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Super Bowl XLI was the 41st Super Bowl, the annual AFC-NFC championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The American football game was played on February 4 2007 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, a suburb of Miami, following the 2006 regular season. Kickoff was at 6:27 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears, 29-17. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named the game's most valuable player, completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Nielsen Media Research reported 93 million viewers for Super Bowl XLI, making it the third most-watched U.S. telecast ever behind Super Bowl XXX and the M*A*S*H finale.

This game featured two teams ending long Super Bowl appearance droughts. The Colts made their first appearance in a Super Bowl game since winning in Super Bowl V in January 1971 during the team's tenure in Baltimore; the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Meanwhile, the Bears made their first appearance since the 1985 season in which they defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.

Background

Host selection process

Dolphin Stadium won the bid to host Super Bowl XLI on September 17 2003 after a campaign against Arizona, Tampa Bay, New York City, and Washington D.C. With this game, the Miami Metropolitan Area tied New Orleans, Louisiana as the city to host the most Super Bowls (9).

This is the fourth Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium, which has also been known as "Joe Robbie Stadium" and "Pro Player Stadium". The venue previously hosted Super Bowls XXIII (broadcast on NBC), XXIX (on ABC), and XXXIII (on FOX). Super Bowls II, III, V, X, and XIII were also in Miami, but held at the Miami Orange Bowl. Note that CBS is also scheduled to broadcast Super Bowl XLIV - the next Super Bowl that will be held at Dolphin Stadium. In another interesting note, the winning quarterback of each of the eight previous Super Bowls played in Miami is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

• Super Bowl II - Bart Starr (Green Bay Packers)
• Super Bowl III - Joe Namath (New York Jets)
• Super Bowl V - Johnny Unitas (Baltimore Colts)
• Super Bowl X and XIII - Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers)
• Super Bowl XXIII - Joe Montana (San Francisco 49ers)
• Super Bowl XXIX - Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers)
• Super Bowl XXXIII - John Elway (Denver Broncos)

In February 2006, the NFL and the South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host Committee unveiled the slogan "one game, one dream" for the game, referring to the entire South Florida region working together to present the event. The Super Bowl XLI logo was also unveiled, featuring the colors orange (to represent the sun) and blue (for the ocean). The "I" in the Roman numeral "XLI" was drawn to resemble a pylon placed at each corner of an end zone because "the goal is to get to the game." This year's logo has the same shade of orange as the logo of the host city's home team, the Miami Dolphins. The "XL" part is similar to that of Super Bowl XL's logo.

Teams

Chicago Bears

Chicago finished the season with an NFC best 13-3 record and advanced to the second Super Bowl in franchise history. The team excelled at offense and defense, ranking second in scoring (427 points) and third in fewest points allowed (255)

The Bears were led by quarterback Rex Grossman, the team's first round draft pick in 2003. Over the last three seasons, Grossman had played in just 8 regular season games due to injuries, but he recovered to start in all 16 games in 2006. By the end of the season, he finished with 3,193 yards and 23 touchdowns, the most by a Bears quarterback since 1995; however, he was plagued with turnovers all season. Grossman threw 20 interceptions and lost five fumbles during the year, and in the last seven games of the season, he turned the ball over 18 times. Many fans and sports writers expected coach Lovie Smith to bench him at some point, but Smith insisted that Grossman would be the starter throughout the entire season.

Receivers Muhsin Muhammad (60 receptions, 863 yards, 5 touchdowns) and Bernard Berrian (51 receptions, 775 yards, 7 touchdowns) provided the main deep threat on the team, along with tight end Desmond Clark, who caught 45 passes for 626 yards and 6 touchdowns. Chicago's running game was led by running backs Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Jones rushed for 1,210 yards and caught 36 passes, while Benson rushed for 647 yards and scored 6 touchdowns.

Chicago also had the 5th ranked defense, allowing less than 100 yards per game on the ground and registering one of the top scoring defenses in the NFL. The line was anchored by Adewale Ogunleye, who had 6.5 sacks, and Pro Bowler Tommie Harris, who recorded 5, along with rookie Mark Anderson, who led the team with 12 sacks. Behind them, two of the three Bears starting linebackers, Lance Briggs, and Brian Urlacher, were selected to the 2007 Pro Bowl. In the secondary, cornerbacks Ricky Manning Jr. and Charles Tillman each recorded five interceptions.

The Bears special teams unit was considered by many to be the best in the league. This unit sent 3 players to the Pro Bowl, special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo, kicker Robbie Gould (who led all NFL kickers with 143 points), and rookie return man Devin Hester, who gained 600 punt return yards with a 12.8 yards per return average, the second highest in the NFL. He also set a league record with 6 touchdowns on special teams.

Chicago defensive tackle Tank Johnson was required to request a judge's order to leave the state of Illinois due to an arrest for unlicensed ownership of six firearms and two assault rifles. On January 23 2007, the judge granted him permission to travel out of state to play in the Super Bowl.

Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis's first trip to the Super Bowl in 36 years was the culmination of a 9 year long building process. In 1998, they drafted quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the team. Over the next four seasons, Manning, along with other stars such as receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Edgerrin James turned the Colts into one of the best offensive teams in the NFL, but the team struggled to find consistency on defense and always ended up with either a losing season or elimination from the playoffs in the first round. In 2002, Indianapolis fired head coach Jim Mora and replaced him with Tony Dungy. Dungy had developed one of the best defenses in the NFL while coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was hoped he could solve the Colts' defensive problems as well.

Over the next four seasons, the Colts won 48 of 64 games, but still could not find much success in the postseason. In 2002, they were blown out 41-0 in the wildcard round by the New York Jets. In 2003, they won their first two playoff games behind impressive offensive performances, and reached the AFC title game. There they lost to the eventual champion New England Patriots 24-14, with Manning throwing four interceptions. In 2004, the Colts had one of the most spectacular offensive seasons in NFL history, scoring 522 points and gaining 6,582 yards, while Manning set NFL records for most touchdown passes and highest passer rating. But again the Patriots defense (and snowy conditions) proved too formidable, as they lost 20-3 in the divisional round of the playoffs.

In 2005, the Colts defense improved, making the team the clear favorites in the NFL. They won the first 13 games of the season and finished with a 14-2 record, while ranking second in the NFL in points scored and fewest points allowed. But once again they lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, this time to the #6 seeded Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-18. After another disappointing loss, Manning had developed a reputation of being unable to make it to a championship, a reputation that followed him from college after he was unable to win an NCAA title with the Tennessee Volunteers (who won a title the year after he graduated). The Colts lost some key players after the 2005 season, including James and kicker Mike Vanderjagt, the NFL's all-time leader in field goal percentage.

Still, the Colts remained one of the AFC's top teams in the 2006 season. Manning made the pro bowl for the 7th time in his career, completing 362 of 555 passes for 4,397 yards and an NFL best 31 touchdowns, with only 9 interceptions. His favorite target was Harrison, who caught 95 passes for 1,366 yards and 12 touchdowns. Receiver Reggie Wayne was also a major deep threat with 86 receptions for 1,310 yards and 9 touchdowns. Tight ends Ben Utecht and Dallas Clark were also reliable targets, each recording over 30 receptions for over 300 yards. On the ground, rookie running back Joseph Addai led the team with 1,081 yards and 4.8 yards per carry average. He also caught 40 receptions for 325 yards and scored 8 touchdowns. Running back Dominic Rhodes was also a major contributor, rushing for 641 yards and catching 36 passes for 251 yards. The offensive line was led by pro bowlers Jeff Saturday and Tarik Glenn. On special teams, the Colts signed kicker Adam Vinatieri to replace Vanderjagt. While Vinatieri's career field goal percentage was lower, the Colts considered him to be an improvement because of his reputation for making "clutch" kicks when his team needed them, a reputation aided by his game winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Indianapolis' defense ranked second in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed. Defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis (who recorded 9.5 sacks and forced 4 fumbles) were widely considered to be the best in the NFL. Behind them, linebacker Cato June led the team in tackles (92) and interceptions (3). The Colts run defense, however, was a major problem, giving up 2,768 yards on the ground, an average of 173 per game and last in the NFL. Another major issue for the Colts was their coverage teams, as they ranked #30 out of 32 teams in average kickoff return yardage allowed and #31 in average punt return yardage allowed.

Indianapolis started out the season winning their first 9 games, but ended up losing four of their next seven and finished with a 12-4 record, giving them the #3 playoff seed. Thus, they would have to win three games to make it to the Super Bowl.

Playoffs

Although the Colts' rushing defense looked extremely weak during the season, it ended up being a key factor on their road to the Super Bowl. First, Indianapolis defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 23-8, holding Chiefs running back Larry Johnson (who rushed for 1789 yards during the season) to just 32 yards on 13 carries. Then, they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 15-6, winning on a playoff record-tying five field goals by Vinatieri and holding running back Jamal Lewis (who rushed for 1132 yards during season) to just 53 yards.

Then the Colts faced their arch-rival New England Patriots in the AFC title game. New England jumped to an early 21-6 lead, but Indianapolis stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Patriots 29-10. The Colts' final scoring drive did much to help Manning lose his image of always choking in big games. With 2:22 left in the game, the Colts had the ball on their own 21-yard line trailing 31-28. On the first three plays of the drive, Manning completed three passes, moving the ball 70 yards to the Patriots 11-yard line in just 17 seconds. Three plays later, Addai scored a 6-yard touchdown run to put them in the lead, 38-34 with only 60 seconds left in regulation. The Patriots responded with a drive to the Colts 45-yard line, but defensive back Marlin Jackson ended the drive with an interception to give Indianapolis the win.

Meanwhile, the Bears started out their post-season with a 27-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks with Robbie Gould's 49-yard field goal in overtime. One week later, they defeated the New Orleans Saints 39-14. Chicago dominated most of the game, jumping to a 16-0 early lead. Two touchdown passes from Saints quarterback Drew Brees, cut the score to 16-14, but the Bears responded with 23 unanswered points to propel them to their first Super Bowl since 1985. Thomas Jones finished the game with a franchise postseason record 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

It was the first time since the 1996 postseason that the home team won both of the conference championship games.

Super Bowl pre-game practices

The Indianapolis Colts held pre-game practices for Super Bowl XLI at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida.

The Chicago Bears held pre-game practices for Super Bowl XLI at the Miami Hurricanes Football Facility, on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

Broadcasting

United States

The game was televised in the United States by CBS in high-definition with play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and color commentator Phil Simms. This was the first Super Bowl announced by Nantz. Nantz became the third person to call the NCAA men's basketball national championship game and Super Bowl, joining Dick Enberg and Curt Gowdy. Nantz became the first person to call a Super Bowl and then present the Lombardi Trophy to the winning team in the post-game ceremonies.

Additionally, the game had Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots reporting on the sidelines and Lesley Visser and Sam Ryan in the stands.

This was the first Super Bowl aired on CBS since the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake incident three years earlier, in Super Bowl XXXVIII; and the first since the Viacom/CBS split at the end of 2005. Extensive pre-game coverage, hosted by The NFL Today team of James Brown, Shannon Sharpe, Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino, whose name graces the address of the game site (2269 Dan Marino Boulevard), began at noon (US EST) with NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl” year in review (narrated by Tom Selleck). This was followed by "The Phil Simms All-Iron Team", and a four-and-a-half hour Super Bowl Today pre-game show followed by game coverage at 6:25 PM. Other contributors to the pre-game show included Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News, Randy Cross, who reported from Iraq where U.S. military forces played a touch football game known as "The Baghdad Bowl" and Dick Enberg, who participated in his 12th Super Bowl telecast as a host, play-by-play announcer, or contributor.

Westwood One provided radio coverage of the event, with Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason as announcers.

The American Forces Network (AFN) provided coverage of the Super Bowl for U.S. forces stationed overseas and to all U.S. Navy ships at sea.

The opening title sequence of CBS television coverage featured the composition Lux Aeterna, by artist Clint Mansell, in the background.

International

The Super Bowl was broadcast live in Canada on CBS (which is available in Canada) as well as Global TV and NTV which both took the main CBS commentary, and on the French cable channel RDS. In the United Kingdom the Super Bowl was broadcast on ITV1, Sky Sports 1 & Sky Sports HD1 with Sky Sports taking the main CBS commentary and ITV taking the NFL supplied international commentary feed of Spero Dedes and Sterling Sharpe.

