Could Roger Goodell have dreamed of a better end to this season?
The short answer is simply no. There were only four teams at the beginning of the 2013 campaign that had every football fan frothing at the mouth for a chance to see them in the Super Bowl, and this weekend viewers get to see each of the them play against one another with just that shot.
Two totally different games are on tap Sunday afternoon — the battle for the American and the National Football Conferences’ championships won’t just represent two different trophies, but two completely different eras of the National Football League.
When CBS begins the broadcast of the New England Patriots matchup against the Denver Broncos, it won’t be long before America’s ears are worn off about the history of Tom Brady’s and Peyton Manning’s fierce rivalry. These two didn’t just excel at their sport, they dominated it.
The sport of football in the 2000s and even now owes much of its incredible success to what these two old school pocket passers have done for it, creating a new rivalry that surpassed the drama of any other one in American sports.
But Sunday could very well be the last time these two incredible figures of sportsmen get a chance to meet with anything meaningful on the line due to their age and diminishing health.
In their place has come a new breed of quarterbacks; one that will define the game for the next 15 years most experts agree, and two of today’s best will meet for the third time this year right after the Broncos and Patriots do.
Fox will have the pleasure of showcasing the NFL’s two franchises who simply despise one another the most at 6:30 p.m. eastern time when the Seattle Seahawks host the ever dominant San Francisco 49ers.
While the former game has historic meaning to it, this one will just be fun to watch a contrast in style from the first game.
Seattle’s diminutive quarterback Russell Wilson will lead the team with the best record in the league this year against the defending NFC champions and its fleet of foot youngster, Colin Kaepernick.
It is very possible the NFL health department may have to start up a fundraiser in order to deal with the amount of injuries that could come out of this meeting. These two inter-division squads don’t just want to beat each other, they want to send the other one home stripped of decency and limbs.
Neither Kaepernick nor Wilson have even begun their third full season as NFL quarterbacks, yet both have a chance this year of winning a Lombardi trophy.
It’s impossible to decide which of these games will be better than the other before they are even played, considering the incredible talent and toughness each of the four teams have.
The short answer is who cares?
The winner is each and every fan of football who sits down in front of their TVs on Sunday because they may never see a dream of a weekend like
this again.
Costa is a senior majoring in journalism.
