SANTA CLARA – Super Bowl LX is almost here with all its pomp and circumstance. Rather than inundate you with X’s and O’s about LX, let’s check out some quirks in this Lombardi Trophy quest:
TRIVIA TIME
Name the only player drafted by the Seattle Seahawks who then went to the New England Patriots before next calling Levi’s Stadium home and finishing with their second-most sacks in 2018.
Answer: Cassius Marsh, who’s rooting for the Seahawks over the Patriots on the 49ers’ home field this Sunday.
SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 1: San Francisco 49ers’ Cassius Marsh (54) celebrates a sack against the Oakland Raiders in the second quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
“They drafted me (2014) and I probably spent the best years of my career, fun-wise, on that team. I have so many vets who I love and respect from that team,” Marsh said Thursday on Media Row at the Moscone Center. “The Seahawks is where my heart is. I met my son’s mother there. I just hold more love for them.”
Marsh retired a few years ago and owns Cash Cards Unlimited, which sells trading cards online and in two Los Angeles locations. “The Patriots, I actually really enjoyed watching them this season. They’re a good team,” Marsh added. “But I definitely see the Seahawks winning this game.”
AGE APPROPRIATE
The Patriots’ Drake May can become the youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, at 23 years and 162 days old. The current record holder is 2005 Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (23 years, 340 days). Three years ago, Brock Purdy was two wins and one elbow ligament away from unseating Roethlisberger, as a 49ers rookie at 23 years and 47 days on what might have been his Super Bowl debut.
‘SEATTLE SOUTH’
The Seahawks have the best winning percentage of ANY team at Levi’s Stadium, with a minimum of four games. They improved to 8-4 in regular-season action by winning the Jan. 3 visit for the No. 1 seed; they lost their only playoff appearance in the 2022 season’s wild-card game.
The Patriots are 1-1 at Levi’s Stadium, winning in 2016 with Tom Brady and losing in 2024 when Jacoby Brissett started; Maye made his starting debut two games later.
The 49ers are 49-46 in regular-season action since moving there in 2014 from Candlestick Park, and 6-0 in the playoffs.
The Rams’ SoFi Stadium, next season’s Super Bowl site, is known as “Levi’s South” for the 49ers’ past takeovers. The 49ers are 5-1 in regular-season action there (plus the 2021 season’s NFC Championship Game loss). The Rams are 32-18 in regular-season games since moving there in 2020.
SUBSTATION SCUTTLEBUTT
There hasn’t been this much talk about electricity at a Super Bowl since the power went out at the 2012 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to Baltimore in New Orleans. But players – Seahawks, Patriots, and any others past and present – have been badgered by reporters all week about whether an electrical substation next to the 49ers’ practice field is sabotaging players’ health.
“It’s been a topic of conversation for a long time. It just went viral now, so the conversation has to be had, finally,” Arik Armstead, a 49ers defensive lineman from 2015-23, said at NFL Honors. “I mean, run some tests and see what happens. See what the validity is there, give the players and everyone information. To start moving (the substation or practice field) is putting the cart before the horse.”
Running back Christian McCaffrey downplayed concerns, saying on the Up & Adams Show: “It would never in a million years be a reason I wouldn’t sign with the Niners. I’m not a scientist, I’m not a doctor, I play football for a living, but I do know there are way too many variables that go into an NFL season to say the substation is what’s causing an injury. That’s an unbelievably blunt statement that I don’t agree with frankly.”
BE LIKE MIKE
This is the third Super Bowl matchup between coaches named Mike (Vrabel for the Patriots, Macdonald for the Seahawks). In the 1997 season, Mike Shanahan’s Denver Broncos beat Mike Holmgren’s Green Bay Packers 31-24 in San Diego, and, in 2010, Mike McCarthy’s Packers defeated Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Arlington, Texas.
New potential 2027 Super Bowl pairing: Mike McCarthy’s Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Mike LaFleur’s Arizona Cardinals.
FIRST-YEAR WINS
Vrabel can become the NFL’s first 18-game winner as a first-year coach, including postseason victories. He’s currently tied with George Seifert, who won 17 upon succeeding Bill Walsh and guiding the 1989 49ers to the Lombardi Trophy.
Perspective: The Raiders won 15 games combined over the past three seasons with three different coaches. Vrabel, by the way, joined the Patriots as a linebacker in 2001, when they launched their dynasty with a “Tuck Rule” playoff win over the Raiders; he had three tackles that game.
NO ANDY REID
Five of the past six Super Bowls have featured the Andy Reid-coached Kansas City Chiefs. Super Bowl LX does have an Andy (Borregales, the Patriots’ kicker) and, well, a Rashid (Shaheed, the Seahawks’ return specialist).
COAST TO COAST
When it comes to Super Bowls featuring West Coast vs. East Coast teams, the last four have been won by the East (2002 Buccaneers d. Raiders, 2012 Ravens d. 49ers, 2014 Patriots d. Seahawks, 2018 Patriots d. Rams). Prior to that, the 1980 and ’83 Raiders claimed wins over Philadelphia and Washington, and the 1984 49ers pummeled the Dolphins 38-16 at Stanford.
EARLY BIRD
Teams that fly in first are 43-16 in Super Bowls. Just kidding. But the Patriots touched down first at San José Mineta International Airport on Sunday, almost exactly a week before kickoff.
Now go look up flight logs dating back decades before this Super Bowl’s estimated departure time of 3:30 p.m. PT.