Understanding the Overwhelming Pressure to Win a Super Bowl

One can argue that there’s too much emphasis placed on winning championships—but at the same time, the way it can change lives, careers, legacies is undeniable.

MIAMI — Super Bowl week continues apace, although Tuesday was another—dare I say—quiet day down in South Florida. I mean, there was literally a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the Caribbean that caused some tremors and at least one building to evacuate in Brickell. But for the most part, it was a quiet day.

What do we make of this? I’m not sure. Neither the Chiefs nor the 49ers are boring teams—both have interesting head coaches, quarterbacks who are compelling for different reasons and other notably extroverted superstar players on the roster. It’s possible this is a product of our current media (and social media) era, where it simply feels like everything has already been covered and discussed ad nauseum. Nobody said anything inflammatory on Opening Night, no new plot lines have developed and frankly, there’s not much to say that couldn’t have been said about these two teams after they clinched Super Bowl berths two Sundays ago. 

We don’t even have much to monitor on the injury front. Andy Reid said Tuesday the Chiefs have no injuries to report, and 49ers RB Tevin Coleman said he’s optimistic he’ll return to action after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the NFC championship game. And that’s … kind of … it. Can the Super Bowl be played tomorrow?

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

I did spend some time Tuesday at the FOX media availability. Tony Gonzalez spoke about the Chiefs franchise and Kansas City’s fan base. Michael Vick spoke about his connection with Andy Reid from their time together in Philly. Both made it perfectly clear they were rooting for the Chiefs, and drove home the point of how meaningful it would be for everyone involved to win that magical first Super Bowl. (Or first in 50 years, for Kansas City fans of a certain age.) Gonzalez and Vick know as well as anyone, having never done it.

Among those taking questions from FOX were four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw and three-time champ Troy Aikman, who between them make up 13% of the QB ring count in the game’s history. And a few podiums away, three-time champion Rob Gronkowski made his first Super Bowl appearance as a TV personality, while Super Bowl champs Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson are long-time staples at events like these.

Looking at these legends of the game, it’s hard to not feel the pressure that everyone on both sidelines will be under come Sunday.

I know we talk about it all the time, but every so often I like to take a step back and consider the weight we place on championships in a team sport like football. In many ways, it is insane the emphasis put on winning titles—and yet you can talk yourself into either side of the argument. It has simply become a convenient shorthand way to catalog a player or a coach’s achievements, and for many people there’s no going back from that hardwiring.

I was born in 1987. Long won the Super Bowl before I was born, so my whole life I’ve seen him on TV and thought, Super Bowl champ Howie Long. I watched Aikman play frequently as a kid, but his second Super Bowl win came on a night when I had to go to bed at halftime. (The Bills were up 13-6 when I went to sleep!)

On the other hand, alongside all those former champions, Gonzalez and Vick are two all-time great talents who never won the big one. Two guys whose lives, careers and legacies would forever be different if one of their playoff teams simply got hot at the right time. Unlike my memories of their older FOX peers, I watched Gonzalez and Vick play their entire careers. I drafted them in fantasy, played with their teams in Madden and have enough context to judge their careers on many factors, beyond the fact that they never won rings.

The outcome of Sunday’s game will sway public perception of the game’s central characters forever—for those of us lucky enough to watch the game, and future generations of football fans who haven’t been born yet. Even if there’s not much to talk about amid a slow Super Bowl week, that’s a welcome reminder, for those of us who invest way too much time in this sport, of the reason for all this build-up.

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A few words with…

The last two days I gave you interviews with individual people. Today I have a few words with nine people—nine Eagles fans, to be specific.

Yesterday I wrote a story about Philadelphia fans pulling for their old coach, Andy Reid. I spoke to actual celebrities (Jeopardy! champ Brad Rutter, soccer star Carli Lloyd, former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and more) and viral, internet-famous fans (the fan with the Phillie Phanatic tattoo around his bellybutton, the fan who ran into a subway pole the day the Eagles clinched the 2017 NFC title, to name a few) for their perspective. And they are overwhelmingly pro-Reid. The group was equal parts thoughful, retrospective and funny. Here are some snippets:

Are you rooting for Andy Reid? Why or why not?

Brad Rutter, all-time leading money winner on Jeopardy!: Yes, and honestly I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t. People forget what a loser franchise the Eagles were, pretty much until Andy showed up. Buddy Ryan never won a playoff game. And you know, Rich Kotite and Bud Carson finally win one and it’s like they want to have a parade down Broad Street because it had been so long. I was as frustrated as anybody with going to the NFC championship game every year and not winning the Super Bowl. But Andy turned the Eagles from a terrible franchise into one of the class franchises in the league.

Is your answer different because the Eagles won the Super Bowl two years ago?

Ed Rendell, former mayor and governor, and long-time panelist on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Eagles Postgame Live: I’d be rooting hard for him anyway. I rooted for [former Eagles coach] Dick Vermeil to win the Super Bowl when he won it [Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams]. Why would Reid be any different? Vermeil lost the Super Bowl with us too.

How did you feel about him when he was in Philadelphia?

Hakim Laws, who catches babies “unlike Agholor”: It was kind of a mixed bag. You know how Philly fans are. Like if you’re doing good we’re on your side. If you’re not doing good, we’re kinda kicking you in the ass. So I was kinda like 50/50, based on performance.

What’s your message to Andy on behalf of Philadelphia?

Jigar Desai, who ran full-speed into a subway pole: Good luck, Andy Reid. Please let your team perform the way they are capable of performing. Let someone else manage the clock.

Check out the full story here.

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Required reading

From this month’s magazine: Conor Orr has a bonkers story on a Super Bowl squares pool that turned into the strangest kidnapping case Western New York had ever seen.

Greg Bishop on Brock Osweiler, who is living his best post-football life.

Yesterday in this space I asked players in the Super Bowl which of their teammates should host Saturday Night Live after J.J. Watt does it this Saturday.

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Up next

Roger Goodell’s annual press conference. What question would you ask him first? Tweet me and maybe I’ll shout it from the back of the room.

Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com.