Superbowl 51, Fun Facts and How it all began.
By now the game has already taken place and we all know who took the championship, but we thought it might be fun to take a look back at the history of the “big game”, leading up to Super Bowl 51…
Did you know professional football began in 1892, between two teams in Pittsburgh – the Allegheny Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, eventually developing into pro football? Two of the founding teams are currently in the NFL, the Decatur Staley’s (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (currently the Arizona Cardinals).
The first Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles at the Memorial Coliseum in 1967. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers defeated the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. Green Bay Quarterback Bart Starr was named game MVP.
The New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances (9), with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the most championships (6).
The Superbowl trophy is known as the “Lombardi Trophy” which was introduced in 1967, renamed in 1970 in memory of NFL Head Coach Vince Lombardi.
Super Bowl 51 will be played February 5, at Houston’s NRG Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Steelers 36-17 for the AFC Championship and the Falcons beat Green Bay 44-21 for the NFC title.
Atlanta appeared in the Super Bowl for the first time in 1999, losing to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 33. New England last appeared in 2015 defeating the Seattle Seahawks. The Patriots are 7-6 in taking on the Falcons.
Game time is 3:30, televised on Fox. Locally KPTV 12
Who do you have? Send comments to Dave@clatsopcurrentnews@gmail.com.
Here are some fun Super Bowl facts
• 8 million pounds of guacamole is consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
• 14,500 tons of chips are eaten along with that guacamole
• Of the top 10 most watched American television programs of all time, nine of them are Super Bowls
• The Super Bowl is measured in Roman numerals because a football season runs over two calendar years
• Over 700,000 footballs are produced annually for official NFL use and 72 of them are used for the Super Bowl
• It is the 2nd most watched sporting event in the world. More than 100 million people worldwide watch the Super Bowl every year. In fact, Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 unseated M*A*S*H’s series finale as the most watched show in television history with over 106.5 million watchers.
• One 30-second commercial aired during the Super Bowl costs at least $2,800,000
• The NFL has a policy against holding Super Bowl games in stadiums that have a climate of less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, unless it is an enclosed stadium
By Dave Nelson
