Super Bowl Fun Facts: The XLIXth Edition

It's convenient when you have a snow day on Super Bowl Media Day.  I was actually somewhat surprised that the Patriots' session wasn't completely about Brady's balls, but I think Robert Kraft took care of all that when he told the NFL that they "owe him an apology" if they find they're wrong.  Oh, boo-hoo.  You made Bobby cry!  (For what it's worth, Brady did look like he just got out of bed, though.)

Deflategate has taken up a lot of the pre-Super Bowl media attention, although there have still been a few choice sound byes that weren't completely related.  There was also an article on NBC Hardball Talk today that said this could never happen in baseball that just made me laugh.  The argument was that it's because the media attention on football is so much greater that it let this thing take on a life of its own.  It made me laugh because it's true that this can't ever happen in baseball.  Baseballs aren't inflated.

Anyway, Super Bowl Media Day is time for one of my other traditions.  My random collection of completely irrelevant little tidbits that some people might find interesting, while others will be like, "Huh?"  And away we go:

• Starting with the obvious, the Seahawks are looking to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion since the Patriots a decade ago.  Seattle is the first team to even reach consecutive Super Bowls since then.
• This equals the longest gap between back-to-back Super Bowl wins.  We also went 10 years without a repeat winner between the Steelers (XIII-XIV) and 49ers (XXIII-XXIV) doing it.
• Should the Seahawks win, they'll be just the seventh franchise to win consecutive Super Bowls (I'm only counting Pittsburgh once, even though they twice went back-to-back).
• This is the Patriots' eighth Super Bowl, tying them for the most ever with the Steelers and Cowboys.  However, six of those eight appearances have come in the last 14 years, which gives Bradichick to record for most Super Bowls for a coach and for a starting quarterback.
• It's the Patriots' eighth Super Bowl, but it'll only be the second time they'll wear white in one.  Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles marked the only other time they played in an odd-numbered game and were thus the "road" team.
• Both Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are former coaches of the Jets.  Carroll went 6-10 in his only season in 1994, while Belichick was technically the Jets coach for like 25 minutes in 1999 after Bill Parcells retired before leaving to become head coach of the Patriots.  The coach he succeeded in New England?  Pete Carroll.
• Carroll is the third coach to take on a team that previously fired him in the Super Bowl, and the fourth overall to face his former team.  Two of the previous three won.  Weeb Ewbank beat the Colts with the Jets in Super Bowl III, and Jon Gruden's Bucs beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.  Super Bowls III and XXXVII were the only previous ones where one coach took on his successor, and that coach's new team won each time.  The one to lose to his former team was the Falcons' Dan Reeves against the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.
• Going back to the 2000 season, the last 15 AFC championships have been won by the same five teams (New England 6, Pittsburgh 3, Indianapolis 3, Baltimore 2, Denver 1).  Meanwhile, in that same timeframe, nine different teams have won the NFC title.  This is the Seahawks' third appearance in 10 years, tying the Giants for the most in the NFC this century.  The Giants and Seahawks are the only NFC teams who've even gone twice.  St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Philadelphia, Chicago, Arizona, New Orleans, Green Bay and San Francisco have all been to one.
• Tom Brady and Russell Wilson have both already won the Super Bowl as a starter.  The last time both starting quarterbacks already had a Super Bowl win under their belt was Brady vs. Eli II three years ago.
• Speaking of Eli, the Patriots' only other Super Bowl trip to Arizona didn't go so well.  That was the 1 during the 18-1 season.  Also speaking of Eli, Super Bowl XLVI was the last one on NBC, giving the Peacock Network back-to-back Super Bowl helpings of the Patriots.
• We've got the two 1-seeds for the second straight year.  It's only the third time that has happened in the last 21 seasons, but all three of those have taken place in the last six years.  (Yet they're going to expand the playoffs next year so that they can make it easier for the 1-seed to get to the Super Bowl?)
• We've also got both Super Bowl participants entering the game with the same record for the second straight year.  Prior to last season, that hadn't happened since Super Bowl XXXV, when the Ravens and Giants had identical 12-4 regular season records (although, Baltimore technically entered the Super Bowl with one more win since they were a wild card team).
• The Kansas City Chiefs beat both the Seahawks and the Patriots this season.  That happened last year, too, when the Colts beat both the Seahawks and Broncos.
• This is the third straight Super Bowl for the NFC West.  The last time a division went to at least three straight Super Bowls, the NFC East faced the Bills four consecutive times from XXV-XXVIII.  This the first time any division has been to three straight since the 2002 realignment.  In fact, NFC West teams have actually accounted for nearly half of the conference's Super Bowl berths (6 of 13) in the eight-division era.
• The Seahawks beat the Cardinals twice during the regular season, which obviously includes a win in Arizona.  The Patriots have never won at University of Phoenix Stadium.  The only other game they've played there was Super Bowl XLII.  They haven't played the Cardinals on the road since a 2002 game at Sun Devil Stadium.
• New England will be playing in just its second game at University of Phoenix Stadium in franchise history.  Both games were Super Bowls, the only two Super Bowls to be held at the stadium.
• Their game at the Cardinals was in Week 16.  It was Seattle's final road game before returning to the same stadium for the Super Bowl.  The same thing happened last year when they beat the Giants in their final road game (Week 15) before coming back to MetLife Stadium for the Super Bowl.

So, there you go.  Like I said, a lot of these are pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things.  Hopefully that won't impact your enjoyment of the game.  I do have one last question, though: If the Patriots win, will they make the football on the Lombardi Trophy look like it's a little deflated?  Sorry, I couldn't resist.