nomination for President. Bremer's attempt paralyzed Wallace, and forced him to drop out of the race.

Then, life imitated art: John Hinckley wanted to assassinate President Jimmy Carter in 1980; unable to get close enough to him, he got his chance in 1981, shooting the new President, Ronald Reagan, who nearly died. Hinckley said he wanted to "impress" Foster.

The film was released just 5 months after the incumbent President, Gerald Ford, faced 2 failed assassination attempts within a matter of days; less than 4 years after the attempt on Wallace; 6 years after an attempted assassination of Pope Paul VI; 8 years after the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert F. Kennedy; 11 years after the assassination of Malcolm X; and within 13 years of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Medgar Evers. For some people, it hit a little too close to home. Within 6 years, the world would see the murders of former Beatle John Lennon and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and attempts on the lives of Reagan and Pope John Paul II.

In 1982, De Niro starred in The King of Comedy, as a comedian who wanted to impress the host of a Tonight Show-like program, played by Jerry Lewis. Failing in that, he kidnapped the host, but did kill him.

Both Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy would be influences on the 2019 film Joker, a re-imagining of the origin stories of both the superhero Batman and his arch-nemesis, the Joker. In this film, set in Batman's fictional hometown of Gotham City (named for an old name for New York) in 1981, the now-much-older De Niro plays the Tonight Show-style host, Murray Franklin; while Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill man in a world going madder around him, until he sees Franklin mock his standup comedy act, and he takes matters into his own hands, killing Franklin live on the air.

As with Taxi Driver, we're never sure just how much of Joker, and its 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is really happening, especially the ending of each film, or if it's happening in the protagonist's head. Phoenix even copied the "You talkin' to me?" scene.

February 8, 1936: The 1st NFL Draft

Jay Berwanger

February 8, 1936, 90 years ago: The National Football League holds its 1st draft, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

The draft was instituted in an effort to end bidding wars among the league's teams by the arbitrary assignment of negotiating rights to amateur players. It was decided that the last-place team from the previous season would get the 1st selection, and the process would continue in reverse order of the standings. Under this structure, the 1st pick went to the Philadelphia Eagles, who had gone 2-9 in 1935.

This 1st draft had 9 rounds. The number of rounds was changed to 10 in 1937, 12 in 1938, 22 in 1939, 32 in 1943, 25 in 1949, 30 in 1950, 20 in 1960, 17 in the 1st combined NFL/AFL Draft of 1967, 12 in 1978, 8 in 1993, and has been 7 since 1994.

With the 1st pick, the Eagles made what must have looked at the time to be, as Charles Darwin would have put it, the natural selection: Jay Berwanger, a sensational back on both offense and defense, who had starred at the University of Chicago, and was, just a few weeks earlier, awarded the 1st-ever edition of what would become known as the Heisman Memorial Trophy.

But the Eagles also made the 1st-ever puzzling Draft Day move: Team owners Bert Bell (later to be the Commissioner of the NFL) and Lud Wray had heard that Berwanger was going to demand $1,000 per game (NFL contracts were per game back then, not per season), and they didn't think they could afford that, so they traded Berwanger's rights to the Chicago Bears, in exchange for tackle Art Buss. Buss played 2 seasons for the Eagles, having already played 2 for the Bears, and this is the most interesting thing about him.

But at least the Eagles got something for Berwanger's rights. The Bears got nothing. At first, Berwanger, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, chose not to sign for the Bears, or any team for that matter, because he wanted to maintain his amateur status, so that he could compete in the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Certainly, a worthy goal, and one that Bears owner, general manager and head coach George Halas could respect. The Olympics would be in early August, and the Bears' 1st game wouldn't be until September 20. Halas could afford to bide his time.

But Berwanger didn't make the Olympic team, and the Gold Medal in the decathlon went to another American, Glenn Morris, who had also played football, at Colorado A&M University (which became Colorado State in 1957). So Berwanger went to Halas, and asked for $15,000 for the season -- which worked out to $1,250 a game, more than the Eagles thought he would demand.

Halas was known for his cheapness: One of his later star players, and the last head coach he would ever hire, Mike Ditka, loved him, but also said, "George Halas throws nickels around like manhole covers." Halas was willing to go as high as $13,500. Berwanger declined, and got a job with a Chicago-based rubber company, and also coached at the University of Chicago until it dropped its football program in 1940. He never played a down of professional football, and lived until 2002, having told an interviewer that he regretted not having accepted Halas' offer.

The Boston Redskins picked 2nd, and chose Riley Smith, a quarterback from the University of Alabama. Technically, this made him the 1st NFL Draft pick to play in the NFL: He played 3 seasons for the Redskins, including their last in Boston and their 1st 2 in Washington, which included their 1937 NFL Championship.

With the 3rd pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted William Shakespeare. Yes, you read that right. The Pirates, named for the city's baseball team, would become the Steelers in 1940. And Notre Dame back Shakespeare, apparently a distant relative of the playwright, and nicknamed both "The Bard" and "The Merchant of Menace," also took a higher-paying job with a rubber company (albeit one based in Cincinnati, not the Chicago-based one that hired Berwanger), and was awarded a Bronze Star in World War II.

With the 6th pick, the Bears took West Virginia tackle Joe Stydahar. In the 9th round, the Bears took Colgate guard Dan Fortmann. Both men became mainstays of the team that won 4 NFL Championships in the 1940s, and were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. So it's hard to argue that the Bears would have been appreciably better if Berwanger had played a full career for them. Stydahar also coached the Los Angeles Rams to the 1951 NFL Championship.

