Zero2Cool
13 years ago
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/02/07/super/index.html#ixzz1DHNt04hy 


[img_r]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2011/writers/peter_king/02/07/super/charles-woodson-getty.jpg[/img_r]ARLINGTON, Texas -- This game didn't have the Velcro catch of Giants 17, Patriots 14, or the scintillating drive and Santonio Holmes-catch of Steelers 27, Cardinals 23, or the Tracy Porter pick-six-ness of Saints 31, Colts 17. This game had a little letdown at the end, because we thought we might see some all-time drama from Ben Roethlisberger, again, in the last two minutes, and we didn't. But that's OK -- we've been getting spoiled with great Super Bowls. And compared to the crummy ones we saw for most of a generation, a B-plus football game with some great storylines in the last game of the year is just fine.

Great storylines. There were plenty on a night when Aaron Rodgers tied former Packer Brett Favre for career Super Bowl victories. I found one at the locker of Charles Woodson, about two hours after the Packers beat the Steelers 31-25 in what might be the last NFL game we see for a long while.

Fellow Sports Illustrated writer Tim Layden and I had stood there, marveling at a guy dressing himself, right down to the tying of his shoes, with a broken left collarbone. And I don't mean a collarbone with a little chip fracture. I mean, the thing was broken all the way through.

At one point, Woodson turned his back to us -- his left arm already through the sleeve of his black jacket, his eyes closing to help bear the pain -- and said, "Now I'm going to ask your for a favor. Help me with my jacket.''

Layden and I both reached to help him lift the jacket in position so he could push his uninjured arm through the sleeve. Woodson did it, and there he stood, dressed in all black, happy with himself. Because he still had the one good arm to hug the Vince Lombardi Trophy with, and he plans to do a lot more of that in the next couple of days.

It's been an eventful week, with all the weather weirdness here, with the league and the players taking baby steps on a very long trip to get a new labor deal, with a seven-man Hall of Fame class that has left quite a few of you apoplectic and us 44 selectors needing a very long nap, and with the two teams with the most NFL titles in the last 50 years facing off in the History Bowl. Fun weekend, compelling weekend.

There are postgame things I remember as a writer from many of these Super Bowls, like...

...Dan Marino, in a dank locker room in Palo Alto after a loss to the Niners capped his second year, talking bravely about how the Dolphins would be back in this game; they never were.

....Bill Parcells, a year later, the morning after the Giants won their first one, riding to the day-after press conference with NFL security man Charlie Jackson and asking, "Last year, was Ditka as excited as I am right now, Charlie? Was he?''

...Jimmy Johnson, after his Cowboys drilled the Bills, telling me that night, "While Marv Levy's in there reading Shakespeare to his guy, my guys are up in their rooms, belly-laughing at The Flintstones.''

....Steve Young puking red Gatorade on the shoes of his agent, Leigh Steinberg, after throwing six touchdowns against the Chargers.

...Sitting on a luggage cart in a stairwell with Brett Favre at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans for 45 minutes, dissecting the 35-21 rout of the Patriots.

...Hanging with Jerome Bettis in Detroit at a Super Bowl victory party, with Mike Tyson in front of me in a drink line.

...And, last year, at a postgame victory party, Sean Payton hugging the Vince Lombardi Trophy so hard I thought he'd dent it -- and not wanting to give it to anyone. "Vince and I are sleeping together tonight!'' he howled.

The memory of being at a locker with Woodson, who cherished his first championship of a 13-year career, will be with me for a long time. For two reasons: Because he was in such obvious pain, and because he didn't care about the pain.

When Woodson came out of the shower, the last Packer to do so, his body was severely tilted to the left as he walked very slowly from the large communal bathroom at Cowboys Stadium to his locker. He began dressing, and you felt sorry for him. Because tasks that normally took 20 seconds took five times that. He moved at the pace of an 86-year-old. I timed him putting on his black dress shirt: 97 seconds.

"I'm a champion,'' he said while dressing. "It's all I ever wanted. We're going to go see President Obama. I hope he's got good doctors, in case I want to get a second opinion.''

Woodson played eight years in Oakland. He survived the Tuck Rule loss to New England in the playoffs, and an embarrassing slaughter by the Bucs in the Super Bowl. His arrival in Green Bay for his ninth season in 2006 was almost as big a risk for GM Ted Thompson as was Thompson cutting ties with Favre in 2008, because of the big money Green Bay was paying for a cornerback who might have been in decline. Clearly Woodson wasn't. He won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award last season, and morphed into the kind of leader few teams in any sport have.

That leadership was invaluable in Sunday's game. With two minutes left in the first half, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw deep up the left sideline to wideout Mike Wallace, with Woodson in stride-for-stride pursuit. Woodson dove trying to make a play on the ball, and he landed on his chest and left shoulder, cracking the collarbone. Woodson could feel he was badly hurt, but he stayed in one more play before the pain got to him. He went in for X-rays, and there was no doubt about it. Busted.

When Woodson found out the extent of his injury, he was inconsolable. The Super Bowl was one thing in football he hadn't won. He won the Heisman in 1997 at Michigan, and he won playoff games in Oakland and Green Bay, and he won the Defensive Player of the Year award last year. But no Super Bowl -- and though the Pack entered halftime with a 21-10 lead, weird things have happened to Woodson on the way to winning the silver Holy Grail. Now he wouldn't be able to finish the game, and a couple of raw kids, Jarrett Bush and Pat Lee, would have to finish the job in the last 32 minutes, with Woodson and nickelback Sam Shields (shoulder) wounded.

"I haven't cried that much in I don't know how long,'' he said.

But he wanted to address his team at halftime. Coach Mike McCarthy let him.

"You know how bad I want this, guys ...'' Woodson said, and that was it. Bawling again.

The Packers, given their druthers, obviously wouldn't have wanted to give up 15 points in the second half. But under the circumstances -- no Woodson, safety Nick Collins suffering from dehydration, Shields able to make only a cameo appearance in the second half -- 15 was better than 27. And that allowed Woodson, his left arm in a sling, to walk into the locker room postgame, clutching the Lombardi Trophy. Hard.

"I feel like I've reached my rightful place in history,'' he said.

I asked him what he thought Al Davis might be saying tonight.

" 'I should have never let him get out of here,' '' said Woodson, channeling his inner Al.

A couple of equipment men helped him pack up, and slowly, Woodson was out the door. As he left, he yelled a joke to the one of the Packers' team medics. "Hey doc!'' he said. "If we had a game next week, would you shoot me up?''

But there's no game next week. In fact, there's only a parade in Green Bay this afternoon, and then a celebration in Lambeau Field on Tuesday. After Woodson left, director of corporate communications Aaron Popkey fiddled with his Blackberry, sending an appeal back to his contacts in Green Bay, asking for shovelers to show up at Lambeau on Monday so the place would be clear in time for the big community party in the stadium Tuesday.

When the stadium's clear, and when it gets packed with the faithful, celebrating their seventh NFL title in 50 years, they'll all be looking for the silver trophy with the name of the famous local coach on it. That won't be hard to spot. It'll be in the right arm of Charles Woodson, who deserves the moment.

***

Five observations from the 45th Super Bowl:

1. Aaron Rodgers outplays Ben Roethlisberger. There weren't a lot of big throws made in this game, but Rogers completed an impressive postseason with the victory. I counted four drops among his 24-of-39, 304-yard, three-touchdown, no-pick game, and what was most interesting, I thought, was how Rodgers continued to play so well without relying on the position he'd grown so reliant on in his first couple of starting seasons. Tight ends caught two balls for six yards for the Packers in the Super Bowl.

