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As me and 38 of my peeps crammed into "Maryland Steeler Central" at my house to watch the Super Bowl, sans our black and gold heroes, many bizarre and thought provoking tidbits randomly invaded my melon regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers and Super Bowl 50 in general. Please allow me to share them with you my BTSC friends.
- I am not a fan of Cam Newton, but I wasn't up-in-arms because he beat out Antonio Brown for NFL MVP. He had a spectacular year. Typically, the QB will beat out the WR in that showdown every single time.
- It's staggering to me that the 12th Annual Puppy Bowl was played this weekend. It's even more staggering that a record was set for three field goals in the event's history. Now I have to search online for highlights just to see how a dog could actually kick a ball.
- Hines Ward's towel-waving entrance made him the MVP of the calvacade of MVPs. There's a great pic online of Pittsburgh's five MVPs. Check it out.
- I thought this since the moment Tom Brady had his suspension lifted and it was never more evident than when the NoCal native was booed in Levis Stadium...The stain on his Hall of Fame legacy will never fade.
- Am I the only one that gets annoyed at the phrase uttered by someone at virtually every Super Bowl gathering in history, "I just watch it for the commercials"? That drives me bonkers. I treat the Super Bowl like a national holiday that should be cherished. It's about the blood sweat and tears of the warriors on the field, not a futile quest for a few chuckles in a 30 second window that costs 5 million frogskins. But for the record, the Heinz/Weiner Dog spot featuring Harry Nillson's "Without You" and the Doritos/Sonogram were the best of the night. The Grape Mountain Dew ad featuring a hybrid of a baby, monkey and puppy was so disturbing that I spent most of the second quarter hiding in the corner in the fetal position with my thumb in my mouth (picture Jim Carrey's Lloyd Christmas in "Dumb and Dumber").
- Speaking of commercials. Nothing will ever beat an exhausted Joe Greene tossing his sweaty jersey to a kid in a stadium tunnel after guzzling a Coca Cola. I wanted to be that kid when I was eight.
- Though not as inspiring, and thankfully not set in the social climate and political landscape when Whitney Houston's performance of it during the early stages of the Gulf War in 1991, Lady Gaga's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was pretty spectacular. It's also easier to take a singer more seriously when she isn't sporting a meat dress or a condom gown.
- Roger Goodell's proposal of levying ejections following a player who commits two personal fouls in a game may gain some steam after Aquib Talib's flagrant actions in the first half of Super Bowl 50.
- Although the Denver defense rendered Cam Newton ineffective on the big stage, the ball snaps out of his hand like a bullet fired from a gun. I wonder how high he ranks amongst other quarterbacks in the league and in history in this aspect of passing. The release of Cam's fastball is similar to another QB that was in the building on Sunday, John Elway.
- Except Kurt Warner, I can't think of a nicer guy to win a Super Bowl and I realize that Denver needed to win with defense and did not need to win the game on the strength of his arm, but that was a rough showing from the legend. I'm not sure which winning QB turned in the most lackluster performance...Manning, Big Ben in Super Bowl XL or Trent Dilfer in Super Bowl XXXV.
- This was the first time that the top-two selections in the draft appeared in the same Super Bowl. In the 2011 entry draft, Cam Newton of Auburn was selected first overall by Carolina and Texas A&M's Von Miller went next to Denver. This time No. 2 bested No. 1, as the Super Bowl MVP bested the NFL's 2015 MVP. To emphasize how much talent the top of that draft produced, 12 of the first 16 selections were selected to Pro Bowls. That list includes A.J. Green (4th), Patrick Peterson (5th), Julio Jones (6th) and J.J. Watt (11th) among others. The Steelers picked at 31 and got a high-level talent in Cameron Heyward themselves.
- I disagree that Super Bowl 50 was awful. Denver's "No Fly Zone" and the Front Seven of both teams played lights out. Defense wins championships and I was entertained by the defensive action.
- I thought the Tight Ends would get more action in this game. There were only five grabs from the position for both squads combined.
- It's no wonder that the Broncos chose to wear their road whites despite being the home team. 11 of the last 12 teams to win on the biggest stage wore white. The lone exception was when the green-clad Green Bay Packers defeated the white-jersey wearing Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
- Von Miller's selection as Super Bowl MVP was a no-brainer. He put on an epic show. As a free agent this offseason, Miller is going to be Oprah-rich.
- Carolina's Luke Keuchly is an absolute beast. J.J Watt has some serious competition for Defensive Player of the Year in future seasons.
- C.J. Anderson quietly had a nice day with 100 total yards. I love watching that dude run.
- I was shocked that Johnathan Stewart returned to the game. The way his leg landed and his knee bent, I thought he was going to have to be shelved for 2016.
- Speaking of injured running backs, did anybody notice that Le'Veon Bell actually dropped a single this week under the name "Juice" called "Pain is Love"? I'd much rather see Bell play in the Super Bowl, but since that wasn't possible last night I would've much rather seen him perform instead of Coldplay.
- When did we start calling Peyton Manning "the Sheriff"?
- I kind of felt bad for Eli Manning. Now that his big brother matched him with two rings, he has lost some bragging rights. At least he still has the dinner table advantage when it concerns Super Bowl MVP Honors?
- Watching Aqib Talib wipe out in front of the NFL Network crew was satisfying. I thought he portrayed himself as a punk during that game.
- To put how far the Steelers offensive line has progressed, Ben Roethlisberger was the only quarterback in the playoffs to get ample time to throw against Denver. Tom Brady and Cam Newton were running for their lives against the Broncos.
- Emmanuel Sanders winning a championship in Denver may very well be a great thing for future title aspirations for the Steelers. Antonio Brown voiced that he was not rooting for his friend and former teammate to win the game, because he wanted to do it first. That's now extra fuel to AB's fire.
- I'm proud of the way the Steelers fought through adversity in 2015, but watching that game I still couldn't help to think that my team was possibly a lost fumble and a Vontaze Burfict away from zipping up No. 7 at Levi's Stadium last night in Santa Clara.
- I couldn't help but wonder who John Fox was rooting for in this game. Fox lost the Super Bowl as the head man in both Denver and Carolina. If it was me in that position, I would've probably gotten some Arby's, watched some Netflix and went sobbing to bed.
- Peyton Manning did not announce his retirement after winning the Super Bowl and that tells me that he's not going to. I don't blame him. A legend like No. 18 does not need to go out on a high note. Nothing (unless the HGH rumors prove otherwise) is going to tarnish his HOF legacy. If the guy wants to play, let him play. If not in Denver, there would definitely be interest in Houston or Los Angeles to become "Peyton's Place".
- Cam Newton is getting a lot of negative press for his abrupt exit during the post game presser. Although it was a sure sign of great immaturity, it has got to be murder at that podium answering questions when you are emotionally dying inside. But he still could have handled it much more gracefully like his teammate, Josh Norman, who completed his responsibilities as a team mouthpiece even though he mentioned that he hurt so bad that he didn't want to be up there either. If Cam is going to remain boisterous in victory, he most certainly needs to be gracious in defeat. Even though he likes to wear the blue and red of Superman, he needs to heed the words of the uncle of another red and blue superhero, Spider-Man. "With power comes great responsibility".
- And Finally...I have this feeling deep down in my gut that Steeler Nation will have a more vested interest in next year's game in Houston. The AFC is wearing white so I hope that gut feeling is true and not merely the after effects of my wife's clam dip.