The Super Bowl XLI was broadcast in over 200 countries. Amongst the television networks who broadcast Super Bowl XLI were:

Ceremonies and entertainment

Before the game, Cirque du Soleil, Romero Britto and Louie Vega performed as the pre-game act, and Billy Joel sang the National Anthem, accompanying himself on piano. He also performed at Super Bowl XXIII. Marlee Matlin and Jason Hay-Southwell performed the National Anthem in American Sign Language. Besides participating in the CBS telecast of the pre-game show, Dan Marino also participated in the coin toss along with Norma Hunt, the widow of Lamar Hunt. Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Colts after the game, and Peyton Manning was named MVP.

American singer and musician Prince performed in the Pepsi Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show. The setlist for Prince's performance was a short rendition of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, his signature hit "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby, I'm a Star", cover versions of the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit "Proud Mary", the Bob Dylan composition "All Along the Watchtower", and the Foo Fighters song "Best of You", and in light of the conditions, he fittingly finished the performance with another signature song, "Purple Rain" in the downpour. The 12-minute performance featured Prince accompanied by two dancers he calls “the Twins” and the Florida A&M University marching band, the Marching 100. Prince had rehearsed with the drum line for a week before the performance. The performance was on a large, central stage which was formed in the shape File:Prince symbol.svg, Prince's logo and former name, and was outlined with lights. He played before 74,512 fans at Dolphin Stadium (who had been given flashlights to point at the stage during the performance of Purple Rain). The event was carried “to the biggest audience of his life -- 140 million television viewers”. Overall, the show was energetic and quite well-received by the rain-soaked audience surrounding the stage Music critics have been extremely enthusiastic about his performance, one calling it "arguably the best halftime show in Super Bowl history", and others saying it was one of the best ever.

Game summary

For the first time in Super Bowl history, the game was played in the rain, which had a huge impact on the game, contributing to fumbles, bad snaps, and dropped passes.

The rain did not hinder Bears' return man Devin Hester, who ran back the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to give Chicago the earliest lead in Super Bowl history. The Colts avoided kicking to Hester for the rest of the game, allowing him only one punt return, and choosing to squib kick whenever Hester was in the deep kickoff return position.

On Indianapolis' first drive of the game, defensive back Chris Harris intercepted a deep, third-down pass from Peyton Manning and returned it 6 yards to the Bears' 35-yard line. However, Chicago could not gain a first down on their ensuing possession and they were forced to punt. After several short runs and passes, Manning beat the Bears' defense with a 53-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, cutting the Bears' lead to 7-6 after punter/holder Hunter Smith fumbled the snap on the extra point attempt. On the ensuing kickoff, Chicago tight end Gabe Reid fumbled Adam Vinatieri's bouncing kickoff while being tackled by Robert Mathis; Colts guard Dylan Gandy recovered the loose ball. However, on the next play, Indianapolis gave the ball back when running back Joseph Addai fumbled the handoff and Bears defensive end Mark Anderson recovered it.

On the first play after the turnover, Thomas Jones' 52-yard run moved the ball to the Colts' 5-yard line. Three plays later, Rex Grossman threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to receiver Muhsin Muhammad, giving the Bears a 14-6 lead. After forcing an Indianapolis punt, Chicago lost another turnover when Cedric Benson's fumble was recovered by Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney on the Bears' 43-yard line. Indianapolis subsequently advanced to the 36-yard line, but decided to punt rather then risk a 53-yard field-goal attempt.

Following a Chicago punt, Indianapolis drove 47 yards and scored with Vinatieri's 29-yard field goal to make the score 14-9. Chicago was forced to punt again on their next drive, and defensive back Terrence Wilkins returned the ball 12 yards to his own 42-yard line. Manning started out the drive with a 22-yard completion to Marvin Harrison. His next pass went to tight end Dallas Clark for 17 yards. Two more completions moved the ball to the Bears' 11-yard line, and then Dominic Rhodes took the ball to the end zone with three consecutive carries, the last one a 1-yard touchdown run to give his team a 16-14 lead with 6:09 left in the second quarter.

After another Chicago punt, the Colts advanced to the Bears' 36-yard line before defensive back Charles Tillman ended the drive by forcing and recovering a fumble from tight end Bryan Fletcher. But on the next play, Grossman fumbled a snap, and Colts defensive back Raheem Brock recovered the ball. Manning then led the Colts to Chicago's 17-yard line. With two seconds left, Vinatieri attempted a 36-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide left, and the score remained 16-14 at halftime.