It's hard to overstate how well Rodgers played in this postseason -- he had a 110.7 rating in four games, none at home. He has officially made anyone but residents of southern Mississippi realize just how smart a decision the Packers made when they stuck to their guns and chose Rodgers over Favre as the starting quarterback in the summer of 2008.

2. Rashard Mendenhall lost this game more than anyone for Pittsburgh. With his second lost fumble in three games this postseason, Mendenhall showed he's a nice running back but not a great one. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Steelers looked like they were on the verge of taking the lead for the first time in the game. Down 21-17 with the ball at the Packer 33, Roethlisberger handed the ball to Mendenhall, who looked for a hole off right guard. He found one -- but then got the ball punched out and lost it. Green Bay recovered and scored the clinching touchdown eight plays later. "It just happened and should not have happened,'' he said. Of the loss, Mendenhall said, "We did it to ourselves.''

Mostly, Mendenhall did it to his team. That's about as big a turnover, at as crucial a time, as a player can have.

3. Roethlisberger got humbled, but he'll be back. "I feel like I let the city of Pittsburgh down -- the fans, my coaches, my teammates. It's not a good feeling,'' he said. Roethlisberger wasn't awful, but he threw an interception early that Collins returned for a touchdown, and that play haunted the Steelers all game.

He very nearly made up for it with a ridiculous off-balance throw into the right corner of the end zone to a leaping Hines Ward, but when America waited for Roethlisberger to make another historic drive at the end of the game, down six with two minutes to go and 87 yards of field in front of him, he just couldn't do it. His numbers on the last drive: two of five, 20 yards, ball lost on downs. "They did a great job of taking away anything deep and anything outside,'' Roethlisberger said.

Still, with Woodson and Shields out of the game, the Packers were at a severe disadvantage, and Roethlisberger couldn't take advantage of it.

4. Clay Matthews erases the family curse. Well, curse might too strong a word. But family members had played 44 years in the NFL without winning a pro football championship (grandfather Clay Sr., four; father Clay Jr., 19; uncle Bruce 19; cousin Kevin, one; and this was Clay's second year in the NFL). Now they've won one, and the family was in the locker room afterward to celebrate. The kid's a heck of a football player, and as usual, he made huge plays to help his team.

5. Green Bay's won more titles than any team in the last 50 years. You can look it up: Since 1960, Green Bay's won seven, Pittsburgh six, San Francisco five. It was interesting hearing the respect for history this team has. Player after player talked about bringing the Lombardi Trophy back where it belonged. In a year when a play about Lombardi opens on Broadway, and HBO does one of its best documentaries with a Lombardi piece, and interest in the old man's hits an all-time peak, it's fitting that the Packers win a close one and rekindle everyone's love of the cheese nationwide.

"Peter King" wrote:


UserPostedImage
Cheesey
13 years ago
"Behold......the POWER of CHEESEy!" LOL!
UserPostedImage
Nonstopdrivel
13 years ago

Still, with Woodson and Shields out of the game, the Packers were at a severe disadvantage, and Roethlisberger couldn't take advantage of it.

"Peter King" wrote:



I love that line! Go suck a fat one, all you idiots who thought Ben Roethlisberger was anywhere remotely comparable to Aaron Rodgers (and no, not you, Greg C. -- you made a cogent argument for your position that I could in no way refute). Notwithstanding his decent numbers this year, "Big Ben" has been carried on the shoulders of his team more than any recent quarterback I can recall. The only two quarterbacks I can think of who have been arguably more fortunate early in their careers are Matt Ryan and Mark Sanchez.

In fairness, Roethlisberger did have one of his receivers go out of the game early, but still, the "Big Ben magic" was shown to be just another media-hyped myth. It feels good, I tell you.

The numbers don't lie. For the majority of his career, Roethlisberger has been a barely mediocre quarterback, his rings notwithstanding. Aaron Rodgers, with an equally atrocious offensive line, has simply outplayed him in every way, even if Roethlisberger did manage to pull out that last-second victory in 2009.