In the 2nd round, the New York Giants took Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans. He starred on their 1938 NFL Championship team. In the 8th round, the Redskins chose Notre Dame end Wayne Millner, who would be the leading receiver for the 1st great NFL quarterback, Sammy Baugh, helping them win NFL Championships in 1937 and 1942. Leemans and Miller would also go to Canton.

In the 3rd round, the Redskins chose New York University back Ed Smith, who made money on the side as a male model -- and was the model for the Heisman Trophy. He played for the Redskins in 1936 and the Green Bay Packers in 1937.

In the 4th round, the NFL version of the Brooklyn Dodgers chose Alabama end Paul "Bear" Bryant. He never played pro ball, but went on to become one of the greatest college coaches ever. In the 6th round, the Eagles chose back Al Barabas, one of the stars of Columbia's 1934 Rose Bowl upset over Stanford. But he never played in the pros.

The NFL Draft has become a televised spectacle. Sometimes, it seems as though there are fans who pay more attention to the Draft than to actual results.

Pro Football Hall-of-Famers By Team, 2026 Edition

Congratulations to the 5 newly-elected members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. New members are annually announced on the day before the Super Bowl. This time, they did it on the preceding Friday.

Here are the new electees, listed here in chronological order:

* Roger Craig, running back, San Francisco 49ers 1983-90; Los Angeles Raiders 1991; Minnesota Vikings 1992-93.

* Adam Vinatieri, placekicker, New England Patriots 1996-2005; Indianapolis Colts, 2006-19.

* Drew Brees, quarterback, San Diego Chargers 2001-05; New Orleans Saints 2006-2020.

* Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver, Arizona Cardinals, 2004-20.

* Luke Kuechly, linebacker, Carolina Panthers 2012-19.

Brees and Fitzgerald were each elected in their 1st year of eligibility; Vinatieri and Kuechly, each in their 2nd year. Craig's election was long overdue, and some of his previous unsuccessful nominations as a finalist may have been oversights: Tony Kornheiser, co-host of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, admitted that he thought Craig was already in. It's understandable: There were 6 previous 49ers from the Joe Montana years, including Montana himself, who had already been elected, as had coach Bill Walsh and team owner Eddie DeBartolo.

Each of them appeared in at least 1 Super Bowl: Craig winning in XIX, XXII and XXIII; Vinatieri winning in XXXVI, XXXVIIII, XXXIX and XLI, and losing in XLIV; Fitzgerald losing in XL; Brees winning in XLIV; and Kuechly losing in 50. (That Super Bowl didn't have the Roman numeral, because it would have been simply "L," which also means "loss.")

This time, no coaches or executives were elected: It was revealed before the full slate of inductees was released that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, the head coach and the owner of the New England Patriots in their dynasty years, both eligible for the 1st time, had not gotten the votes necessary for election.

In case you're wondering, Tom Brady becomes eligible in the election whose results will be announced in early February 2028. So, 2 more years. Whether anyone will vote against "the greatest quarterback of all time" because of his cheating, and whether there will be enough such votes to deny him election, even the 1st time, is doubtful.

Nor were any players who played prior to 1983 elected. At this point, any deserving player from that period not yet in is either dead or pretty old.

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Inductees are listed here with a team if they played, or coached, or were an executive, with them for at least 4 seasons.

I have divided moved teams accordingly (i.e., Johnny Unitas never took a snap for the Indianapolis Colts). "Sure future Hall-of-Famers" are not included, because, as we have seen in baseball, there is no such thing anymore. 

Tenure as a player, or a coach, or an executive is only counted if they were elected as such. In other words, Raymond Berry coached the Patriots into a Super Bowl, and Forrest Gregg did so with the Bengals, but they were elected as a Colts player and a Packers player, respectively, so those are the teams with which they're included.

Ties in the rankings are broken by more players, as opposed to other categories; and then by time in the league. So a team with 4 players is ahead of one with 3 players and 1 coach, and a team with 3 players in 50 years is ahead of one with 3 players in 80 years.

Figures are listed here as follows: Players in chronological order of their Hall of Fame service with the team (even if they had other functions with that team), then coaches, then executives, then broadcasters.

1. Chicago Bears, 34: George Halas (founder, owner, general manager, head coach, player), John "Paddy" Driscoll, George Trafton, Ed Healey, William "Link" Lyman, Red Grange, Bill Hewitt, Bronko Nagurski, George Musso, Dan Fortmann, Joe Stydahar, Sid Luckman, George McAfee, Clyde "Bulldog" Turner, Ed Sprinkle, George Connor, George Blanda, Bill George, Doug Atkins, Stan Jones, Mike Ditka (player & coach), Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Alan Page, Steve McMichael, Jim Covert, Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Devin Hester, Jim Finks (executive).

They have 6 from their 1985-86 "Super Bowl Shuffle" team (7 if you count Ditka as coach), as opposed to 4 from their 1963 NFL Champions, and 7 from their 1940s "Monsters of the Midway" team (8 if you count Nagurski's 1943 comeback).

Willie Galimore and Gary Fencik should be in. Thomas Jones is now eligible, and while he didn't spend 4 seasons with any team, his 3 years with the Bears were his most productive period, so I'd list him with them if he got in, and with over 10,000 career rushing yards, he should be in.

2. Green Bay Packers, 31: Earl "Curly" Lambeau (founder, owner, executive, head coach, player), Cal Hubbard, John "Johnny Blood" McNally, Mike Michalske, Arnie Herber, Clarke Hinkle, Don Hutson, Tony Canadeo, Bobby Dillon, Jim Ringo, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Jerry Kramer, Ray Nitschke, Henry Jordan, Willie Davis, Willie Wood, Herb Adderley, Dave Robinson, James Lofton, Jan Stenerud, Sterling Sharpe, LeRoy Butler, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Charles Woodson, Vince Lombardi (coach & executive), Ron Wolf (executive), Ray Scott (broadcaster, later the main voice on CBS' NFL telecasts).

