OBSCURE SUPER BOWL HEROES

Star players, especially quarterbacks, ensure their legacy in the Super Bowl.

John Elway, despite all of his accomplishments on the field, was winless in three trips to the big game. When he won two in a row, he retired on top.

But the big player doesn’t always make the big play. That’s the beauty of the Super Bowl. Anybody in the game can influence the outcome or change its direction drastically.

A year ago, little-known Seattle linebacker Malcolm Smith became perhaps the most anonymous MVP in Super Bowl history. He intercepted a pass and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown and also recovered a fumble as the Seahawks wiped out the Broncos 43-8. Smith is back in the Super Bowl with the Seahawks, but now he’s a special teams player who rarely gets a defensive snap.

 
In Super Bowl XVIII, a Raiders linebacker named Jack Squirek intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown just before halftime for a 14-3 lead and the Raiders went on to blow out the befuddled Redskins. Squirek was never famous before that play, or after it. He is famous for that one play.

In Super Bowl XLII, with time running down, a Giants receiver named David Tyree caught Eli Manning’s desperation pass by pinning it to his helmet as he hit the ground. That acrobatic feat set up the winning touchdown and kept the Patriots from completing an unbeaten season. Tyree had made only four catches that season and never had another in the NFL.

Sunday’s game between the Seahawks and Patriots matches plenty of stars – Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson for Seattle, Tom Brady, Darrelle Revis and Vince Wilfork for New England. Somewhere on those rosters, though, a no-name star may be waiting to be born.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .