Super Bowl Sunday is an important day for many Americans, and it’s the closest thing there is to an unofficial holiday. There’s the glitz and the glam of the halftime show, the classic football foods like chicken wings and chips and salsa, and a great battle between the two best teams in the National Football League with the season boiling down all to one last hour of play. The Super Bowl is the most watched television program each year, with usually a little over 110 million American viewers. Those numbers are impressive, but do not include the number of international viewers, as the Super Bowl is typically broadcast to about 200 other nations.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the NFL lately, here’s what you need to know.
Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The Seattle Seahawks went 14-4 during the regular season, as did the New England Patriots.
Key Players:
Russell Wilson: Wilson, 26, is a former NC State and University of Wisconsin college quarterback. During his rookie year in the NFL in 2012, he was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. Just one year later he brought the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl XLVII for the team’s first Super Bowl win in history. Wilson will be leading his team to their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance this upcoming Sunday. Wilson’s touchdown statistics were lower this season, decreasing from 26 to 20, but his passing yards have increased and the number of times his passes were intercepted has decreased, giving Seahawks fans no reason to worry.
Tom Brady: Brady, 37, played college football for the University of Michigan. Although Brady was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft in 2006, he has taken the Patriots to the Super Bowl six times, winning three. Brady is the first quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to six Super Bowl appearances and is one of only two NFL players to ever be named Super Bowl MVP and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player on multiple occasions. The list of impressive statistics and accomplishments Brady has amassed over his playing years can go on and on, but it is safe to say there is an arguable case he is the best quarterback in NFL history. Brady’s season numbers are quite consistent with his usual averages, however, his passing numbers are minutely down, but the number of interceptions he has thrown are down.
Richard Sherman: Self-proclaimed as the “best corner in the league,” Sherman, 26, played college ball for Stanford University. Sherman was picked in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft, but since then he has had more interceptions and defended passes than any other player in the National Football League. Sherman has more tackles this year than last, but his interceptions have been cut in half, from eight to four.
Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski: Gronkowski, 25, played for the University of Arizona and was drafted in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Gronkowski holds multiple records, including a season record for most touchdowns by a tight end. Additionally, Gronkowski is the first tight end in NFL history to lead the National Football League in receiving touchdowns. Almost all of Gronkowski’s numbers have improved from last year, but much stock cannot be placed on that considering last season he played only 7 games due to injury.
Here’s to another year of football, collegiettes.
Sources and photos:
http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-2014-ratings-how-many-people-watched-s…
http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/files/2012/10/russellwilson-600×417.jpg
http://www.nfl.com/player/russellwilson/2532975/careerstats
http://blog.nj.com/giants_impact/2008/01/medium_0126brady.JPG
http://search.nfl.com/search?query=tom+brady
http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/2013/01/11/2020114760.jpg
http://www.nfl.com/player/richardsherman/2495507/careerstats
http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_larg…
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13229/rob-gronkowski