This is always fun to do, thanks to everyone who submitted questions. Have fun this Super Bowl weekend.
And now, the questions.
How many Buckeyes that were on the team when Paterno pooped his pants ended up either playing in or winning a Super Bowl? ~ Fatpants
There were four Ohio State players on the 2006 team that started in a Super Bowl. In '06, it was Ted Ginn Jr.'s junior year, Alex Boone was a sophomore and Jake Ballard and Kurt Coleman were both freshmen when Joe Paterno left the field with a full load.
PLAYER | SUPER BOWL | TEAM | RESULT |
---|---|---|---|
JAKE BALLARD | XLVII | GIANTS | WON |
ALEX BOONE | XLVII | 49ERS | LOST |
TED GINN JR | L | PANTHERS | LOST |
KURT COLEMAN | L | PANTHERS | LOST |
I went ahead and checked the 2006 Penn State roster and two players from that team have started in a Super Bowl.
Linebacker NaVorro Bowman was a freshman in '06 and started for the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Tackle Levi Brown was a senior the day Joe Pa crapped himself and went on to start for the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. Both players suffered losses in the Super Bowl.
OSU QBs that have started a Super Bowl game? ~ John Cooper's Little Pig
Amazingly, not one of the 31 Ohio State alum to start a Super Bowl was a quarterback. Below is a chart breaking down the positions and number of Buckeyes to play in the Super Bowl.
QB | RB | FB | WR | TE | OT | C | OG | DE | DT | LB | CB | SAF | TOTAL | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLAYERS | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 31 |
STARTS | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 44 |
Linebackers and offensive tackles account for 10 of the 31 Ohio State players in the Super Bowl and 17 of the 44 starts.
If you were wondering, DE Jim Marshall (0-4) and LB Mike Vrabel (3-1) have the most starts with four. Marshall started for the Vikings in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX and XI. Vrabel started for the Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX and XLII.
How about a look at what state has produced the most super bowlers? ~ Killer Nuts
When doing my research, I did not record the place of birth or state the players attended high school. To answer you question, I am going to base the answer on the state the players attended college.
RANK | STATE | NO. OF PLAYERS | SCHOOL |
---|---|---|---|
1 | CALIFORNIA | 148 | USC (41) |
2 | FLORIDA | 124 | MIAMI, FL (49) |
3 | TEXAS | 123 | UT (22) |
4 | PENNSYLVANIA | 64 | PSU (27) |
5 | MICHIGAN | 62 | UM (32) |
6 | INDIANA | 61 | ND (31) |
7 | NORTH CAROLINA | 56 | UNC (18) |
8 | OHIO | 53 | OHIO STATE (31) |
9 | ALABAMA | 52 | 'BAMA (22) |
9 | TENNESSEE | 52 | UT (28) |
*Over the next year, I will add the categories for place of birth and state the players attended high school.
Too easy - highest combined score in a SB game. Most passing yards by the losing QB? ~ Seattle Linga
The 49ers and Chargers combined for 75 points in Super Bowl XXIX. San Francisco won 49-26 giving Steve Young his first title as a starting quarterback.
RANK | SUPER BOWL | SCORE | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
1 | XXIX | 49ERS 49, CHARGERS 26 | 75 |
2 | XXXVII | BUCANEERS 48, RAIDERS 21 | 69 |
2 | XXVII | COWBOYS 52, BILLS 17 | 69 |
4 | XIII | STEELERS 35, COWBOYS 31 | 66 |
5 | XXIV | 49ERS 55, BRONCOS 10 | 65 |
The quarterback who threw for the most yards in a losing effort was Kurt Warner. The Northern Iowa alum completed 31 passes for 377 yards in the Cardinals' 27-23 loss to the Steelers.
Warner also has the second-highest passing yards in a loss with 365 against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.
How many SB points have been scored by former Ohio State Buckeyes? ~ The Butler
One would think that the number would be fairly high. One would be wrong. Eddie George and Mike Vrabel are tied with 12 points. George scored twice in the loss to the Rams and Vrabel caught short touchdown passes in back-to-back Super Bowls.
PLAYER | SUPER BOWL | POINTS |
---|---|---|
MATT SNELL | III | 6 |
KEITH BYARS | XXXI | 6 |
EDDIE GEORGE | XXXIV | 12 |
MIKE VRABEL | XXXVIII | 6 |
MIKE VRABEL | XXXIX | 6 |
SANTONIO HOLMES | XLIII | 6 |
TOTAL | 42 |
Which NFL team has won the most Super Bowls? ~ Bucknut1994
To date, 19 of the 32 NFL teams account for the 50 Super Bowl wins. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most wins with six. The 49ers and Cowboys are tied for second with five Super Bowl titles.
If the Patriots win on Sunday, they will join the 49ers and Cowboys with five Vince Lombardi trophies. If the Falcons win, they will become the eighth team to have one Super Bowl victory.
Most Buckeyes to ever play in a Superbowl (both teams combined)? ~ QuadCitiesBuckeye
The most Ohio State players to start a given Super Bowl is three. This has occurred three times: Super Bowls III, XXXI and L.
In Super Bowl III, Matt Snell started for the victorious Jets and Bob Vogel and Tom Matte started for the Colts.
Keith Byars, Terry Glenn and William Robers started for the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. That was the first and last time I rooted for New England to win a Super Bowl. They lost.
Last year marked the first time three Buckeyes started for the same team in a Super Bowl. Kurt Coleman, Ted Ginn Jr. and Andrew Norwell started for the losing Panthers. Bradley Roby played significant snaps for the Broncos, but did not start.
Do the 85 Bears win the Super Bowl without Mike Tomczak on the roster? ~ BeatTTUN
Of course not. Tomczak was the glue that kept the championship team together. Without him on the bench they go 1-15.
Little known fact, Tomczak's lead guitar playing was the key component to The Super Bowl Shuffle:
Which conference has the most Super Bowl starters?
Miami (69) and USC (63) are the schools with the most Super Bowl starters. However those gaudy numbers were not enough to give the ACC or PAC 12 the top spot. The trio of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State gave the Big Ten enough fire power for the crown.
CONFERENCE | STARTERS | TOP SCHOOL | STARTERS |
---|---|---|---|
BIG TEN | 355 | MICHIGAN | 49 |
PAC 12 | 318 | USC | 63 |
ACC | 312 | MIAMI | 69 |
SEC | 295 | TENNESSEE | 39 |
BIG 12 | 142 | TEXAS | 28 |
MOUNTAIN WEST | 102 | SAN DIEGO STATE | 17 |
INDEPENDENT | 75 | NOTRE DAME | 47 |
In your opinion worst Super Bowl team ever. ~ Seattle Linga
My Super Bowl memories start when Detroit hosted Super Bowl XVI and the 49ers defeated the Bengals. Since that time, the 1985 New England Patriots stick out to me as the worst Super Bowl team.
This view might be skewed by several factors. The first being that the Bears were heavy favorites and flat-out beat the crap out of the Patriots. There have been larger margin of victories since this game, but very few were as dominant as the performance the Bears put on New England.
The second factor is that I was nine at the time and it was only the fifth Super Bowl I watched. It made a large impression on me how poorly the Patriots played and how easily the Bears made the victory appear.
The 49ers and Cowboys also have blow-out wins over the Broncos and Bills, but I believe those teams from Denver and Buffalo were better than the pathetic team that took a beating in the Super Dome on the evening of January, 26 1986.