Sunday, February 04, 2007

Super showdown | by Pat

It's the unofficial last day of football for the 2006 season and unless you already have a favorite team to root for, the Super Bowl tiebreaker for many ND fans usually falls to whichever team has more former Irish players.

Here's the breakdown for this year's big game:

Chicago Bears
Mark LeVoir (practice squad)

Indianapolis Colts
Rocky Boiman
Hunter Smith
Jerome Collins (injured reserve)
So there you have it, Indy is the more ND-friendly team if former ND players is your criteria.

Super Bowl XLI will bring the total number of former Irish players who have been in a Super Bowl to 50. Of those 50, 29 were on the winning team and earned a ring. With players on both sides, that number will increase today.

When it comes to ND and Super Bowl success, no one can touch Rocky Bleier and Joe Montana. Not only do both players have four Super Bowl rings, tops among ND players, but both also won a national championship while playing for the Fighting Irish as well.