Nearly half of the Packer figures enshrined in Canton, 13, are from the Lombardi Era, including Lombardi himself. This doesn't count Emlen Tunnell, who played the last 3 seasons of his career with the Packers and retired after the 1st title of the Lombardi Era, 1961.

Now eligible from the Mike Holmgren era, and they would join White, Favre, Sharpe, Butler and Woodson, are Holmgren himself, Adam Timmerman and Gilbert Brown. Eugene Robinson could be considered, but he was only a Packer for 2 seasons, although both ended in Super Bowls, but only 1 won.

Sean Jones played 3 seasons for the Packers, and would qualify as a Raider and an Oiler if he got in. Donald Driver is the only figure from the Mike McCarthy era yet eligible and worthy of consideration.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers, 29: Walt Kiesling (also coach), John "Johnny Blood" McNally, Bill Dudley, Ernie Stautner, Jack Butler, John Henry Johnson, Bobby Layne, Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Mel Blount, Donnie Shell, Rod Woodson, Dermontti Dawson, Jerome Bettis, Troy Polamalu, Alan Faneca, Art Rooney (founder-owner), Dan Rooney (owner), Bert Bell (coach, later NFL Commissioner), Chuck Noll (coach), Bill Cowher (coach), Bill Nunn (scout), Myron Cope (broadcaster). 

While the Steelers were rarely competitive for their 1st 40 seasons, they did have a few players who were Hall-worthy. But note that 15 of the 29, more than half, including 11 of the 22 players, were involved with the club during their 1972-79 "Steel Curtain" dynasty.

Hines Ward is now eligible, and while that touchdown he scored on a kickoff return for the Gotham Rogues as the field collapsed behind him in The Dark Knight Rises does nothing to help his candidacy, if he does get in, you know that highlight will be played over and over again.

4. Dallas Cowboys, 23: Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes, Rayfield Wright, Mike Ditka, Roger Staubach, Cliff Harris, Drew Pearson, Randy White, Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Larry Allen, Charles Haley, DeMarcus Ware, Tom Landry (coach), Jimmy Johnson (coach), Bill Parcells (coach), Tex Schramm (executive), Jerry Jones (owner).

Parcells did coach them for 4 seasons, so that counts. Ditka is so identified with the Bears (with whom he practically invented the position of tight end and won an NFL Championship in 1963) that people forget that he was ever a Cowboy, and won a Super Bowl each as a player and as one of Landry's assistant coaches -- as did Dan Reeves, although if he ever gets elected, it will be as a head coach, and therefore not as a Cowboy.

Don Meredith was elected as a broadcaster, but was never a broadcaster specifically for the Cowboys. A case can be made that he deserves election as a player. Charlie Waters and Herschel Walker also have their advocates.

5. New York Giants, 22: Steve Owen (elected as a coach, also a pretty good player for Giants), Ray Flaherty, Benny Friedman, Red Badgro, Mel Hein, Ken Strong, Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans, Emlen Tunnell, Arnie Weinmeister, Frank Gifford, Roosevelt Brown, Sam Huff, Andy Robustelli, Y.A. Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, Harry Carson, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, Tim Mara (founder & owner), Wellington Mara (owner), Bill Parcells (coach), George Young (executive).

Gifford has also been elected as a broadcaster. So has Pat Summerall, but as a CBS & Fox broadcaster, not as a Giants player or broadcaster, so he can't be included here. Tom Landry was the 1st great defensive back to be only a defensive back, after the early 1950s shift to two-platoon football, and was the defensive coordinator on the Giants' 1956-63 contenders. But was elected to the Hall based on his service as a head coach, and he only served as such for the Cowboys, and thus can't be counted here.

There are 6 from the 1956 NFL Champions, but only 3 from Parcells' Super Bowl-winning teams, 5 if you count Parcells himself and Young. Phil Simms has not yet been elected, and you can also make a case for Mark Bavaro (tight ends are in short supply in the Hall), George Martin and Leonard Marshall. Eli Manning is now eligible. So is Tiki Barber, and I wonder if anyone will be willing to vote for him: He is, after all, the all-time leading rusher among New York-based NFL players, slightly ahead of Curtis Martin.

6. Washington Commanders, 22: Cliff Battles, Turk Edwards (also coach), Wayne Millner, Sammy Baugh, Bobby Mitchell, Sonny Jurgensen, Charley Taylor, Sam Huff, Paul Krause, Chris Hanburger, Ken Houston, John Riggins, Art Monk, Russ Grimm, Darrell Green, Bruce Smith (last 4 years of his career as a Redskin), Champ Bailey, George Preston Marshall (founder & owner), Ray Flaherty (elected as a Giants player, but coached Washington to 2 NFL titles, so I'm counting him as one of theirs), George Allen (coach), Joe Gibbs (coach), Bobby Beathard (executive).

Jurgensen and Huff were also broadcasters for the team. Grimm is the only one of the "Hogs" yet elected, but Jeff Bostic and Joe Jacoby should also be elected. A case can be made for an earlier Washington lineman, Len Hauss.

None of the men who have thus far quarterbacked the team formerly named the Washington Redskins into a Super Bowl is in: Not Billy Kilmer, not Joe Theismann, not Doug Williams, not Mark Rypien -- and good cases can be made for all but Rypien, who just didn't play long enough. If Jan Stenerud got elected as a kicker (who didn't also play another position, as did Lou Groza and George Blanda), then why not Mark Moseley?

