I find it a bit ironic that, when comparing quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning, Brady is revered as a lock for the Hall of Fame once that his illustrious career has ended, yet it is being insinuated that Manning will not be joining him unless he wins a second ring in the Super Bowl on Sunday.  You see Brady has won three rings already and Eli only one, as if that has anything to do with how great a quarterback is.  Football sportswriters tend to ignore that the Super Bowl has only been around since 1967, and that there are a slew of great quarterbacks who retired long before there ever was a Super Bowl.  It is also ironic that, if the Giants do win tomorrow, Manning will have won both of his rings by besting Brady and thereby making Brady 0-2 when facing Eli Manning. 

Speaking of 1967 and the Super Bowl, it means that tomorrow’s game will be the 46^th one ever and that I have the dubious distinction of having witnessed each and every one of them.  I do not know if this makes me a true football fan or if it just means that I am really getting old.  For the record, my favorite game ever was Super Bowl III, where Joe Namath and his AFL New York Jets upset the heavily favored NFL Baltimore Colts, thereby leading to the merger of the two leagues.  It was an event of distinction especially to me because I lived in Houston at the time and was a fan of the then almost ignored American Football League, the league that was the little step-sister until after Super Bowl III.  As an aside, we AFL fans knew that the Jets were going to win that game because we knew how good the AFL teams had become, and we realized that Namath was confident that his team was going to win.

While we are discussing Joe Namath, look at his statistics and you will wonder how the former University of Alabama quarterback ever made it into the NFL Hall of Fame.  That one Super Bowl victory changed the face of professional football so much that Namath had to be admitted no matter how weak his career statistics actually were.  His victory in Super Bowl III was the real milestone in the development of today’s NFL.

Monday morning will be sad but also ultimately glad because, while it marks the end of the football season, it also will usher in the beginning of baseball and spring training (which starts the end of February).  As an aside, I can remember every World Series since 1959, so baseball has been in my life even longer than football.  Have a great time watching Super Bowl XLVI, and may your favorite team prevail and earn their rings.