Super Bowl XLV at Arlington, Texas, Feb. 6 will once again have a strong Alabama connection. Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers include former AHSAA standouts on their Super Bowl rosters – either as players or coaches.
For the AFC champion Steelers, former Carroll-Ozark defensive tackle Steve McLendon is on the defensive unit as a special teams and reserve player. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound rookie was undrafted out of college at Troy University but has worked his way onto the Pittsburgh roster. Anthony Madison of Thomasville High School is a cornerback in the Pittsburgh secondary. The former University of Alabama defensive back has five years in the NFL to his credit. This season he had 24 tackles and one interception.
Green Bay has two players with state connections – former Auburn cornerback Pat Lee and former Crimson Tide safety Charlie Peprah. Neither attended high school in Alabama.
Both coaching staffs are dotted with Alabama connections. Green Bay lists Joe Whitt, Jr., who attended Auburn High School, as its defensive backs coach. Also, former Auburn University walk-on Kevin Greene, who is now a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, is the outside linebackers coach.
Pittsburgh lists three coaches who played high school football in Alabama. Defensive ends coach John Mitchell prepped at Williamson High School in Mobile where he was a football and basketball star. He was a two-time JUCO All America selection at Eastern Arizona Junior College before joining the Alabama Crimson Tide – making history when he became the first black player to join the team the spring of 1971. He earned All-America honors as a defensive end for Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1972.
Linebackers coach Keith Butler was born in Anniston and attended Lee-Huntsville High School before playing collegiately at Memphis University. Tight ends coach James Daniel was born and raised in Wetumpka where he attended Wetumpka High School. He played collegiately at Alabama State, coached eight years at Enterprise High School and then coached from 1981-92 on Auburn University's staff.
Also on the Steelers staff are former University of Alabama coaches Bruce Ariens, the offensive coordinator, and Amos Jones, who coaches the Pittsburgh special teams.
SUPER BOWL ALABAMA TRADITION RUNS DEEP
The Super Bowl has a rich Alabama tradition of course. In fact, in Super Bowl I, the first MVP was Bart Starr, a Sidney Lanier High School All-State quarterback who led the Packers to the win over the Kansas City Chiefs. And a special bit of trivia from that game – the first sack in Super Bowl history was registered by Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Buck Buchanan of Birmingham, a Parker High School standout who went on to star in college at Grambling. And the first quarterback sacked was – Bart Starr himself.
ALABAMA ONE OF EIGHT STATES WITH MULTIPLE SUPER BOWL MVP'S
Starr also was named MVP of Super Bowl 2 – making Alabama one of just eight states with multiple Super Bowl MVP trophies. Joe Namath, who played for the University of Alabama, made it three in a row for Alabama when he was named MVP of the New York Jets' win over Baltimore in Super Bowl III. Namath, like Starr, played for the Crimson Tide. However, he played in high school for Beaver Falls High School near Pittsburgh.
A check of all current Super Bowl MVPs discloses some interesting data. California has had nine who played high school football in their state. San Diego's Abraham Lincoln High School has had two – the Raiders' Marcus Allen in Super Bowl XVIII and the Denver Broncos' Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. San Mateo's Junipero Serra High School also produced Super Bowl X MVP Lynn Swann of the Steelers and Super Bowl XXXVI MVP Tom Brady of New England. Brady was also MVP in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
New Orleans' Isadore Newman School had back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs in Super Bowls XLI and XLII with brothers Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. They happen to be the only brothers to earn MVP honors as well.
In all, 18 states can boast Super Bowl MVPs with Florida, Pennsylvania and Louisiana high schools producing five each, Ohio has four and Georgia, three. Alabama and Texas are right behind with two each.
As for the colleges, the University of Alabama, University of Michigan and Notre Dame have had three MVP awards awarded to former players. Seven colleges (Ohio State, Georgia, Southern Cal, Florida State, Louisiana Tech, Stanford and Miami) have had two each. A total of 32 colleges have produced at least one Super Bowl MVP. The smallest were East Texas State (Harvey Martin), Mississippi Valley State (Jerry Rice), Morehead State (Phil Simms), Northern Iowa (Kurt Warner) and Grambling (Doug Williams).