Oakland Raiders, 23: Jim Otto, Fred Biletnikoff, George Blanda, Ken Stabler, Gene Upshaw, Willie Brown, Art Shell, Cliff Branch, Dave Casper, Ray Guy, Ted Hendricks, Mike Haynes, Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Jerry Rice, Warren Sapp, Tim Brown, Charles Woodson, Eric Allen, Richard Seymour, John Madden (coach), Tom Flores (coach), Al Davis (owner-coach), Ron Wolf (scout).

Madden has also been elected as a broadcaster. Rice and Sapp were both there for 4 seasons, so they count. Who's the most obvious Raider not in? I'd say Jack Tatum, if anybody's got the guts to elect a great cornerback who needlessly paralyzed a man in a preseason game. Also worthy of consideration are Ben Davidson and Lester Hayes.

Note that I'm making an exception to my one-city-only rule for the California-era Raiders, treating them as a continuous Oakland franchise, since they did return, even though their Los Angeles edition became a cultural icon (and not for good reasons). Counted separately, the Oakland Raiders have 19, and the Los Angeles Raiders have 4: Haynes, Long, Allen and Branch, with Branch the only one qualifying for both.

7. San Francisco 49ers, 20: Bob St. Clair, Y.A. Tittle, Joe "the Jet" Perry, Leo Nomellini, Hugh McElhenny, John Henry Johnson, Dave Wilcox, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Montana, Fred Dean, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Charles Haley, Bryant Young, Terrell Owens, Patrick Willis, Bill Walsh (coach), Eddie DeBartolo (owner).

Tittle, Perry, McElhenny and John Henry Johnson are the only entire backfield that all played together to all be elected to the Hall, and they were known as the Million Dollar Backfield. The Jimmy Johnson listed above was a black cornerback in the 1960s and '70s, and should not be confused with the white coach for the Cowboys -- although this Jimmy Johnson, unlike the coach, was actually born in Dallas.

Rickey Jackson only played 2 seasons for the Niners, but he did win his only ring with them. Deion Sanders played only 1 season for them, but got the same Super Bowl XXIX ring that Jackson did. So, due to insufficient longevity, I can't count either of them as 49ers HOFers.

From their 1980s champions, Dwight Clark, Randy Cross, Guy McIntyre, Harris Barton and Ken Norton Jr. have not been elected, but all are worth consideration.

8. Kansas City Chiefs, 20: Bobby Bell, Len Dawson, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Emmitt Thomas, Johnny Robinson, Curley Culp, Jan Stenerud, Derrick Thomas, Marcus Allen, Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Tony Gonzalez, Jared Allen, Hank Stram (coach), Mary Levy (coach), Dick Vermeil (coach), Lamar Hunt (founder-owner), Bobby Beathard (executive), Charlie Jones (broadcaster, did Dallas Texans/K.C. Chiefs games before becoming the main voice for NBC's AFL and then AFC broadcasts).

Dawson was also elected as a broadcaster. It will be a few years before any of the Chiefs' 2016-onward dynasty will be elected.

9. Cleveland Browns, 18: Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli, Bill Willis, Mac Speedie, Frank Gatski, Len Ford, Mike McCormack, Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell, Gene Hickerson, Leroy Kelly, Paul Warfield, Joe DeLamiellure, Ozzie Newsome, Joe Thomas, Paul Brown (coach-executive).

It says something about this franchise that Thomas is the 1st player who has played so much as a down for them since 1990 that can be called a Browns' HOFer -- and, additionally, only DeLamielleure and Newsome have played for them since 1977. Tom Cousineau hasn't made it, and neither has Clay Matthews Jr. (father of Packer linebacker Clay Matthews III and brother of Oliers/Titans HOFer Bruce Matthews -- Clay Sr. played for the 49ers in the 1950s, but wasn't HOF quality).

And yet, look at just what they produced in the 1940s and '50s. And that doesn't include players they let get away, like Doug Atkins, Henry Jordan, Willie Davis, Len Dawson, and (while they did both play long enough for the Browns to be counted with them) Mitchell and Warfield.

Maybe that's the real reason Art Modell isn't in the Hall: It's not that he moved the original Browns, and screwed the people of Northern Ohio, it's that he was a bad owner. (Though, to be fair, his firing of Paul Brown and installation of Blanton Collier in 1962 did bring the 1964 NFL Championship, Cleveland's last title in any sport until the 2016 Cavaliers.)

10. Detroit Lions, 16: Dutch Clark (also coach), Jack Christiansen, Bobby Layne, Doak Walker, Yale Lary, Alex Wojciechowicz, Lou Creekmur, Dick Stanfel, Dick "Night Train" Lane, Joe Schmidt (also coach), Alex Karras, Lem Barney, Dick LeBeau, Charlie Sanders, Barry Sanders (no relation to each other) and Calvin Johnson.

Although he played for their 1935 NFL Champions and coached them to the 1952 and '53 titles, Buddy Parker is not in the Hall. It says something about this franchise that there has been only 2 players (Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson) who have played so much as a down for them since 1977 that can be called a Lions' HOFer, although cases can be made for Herman Moore, Lomas Brown and Chris Spielman.

11. Minnesota Vikings, 16: Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Alan Page, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Mick Tinglehoff, Chris Doleman, Gary Zimmerman, Randall McDaniel, Cris Carter, John Randle, Randy Moss, Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen, Bud Grant (coach), Jim Finks (executive). Warren Moon was only there for 3 seasons.

12. Philadelphia Eagles, 16: Steve Van Buren, Alex Wojciechowicz, Pete Pihos, Chuck Bednarik, Sonny Jurgensen, Tommy McDonald, Norm Van Brocklin, Bob Brown, Jim Ringo, Harold Carmichael, Eric Allen, Reggie White, Brian Dawkins, Greasy Neale (coach), Dick Vermeil (coach), Bert Bell (founder-owner-coach, later NFL Commissioner).

