SI:AM | Joe Burrow vs. Aaron Donald Will Determine the Super Bowl

Plus, the history behind Burrow’s cigars.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. If you haven’t gotten caught up on what happened at the NBA trade deadline, these are the winners and losers from a potentially landscape-changing day. But now our attention moves to the NFL. Are you ready for the Super Bowl?

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David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated

My Super Bowl pick is …

I don’t know if it’s because of the lack of a formal media day, (or blockbuster NBA trades or, worse, the bloated “Opening Night” spectacle that the NFL had begun subjecting us to before the pandemic) but it feels like the two-week build to this Super Bowl has been fairly quiet.

That isn’t to say that people aren’t excited about the game. (The cheapest ticket available is just over $3,000, according to SI Tix.) No matter who wins, it’ll be a good story. Just look at the QBs. Either you have Joe Burrow, coming off a torn ACL, leading a team nobody thought would even make the playoffs to an unlikely championship. Or, you have Matthew Stafford, long regarded as one of the league’s most talented quarterbacks but laden with the stink of a horrible Lions franchise, finally winning a much-deserved title.

Here are the biggest things to watch:

• The weather: A heat wave in Southern California will make for unseasonably warm temperatures at game time. The forecasted high temperature in Inglewood on Sunday is 84 degrees—not blistering, but certainly warmer than what the Bengals left behind in Cincinnati. Add in the body heat of 100,000 fans and it could get pretty warm under the roof at SoFi Stadium. That’s because the stadium doesn’t have air conditioning, relying instead on ventilation to keep the venue cool. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said yesterday that players will have to keep hydrated.
• Injuries to tight ends: Cincinnati’s C.J. Uzomah was able to get in a limited practice session on Thursday. He sprained his MCL in the AFC championship game but said earlier this week that he was “not missing” the Super Bowl. His Rams counterpart Tyler Higbee hasn’t been able to practice since injuring his knee in the NFC title game.
• Uzomah’s disgusting wager: I’ve been a fan of Uzomah ever since he revealed last month that he gets pumped up for games by listening to a song from Mulan. Even better, during his media availability yesterday, he promised to take a bath in Skyline Chili if the Bengals win the game. You should be rooting for Cincinnati just to see that happen.

I’m expecting the game to be a good one. Between Burrow’s mobility and Stafford’s fearlessness, the two quarterbacks involved are among the league’s most entertaining to watch. Both teams have elite offensive weapons and play decent enough defense to give their opponents some resistance but aren’t so stout on that side of the ball that the game will turn into a dull battle for field position.

My pick: I think I have to go with the Rams. The majority of SI’s experts agree.

The deciding factor for me is the Rams’ front seven against the Bengals’ offensive line. Aaron Donald is an all-time great on the inside of the defensive line, and then you also have two ferocious pass rushers on the outside in Leonard Floyd and Von Miller. The Bengals’ offensive line stinks out loud, so Burrow could be running for life.

The best of Sports Illustrated

The Burrow Family

You’re likely familiar with the iconic image of Joe Burrow with a cigar after winning the national championship for LSU in 2019. He lit another after the Bengals won the AFC North this season and when they beat the Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl. But the above image, of a 7-year-old Burrow posing with a cigar, reveals a deeper story about the Burrow family’s history with cigars. From Ross Dellenger’s story:

“The cigar has now become part of Burrow’s identity—a symbol of success, a representation of the smooth and cool quarterback himself. …

‘It cracks me up that Joe is known for smoking cigars,’ says Dan Burrow, one of Joe’s two older brothers. ‘I’ve never known him to be a cigar guy.

‘Thing is, he isn’t.’”

Greg Bishop spoke with Joe Namath about potentially welcoming Burrow into the college champion/Super Bowl champion club. … Bishop also spoke with Andrew Whitworth about his decision to leave the Bengals to become a fixture with the Rams. … Conor Orr has the story of how a bar near Zac Taylor’s house was revitalized by the Bengals’ run.

Around the sports world

Three men who have attended every Super Bowl say this will be their last trip to the big game together. … Shaun White gave an emotional interview after his final Olympic run. … Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication, jeopardizing her team’s gold medal. … Aaron Rodgers won the MVP, as expected. It’s his fourth, trailing only Peyton Manning’s five. … Eight men were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last night. … Clemson’s David Collins committed a flagrant foul on Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. that Mike Krzyzewski called “one of the most dangerous plays I’ve ever seen.”

The top 5…

… things I saw last night:

5. Charles Barkley calling Kyrie Irving “half man, half a season”

4. Cal Poly, after trailing by nine with 25 seconds left, forces overtime with a banked three at the buzzer and Cal State Northridge sends it to double OT with a buzzer-beating tip-in

3. Ayumu Hirano’s world-record run in the snowboarding halfpipe that clinched the gold medal

2. Kevin Durant snubbing James Harden in the All-Star draft

1. NBC commentator Todd Richards ripping the judges for the questionable scoring of Hirano’s second run

SIQ

A reader named Jim reached out to me a few days ago with a good idea for a trivia question. I like it because it requires more than just sports knowledge, and with the Super Bowl on Sunday it seems like the perfect time to ask it. There have been five colleges that have produced both a Super Bowl MVP and a U.S. president. But can you name the only one that has had a president and two Super Bowl MVPs?

Check Monday’s newsletter for the answer.

Yesterday’s SIQ: Who is the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader?

Answer: Diana Taurasi. Tina Thompson (whose birthday was yesterday) was the league’s all-time scoring leader until June 2017, when Taurasi passed her with this layup against the Sparks. Thompson finished her career with 7,488 points. Taurasi’s total sits at 9,174. Tamika Catchings is third with 7,380 and Candice Dupree, who is a free agent after spending last season with the Storm and Dream, is fourth with 6,895.

From the Vault: Feb. 11, 2019

Rob Tringali/Sports Illustrated

My favorite Sports Illustrated story of the year, every year, has always been the Super Bowl gamer, even when I was just a college kid reading the magazine over lunch in the cafeteria. For a journalism nerd like me, there’s nothing better than a story that’s ostensibly about a single game but expands to encompass much more.

The cover stars of the Feb. 11, 2019, issue of SI had been there before. The Patriots’ win over the Rams landed Tom Brady and the gang on the front of the magazine yet again. The game was a stinker, but Rob Tringali’s photo of Brady celebrating Sony Michel’s fourth-quarter touchdown run (the only TD of the game) is fantastic. The story, written by Greg Bishop and Ben Baskin, is also tremendous. It covers the 13–3 win, yes, but it’s really about how the Patriots built their dynasty and won not just that Super Bowl, but the five before it. Reading it today, on the heels of Tom Brady ending his career in Tampa, of all places, it still holds up. That’s the mark of a great magazine story.

I’m already looking forward to our Super Bowl LVI gamer, which will run as the Daily Cover on Monday.

Check out more of SI's archives and historic images at vault.si.com.