I don't want a "clutch" quarterback. A clutch quarterback is simply someone who sucks in the first three-and-a-half quarters of the game and is forced to mount a desperation drive in the waning moments. I want a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, who more often than not plays stellar throughout the entire game. I don't care if Rodgers never has another come-from-behind victory in his entire career, as long as he brings home some more hardware.
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Zero2Cool (4h) : Frigging host issues for site again
beast (4h) : For the first time in their long history, the Bears fire their head coach mid-season. Which comes after three very close in-division losses.
Zero2Cool (22h) : At the game now. Kampman and Cullen Jenkins are here.
buckeyepackfan (22h) : Happy Thanksgiving Packer Fans! Gonna celebrate with some grilled Dolphin later!
buckeyepackfan (22h) : Inactive 23 CB Jaire Alexander 56 LB Edgerrin Cooper 62 OL Jacob Monk 87 WR Romeo Doubs
dhazer (22h) : Just a talking point, do we try and trade Jaire next year to get out from the contract as he can't stay healthy
Zero2Cool (23h) : Happy Thanksgiving! About to head to game.
wpr (28-Nov) : Happy Thanksgiving
Martha Careful (28-Nov) : Happy Thanksgiving Everybody...Go Packers!!!
Zero2Cool (28-Nov) : That is what a lot of people seem to think. Even though when he was on Giants, he was trash.
Martha Careful (27-Nov) : Brilliant move by Vikings!!! The signing provide great leverage in Darnold negotiations
Mucky Tundra (27-Nov) : Boo!
Zero2Cool (27-Nov) : Packers have ruled out Jaire Alexander, Edgerrin Cooper, and Romeo Doubs for Thursday's game against the Dolphins.
Zero2Cool (27-Nov) : Daniel Jones joins Vikings
Zero2Cool (27-Nov) : Tomorrow high 32° and low 19°
beast (27-Nov) : Thanks Mucky!
Mucky Tundra (27-Nov) : beast, forecast is looking like 27-28 degrees at kickoff, slight chance of snow flurries
Zero2Cool (27-Nov) : Oh? It wasn't on the injury report. That sucks, but it's what is best.
packerfanoutwest (26-Nov) : Doubs is out due to concussion
beast (26-Nov) : What does the weather look like?
Martha Careful (26-Nov) : You can wear long-johns mittens and a hat. We want Hill and their other skill guys FROZEN
Zero2Cool (26-Nov) : I'm not sure I hope for that. I'll be at the game.
Martha Careful (25-Nov) : I hope it is colder than a well-diggers ass on Thanksgiving night.
Zero2Cool (25-Nov) : doubt he wants to face the speedsters
beast (25-Nov) : Dolphins offense can be explosive... I wonder if we'll have Alexander back
Zero2Cool (25-Nov) : No Doubs could be issue Thursday
Mucky Tundra (25-Nov) : Bears. Santos. Blocked FG
Zero2Cool (24-Nov) : Bears. Vikings. OT
Mucky Tundra (24-Nov) : Thems the breaks I guess
Mucky Tundra (24-Nov) : Two players out and Williams had an injury designation this week but Oladapo is a healthy scratch
Zero2Cool (24-Nov) : Packers inactives vs 49ers: • CB Jaire Alexander • S Kitan Oladapo • LB Edgerrin Cooper • OL Jacob Monk
TheKanataThrilla (24-Nov) : Aaron Jones with a costly red zone fumble
Zero2Cool (24-Nov) : When we trade Malik for a 1st rounder, we'll need a new QB2.
packerfanoutwest (23-Nov) : Report: Aaron Rodgers wants to play in 2025, but not for the Jets
beast (23-Nov) : That's what I told the Police officer about my speed when he pulled me over
packerfanoutwest (23-Nov) : NFL told Bears that Packers’ blocked field goal was legal
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : 49ers are underdogs at Packers, ending streak of 36 straight games as favorites
Zero2Cool (22-Nov) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
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