Van Brocklin only played 3 seasons for the Eagles, but he was the quarterback on their last NFL Championship team before the Super Bowl era, 1960, and then he retired, despite being only 34 years old, so I'm bending the rule to count him. On the other hand, Claude Humphrey played 3 seasons for them, 1 being their 1st trip to the Super Bowl, but unlike Van Brocklin is not an Eagles icon, so I can only include him with the Falcons.

Art Monk, James Lofton and Richard Dent briefly played for the team, and cases could be made for Stan Walters, Jerry Sisemore, Bill Bergey, Randall Cunningham, Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner and Donovan McNabb. Ron Jaworski, however, only stands to be elected as a media personality, not a player. That is how Irv Cross was elected: While he made 2 Pro Bowls as an Eagle cornerback, he is not in the Hall as a player.

Johnson didn't win as Dolphins' head coach, but he was there for 4 seasons, so he counts there. In spite of everything that happened in his career, Ricky Williams rushed for over 10,000 yards. He is now eligible, but I doubt he'll ever get in. If he does, he would qualify only as a Dolphin, not as a Saint.

13. Los Angeles Rams, 15: Bob Waterfield, Tom Fears, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, Norm Van Brocklin, Les Richter, Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Tom Mack, Jackie Slater, Jack Youngblood, Eric Dickerson, Kevin Greene, George Allen (coach), Dan Reeves (owner, not to be confused with the Denver/Atlanta coach), Dick Enberg (broadcaster).

Joe Stydahar coached the Rams to their only NFL Championship in Los Angeles, 1951, but he was elected as a player, not a coach, and so he can't be counted as a Rams' Hall-of-Famer. Counting their St. Louis years, the Rams franchise has 19.

14. Denver Broncos, 13: Willie Brown, Floyd Little, Randy Gradishar, John Elway, Steve Atwater, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, John Lynch, Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware, Pat Bowlen (owner). 3-time AFC Champion coach Dan Reeves has not been elected, but should be. So should Mark Schlereth. Because of how many feathers he ruffled, I don't think you'll ever see Bill Romanowski get in. Ware was a Bronco for 3 seasons, but 1 was a Super Bowl season, so I'm bending the rule for him.

15. Miami Dolphins, 13: Larry Csonka, Nick Buoniconti, Bob Griese, Jim Langer, Larry Little, Paul Warfield, Dan Marino, Dwight Stephenson, Zach, Thomas, Jason Taylor, Don Shula (coach), Jimmy Johnson (coach), Bobby Beathard (executive).

San Diego Chargers, 13: Ron Mix, Lance Alworth, Fred Dean, Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow, Junior Seau, Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates, Sid Gillman (coach), Don Coryell (coach), Bobby Beathard (executive).

16. New England Patriots, 12: Nick Buoniconti, John Hannah, Mike Haynes, Andre Tippett, Curtis Martin, Adam Vinatieri, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, Junior Seau, Randy Moss, Bill Parcells (coach) and Don Criqui (broadcaster). This counts players from their AFL days, when they were officially named the Boston Patriots.

Cases could also be made for Jim Nance, Jim Hunt, Steve Nelson, Julius Adams, Irving Fryar, Drew Bledsoe and Tedy Bruschi, all eligible.

17. Buffalo Bills, 12: Billy Shaw, O.J. Simpson (had to list him), Joe DeLamiellure, James Lofton, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Marv Levy (coach), Ralph Wilson (owner), Bill Polian (executive) and Van Miller (broadcaster).

Shaw played his entire career in the AFL, making him the only man in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who never played a down in the NFL. (Remember, it's not the National Football League Hall of Fame, it's the Pro Football Hall of Fame.) So much fuss was made over the special-teams skills of Steve Tasker that I'm surprised that he's not in.

Houston Oilers, 11: George Blanda, Elvin Bethea, Curley Culp, Robert Brazile, Earl Campbell, Dave Casper, Ken Houston, Charlie Joiner, Warren Moon, Mike Munchak, Bruce Matthews. Since Matthews counts as both an Oiler and a Titan, if we combine the Houston years and the Tennessee years, their total rises to 12.

18. New York Jets, 11: Don Maynard, Winston Hill, Joe Namath, John Riggins, Joe Klecko, Curtis Martin, Kevin Mawae, Darrelle Revis, Weeb Ewbank (coach), Bill Parcells (coach-executive), Ron Wolf (executive).

Although the Big Tuna only coached the Jets for 3 seasons, he was an executive with them for 4 seasons, and thus meets my qualification for a Jet HOFer. Wesley Walker and Marty Lyons should be considered, although nobody seems to be willing to vote for Mark Gastineau. Vinny Testaverde is eligible, but not yet in. (He would also qualify as a Buccaneer.) No, you can't count Alan Faneca, as he was only a Jet for 2 seasons.

Chicago Cardinals, 10: Jimmy Conzelman, Paddy Driscoll, Guy Chamberlin, Duke Slater, Ernie Nevers, Walt Kiesling, Charley Trippi, Ollie Matson, Dick "Night Train" Lane, Charles Bidwill (owner). Conzelman, Driscoll and Kiesling were also head coaches for the Cards. Counting all their cities, despite having been around for nearly a century, the Cards have only 15 Hall-of-Famers.

Baltimore Colts, 10: Art Donovan, Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, John Mackey, Ted Hendricks, Weeb Ewbank (coach), Don Shula (coach). Counting their Indianapolis years, the Colts have 15.

19. Indianapolis Colts, 9: Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, Dwight Freeney, Adam Vinatieri, Tony Dungy (coach), Bill Polian (executive). Reggie Wayne is now eligible. 

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7: Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, Ronde Barber, Tony Dungy (coach), Ron Wolf (executive). Warrick Dunn is now eligible, and should be in, and would also qualify as a Falcon.

21. Seattle Seahawks, 6: Steve Largent, Kenny Easley, Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones, Kevin Mawae, Steve Hutchinson. Rickey Watters is eligible, and while he only played 3 seasons each with the 49ers and Eagles, he played 4 with the 'Hawks, so if he goes in, he would qualify only for them. Tom Flores coached 3 seasons with the 'Hawks, so is not eligible here.

22. New Orleans Saints, 6: Rickey Jackson, Willie Roaf, Morten Andersen, Sam Mills, Drew Brees, Jim Finks (executive). Mike Ditka was Saints coach for 3 seasons and Tom Fears for 4, but neither was elected as a coach, so they can't be included here anyway. Same for Hank Stram, who was elected as a coach, but only coached the Saints for 2 seasons.

Canton Bulldogs, 6: Jim Thorpe, Guy Chamberlin, Joe Guyon, Pete Henry, William "Link" Lyman, Earl "Greasy" Neale.

St. Louis Rams, 6: Orlando Pace, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Aeneas Williams, Dick Vermeil (coach). Torry Holt is eligible. Note that the St. Louis edition of the Rams is now italicized as a former team. Unlike the Raiders with their Oakland and Los Angeles eras, it doesn't really make sense to fold the St. Louis era in with Los Angeles.

22. Baltimore Ravens, 5: Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson, Ed Reed, Ozzie Newsome (executive). Newsome was elected as a Cleveland Browns player, but has been a masterful executive for the franchise since the move, so I'm bending the rules to include him as a Brown and a Raven. Jamal Lewis is eligible, but isn't yet in.

23. Atlanta Falcons, 5: Deion Sanders, Claude Humphrey, Morten Andersen, Tony Gonzalez, Bobby Beathard (executive). I wonder how many writers voted for Michael Vick, now that he's eligible? Andre Rison, another controversial figure, is also eligible, and, while he played for 7 different teams (plus 1 in the CFL), on this list, he would qualify only for the Falcons.)

St. Louis Cardinals, 5: Larry Wilson, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith, Roger Wehrli, Don Coryell (coach). Dierdorf has also been elected as a broadcaster, although not specifically with the Cardinals. Ottis Anderson should be elected as a Cardinal, although he achieved his greatest moment as a Giant.

25. Cincinnati Bengals, 4: Charlie Joiner, Ken Riley, Anthony Munoz, Paul Brown (founder-owner-coach). Reggie Williams and Corey Dillon should be in, but Boomer Esiason is a borderline case. Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson is both a borderline Hall of Fame case and a borderline mental case.

Duluth Eskimos, 3: Walt Kiesling, John "Johnny Blood" McNally, Ernie Nevers.

26. Arizona Cardinals, 3: Aeneas Williams, Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald. Emmitt Smith wasn't with them long enough. Nor was Edgerrin James.

27. Carolina Panthers, 3: Sam Mills, Luke Kuechly, Bill Polian (executive). Kevin Greene only played 3 seasons for them, so he doesn't count. Cam Newton becomes eligible next year.

28. Tennessee Titans, 2: Bruce Matthews, Kevin Mawae. Matthews only played 3 years as a "Tennessee Titan," but counting 2 years as a "Tennessee Oiler," he qualifies for the Titans. Eddie George is eligible, and should be in.

Frankford Yellow Jackets, 2: Guy Chamberlin, William "Link" Lyman. The 1926 NFL Champions should also have Russell "Bull" Behman and Henry "Two-Bits" Homan -- the former a big guy by the standards of the time, and the latter a little guy who was the NFL's answer to Wee Willie Keeler -- in the Hall.  But both died in the early 1950s, so neither was able to speak on his own behalf since the 1962 founding of NFL Films. Although the Eagles replaced the Jackets as Philadelphia's NFL team, the two teams are not the same franchise.

Providence Steam Roller, 2: Jimmy Conzelman (player & coach), Frederick "Fritz" Pollard.

Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL 1930-1948), 2: Clarence “Ace” Parker, Frank "Bruiser" Kinard.

29. Houston Texans, 1: Andre Johnson. J.J. Watt will almost certainly be elected in his 1st year of eligibility, which will be 2028.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1: Tony Boselli. Fred Taylor is also a possibility.

Rock Island Independents, 1: Duke Slater.

31. Las Vegas Raiders, none. Sorry, Mark Davis, but you dropped your team (nearly) to the bottom of this list when you screwed Oakland over, like your daddy did before you.

32. Los Angeles Chargers, none. Sorry, Dean Spanos, but you dropped your team to the bottom of this list when you screwed San Diego over.

February 7, 2016: Peyton Manning's Redemptive Farewell

February 7, 2016, 10 years ago: Super Bowl 50 -- I guess they didn't want to use the Roman numeral for this one, since "L" can also mean "Loss" -- is played at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in suburban Santa Clara, California. (It might have been appropriate if the 49ers had won Super Bowl XLIX, but they didn't make the Playoffs.)

The Denver Broncos, who had lost the Super Bowl 2 years earlier, play the Carolina Panthers. It's an old master vs. a new jack: Peyton Manning, a few days short of turning 40 years old, and the oldest quarterback ever to start the game to that point, vs. Cam Newton, 26.

Only one quarterback had ever won NFL Championships with 2 different teams: Norm Van Brocklin with the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles. And none had done it since the start of the Super Bowl in 1967.

Manning had led the Indianapolis Colts to win Super Bowl XLI, but lost Super Bowl XIV. Two years before this, he had led the Denver Broncos into Super Bowl XLVIII, but they, and he in particular, flopped, and they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

In contract, this was the 1st Super Bowl for Newton, although it was the 2nd for the Panthers, who lost Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots in 2004. Newton had reached the Super Bowl in his 5th NFL season. And he had already exceeding Manning in college football: In 2010, he had led Auburn University to the National Championship and won the Heisman Trophy; only in his senior year, 1997, did Manning even win a Southeastern Conference title, and he finished 2nd in the Heisman voting.

Ultimately, though, for quarterbacks, it is Super Bowls that matter. The Broncos got on the board first: Manning led them into field goal territory, and Brandon McManus kicked a 34-yarder. Later in the 1st quarter, with the ball on the Panthers' 15-yard line, Von Miller stripped the ball from Newton, and Malik Jackson recovered the ball in the end zone, giving the Broncos a 10–0 lead.

The Panthers recovered, and Newton led them down, and Jonathan Stewart ran the ball in from the 1, making it 10-7. But McManus kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 13-7 Denver at halftime. The only score in the 3rd quarter was another field goal by McManus, 30 yards. In the 4th quarter, Graham Gano kicked a 39-yard field goal, to close the Panthers to within 16-10 with 10:21 to go. But Manning led another touchdown drive, completed by a 2-yard run by C.J. Anderson and a 2-point conversion, with 3:08 to go. The Broncos won, 24-10, for their 3rd title.

Newton completed 18 of 41 passes for 265 yards, and also had 45 yards rushing. Manning completed 13 of 23 for 141 yards. Each threw an interception, and neither threw a touchdown pass. Manning was not especially impressive in victory, and Miller received the game's Most Valuable Player award.

With 2 fumbles, Newton was blamed by many for losing the game. This was unfair. His receivers didn't exactly cover themselves with glory. Head coach Ron Rivera was calling the plays, and was totally outcoached by the Broncos' Mike Shanahan. What's more, the Broncos, especially Manning, were much more experienced. This game was won by the Broncos more than it was lost by the Panthers, or any personnel thereof.

Nevertheless, there was some irony: A man named Newton undone because his body stayed too long at rest, and fell victim to an outside force, then to gravity.

Manning retired, with 2 Super Bowl wins to his credit, just like his brother, Eli. Granted, Eli had won his against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, while Peyton was known for losing to the Pats, especially in the Playoffs. But Peyton had won with 2 different teams, which had only been done before by Van Brocklin, and that was before the Super Bowl.

Newton was young, and looked like he would get another chance. He never got back to the Super Bowl, and threw his last NFL pass at age 32. He and Manning have both gone on to work for ESPN.

Sonny Jurgensen, 1934-2026

Who led the NFL in touchdown passes in the 1960s? It wasn't Johnny Unitas, or Bart Starr, or Joe Namath, or Fran Tarkenton. It was Sonny Jurgensen.

Christian Adolph Jurgensen III was born on August 23, 1934 in Wilmington, North Carolina. He starred in football, baseball and basketball at New Hanover High School. Other notable alumni include fellow NFL stars Roman Gabriel, Clyde Simmons and Alge Crumpler; baseball star Trot Nixon; and TV journalist David Brinkley.

"Sonny" was chosen to start at quarterback for the North Carolina all-stars in the annual Shrine Bowl against the South Carolina All-Stars in Charlotte. He then went to Duke University in Durham, where he was not only a quarterback, but a fine defensive back, and led them to the 1954 ACC title and a win over Nebraska in the 1955 Orange Bowl. It's funny how, with all the great basketball players who have gone to Duke, the school's greatest athlete from the State that they're actually in is a football player.

He became Norm Van Brocklin's backup on the Philadelphia Eagles, winning the 1960 NFL Championship. Van Brocklin retired, and Sonny became the starter in 1961, making the 1st of 5 Pro Bowl teams, leading the NFL in passing yards 5 times and in touchdown passes twice.

In 1964, the Eagles named Joe Kuharich as head coach. Kuharich was a massive prude, and Sonny liked the nightlife, so Joe traded Sonny to the Washington Redskins for their starting quarterback of the time, Norm Snead.

This trade was so dumb! How dumb was it? Over the rest of the decade, the Eagles floundered, while the Redskins got better, eventually becoming the team (albeit quarterbacked by Billy Kilmer, with Sonny as an aging backup) that won the 1972 NFC Championship.

I mentioned that Sonny threw more touchdown passes in the 1960s than any other quarterback. Guess which quarterback threw more interceptions in the 1960s than any other. Did I telegraph the punch enough? It was Norm Snead. And Joe Kuharich traded Sonny for Norm.

It took the Redskins a while to go from terrible to great, and by the time the process was finished, so was Sonny, pretty much. Typical of this period of Washington football was their game against the Giants on November 27, 1966, at District of Columbia Stadium (renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969). The 'Skins scored 72 points, the 2nd-highest total in NFL history. But their defense was so weak, the Giants scored 41. The 113 combined points remains an NFL record. Sonny only threw 16 passes, completing 10, for 145 yards, for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. But a balanced rushing attack got 209 yards for Washington.

On September 15, 1968, the Redskins beat the Chicago Bears, 38-28 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sonny went 14-for-21 for 276 yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions. In the 2nd quarter, with the ball on his own 1-yard line, Sonny threw the ball to Gerry Allen, who caught the ball at the Washington 35, and ran the remaining 65 yards. It was a 99-yard touchdown pass, tying an unbreakable NFL record. It was the 5th time it had happened. It has now happened 11 times, although not since 2011, when Eli Manning and Victor Cruz combined for it.

Sonny Jurgensen led the NFL in pass completions 4 times, 5 times in passing yards, 5 times in yards per game, twice in passing touchdowns, made 5 Pro Bowls, and had the highest career "quarterback rating" of any player before the 1978 rule changes that opened up the passing game: 82.6.

Vince Lombardi, who coached the Redskins in the last season of his life, 1969, said, "If we would have had Sonny Jurgensen in Green Bay, we'd never have lost a game." And this is a man who had Bart Starr, the only man to quarterback 5 NFL Championship teams without cheating. Although the thought of Sonny Jurgensen and Paul Hornung playing together on Saturday night before they played together on Sunday afternoon is a scary thought.

Lombardi began the Redskins' resurgence, but he died of cancer in 1970. In 1971, George Allen was named head coach, and Jurgensen should have been his kind of guy, a seasons veteran for Allen's "Over-the-Hill Gang." But injuries struck him, and Billy Kilmer was named the starter. It was Kilmer who led them to the Playoffs in 1971, and to the NFC Championship in 1972. Jurgensen did not play in Super Bowl VII, and the Redskins lost to the Miami Dolphins.

It was the NFL's 1st real quarterback controversy since Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield on the early 1950s Los Angeles Rams. Just as with the Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris home run record chase in 1961, fans took sides, putting "I Love Billy" or "I Love Sonny" bumper stickers on their vehicles. The defensive-minded Allen preferred Kilmer's conservative, ball-control style of play to Jurgensen's more high-risk approach. Despite the controversy, Jurgensen was helpful to his rival. Even until his death, Kilmer still stayed at Jurgensen's house when he was in town.

In 1974, at the age of 40 and in his final season, Jurgensen won his 3rd NFL passing crown, even though he was still splitting time with Kilmer. In the final game of his NFL career, Jurgensen made his 1st and only appearance as a quarterback in an NFL postseason game, in the Redskins' 19–10 loss to the Rams in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs. He came off the bench in relief of Kilmer, and completed 6 of 12 passes, but also threw 3 interceptions.

Sonny was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the Duke Sports Hall of Fame, the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team, the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame and the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame. In 1975, just after he retired, he and Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff formed a beloved broadcasting team for the Redskins. Sam retired from this role in after the 2012 season, Sonny after 2018.

For most of their history, the team now known as the Washington Commanders did not officially retire uniform numbers, with Sammy Baugh's 33 being the lone exception. But Sonny Jurgensen's Number 9 has only been given out once since he retired after the 1974 season.

That was in 2002, by new head coach Steve Spurrier, to one of his former University of Florida quarterbacks, Shane Matthews. He also gave Number 7, worn by Joe Theismann, to another of his Florida quarterbacks, Danny Wuerffel. Redskin fans were so angry that, before the regular season started, Spurrier got the message, and switched Wuerffel to 17 (which was Kilmer's number, but there was no outcry over that) and Matthews to 6. In 2022, at the age of 88, Sonny Jurgensen finally got his Number 9 retired by the Washington Commanders.

He met his 1st wife, Suzanne Long, while they were students at Duke. They had 2 sons, Greg and Scott, before later divorcing. Jurgensen married Margo Hurt in 1967. That couple also had 2 sons, Erik and Gunnar.

Sonny died on February 6, 2026, at 91. That day, on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, both former sports columnists for The Washington Post, paid tribute to an old friend. In spite of his not having won a title there (his only title coming as a Philadelphia backup), Tony said, "Sonny Jurgensen could possibly be the most popular pro athlete in Washington, ever." Mike, who had been part of a pregame and postgame show with Sonny in the 1980s, said, "I am honored and humbled to have been able to work with Sonny Jurgensen."

With Sonny's death, there are 6 surviving players from the 1960 NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles: Jerry Reichow, Billy Ray Barnes, Ted Dean, Theron Sapp, J.D. Smith and John Wilcox.

February 6, 1951: The Woodbridge Wreck

February 6, 1951, 75 years ago: A Pennsylvania Railroad train derails on a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, killing 85 passengers. It is the deadliest rail disaster in New Jersey history, and the deadliest rail disaster anywhere in America since the Malbone Street Wreck, outside Prospect Park in Brooklyn, on November 1, 1918. 

Around 5:00 PM, Pennsylvania Railroad train Number 733 left Exchange Place station in Jersey City. It was to head down the PRR's Main Line to Rahway, where it would branch onto the North Jersey Coast Line. The Central Railroad of New Jersey was on strike, so No. 733 had more passengers than usual: Over 1,000 people on 11 cars.

At the time, there was a temporary wooden trestle near the Woodbridge station. The express was meant to bypass that station. The normal speed limit for a train doing so was 60 miles per hour. On the temporary trestle, the limit was 25.

A recent photo of the Woodbridge Station

But as the train approached the station at 5:43, the engineer, Joseph Fitzsimmons, only dropped the speed to 50. The tracks shifted under the weight of the locomotive, and 8 of the 11 cars derailed. The 3rd and 4th cars fell down a 26-foot-high embankment. Most of the 85 people killed were in one of these cars. The 5th and 6th cars were left hanging in mid-air over a street, and some people jumped out, some of those dying.

No one was charged with any crime as a result of the wreck. Fitzsimmons was kept on the payroll by the Railroad, but he never operated a train again.

Today, there is a memorial plaque outside the Woodbridge station. New Jersey Transit operates commuter lines, but even their express trains on the Coast Line usually stop at Woodbridge.

The successor to the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, NJT's Northeast Corridor, has a station on the other side of the Township of Woodbridge, in the Iselin section of town, known as Metropark. Amtrak also uses that station. It should not be confused with the main Woodbridge station, which is in downtown Woodbridge.