Wilkins returned the second half kickoff 26 yards to the 38-yard line. On the ensuing possession, Addai rushed five times for 25 yards and caught four passes for 19 yards as the Colts drove 56 yards in 13 plays and scored with a 29-yard field goal from Vinatieri, increasing their lead to 19-14. On the Bears' next drive, Jones started out with a 14-yard run, and then Muhammad caught a 9-yard pass, bringing up second down and one on the Colts' 45-yard line. But on the next play, Grossman was sacked for an 11-yard loss by Anthony McFarland. Then, on third down, he fumbled the snap. Grossman recovered the fumble himself, but the Bears were forced to punt, and Wilkins returned the ball 12 yards to the Colts' 36-yard line. Rhodes then gained 52 yards on four carries, with a facemask penalty adding another 10. Chicago managed to halt the drive at their own 2-yard line, but Vinatieri kicked his third field goal to make the score 22-14.

Chicago tight end John Gilmore picked up Vinatieri's bouncing kickoff and returned it 9-yards to his own 45-yard line, with an Unnecessary Roughness penalty on Mathis adding another 15 yards and giving the Bears a first down on the Colts' 40-yard line. Chicago could only gain 14 yards on their ensuing possession, but it was enough for Robbie Gould to make a 44-yard field goal, cutting the score to 22-17. After an Indianapolis 7-play drive ended in a punt, Chicago started on their own 20-yard line with 13:38 left in the game. But four plays later, Colts defensive back Kelvin Hayden intercepted a pass intended for Muhammad and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown.

From that point on, the Colts took over the game. Four plays after the ensuing kickoff, Colts defensive back Bob Sanders intercepted Grossman's pass and returned it 38 yards to the Bears 41-yard line. Chicago's defense eventually forced a punt, but Smith's 32-yard kick pinned the Bears back at their own 8-yard line. The Bears drove to their own 47, but on a fourth down conversion attempt, tight end Desmond Clark dropped a potential first down reception after being leveled by defensive back Matt Giordano. The Colts subsequently called eight consecutive Dominic Rhodes runs before turning the ball over on downs themselves, leaving only 1:42 remaining in regulation. Five plays later, the game was over.

Rhodes rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown, while also catching an 8-yard reception. Addai rushed for 77 yards and caught 10 passes (a Super Bowl record for running backs) for 66 yards. Wilkins returned four kickoffs for 89 yards and 3 punts for 42 yards. Jones was the Bears' top rusher with 112 yards, while also catching four passes for 18 yards. Desmond Clark was the Bears top receiver with six receptions for 64 yards. Grossman completed 20 of 28 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions.

Officials

For an explanation of what officials do during an NFL game see Official (American football).

• Referee: Tony Corrente
  
• Umpire: Carl Paganelli
  
• Head Linesman: George Hayward
  
• Line Judge: Ron Marinucci
  
• Field Judge: Jim Saracino
  
• Side Judge: John Parry
  
• Back Judge: Perry Paganelli
  
• Alternate Referee: Jeff Triplette
  
• Alternate Umpire: Butch Hannah
  
• Alternate Line Judge: Carl Johnson
  
• Alternate Field Judge: Buddy Horton
  
• Alternate Back Judge: Richard Reels
  

Trivia

• Carl and Perry Paganelli are the first brothers to work together in a Super Bowl.
• John Parry's father, Dave Parry, was the side judge for Super Bowl XVII. Dave and John Parry are the second father and son to officiate in Super Bowls, joining Jerry and Jeff Bergman.

Game Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles.

Firsts

Super Bowl XLI saw a number of firsts:

• First Super Bowl presided over by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who succeeded Paul Tagliabue in September 2006.
• First Super Bowl to have a touchdown run in on the opening kick off (Devin Hester, Bears). It was the eighth kick return for a touchdown in a Super Bowl.
  • Hester's score 14 seconds into the game was the quickest in a Super Bowl breaking the San Francisco 49ers' record of 1 minute, 24 seconds which they did in Super Bowl XXIX. That game was also played in Miami at Dolphin Stadium.
• First Super Bowl with a team coached by an African American, let alone both teams being coached by one. Tony Dungy (Colts) and Lovie Smith (Bears) are both African American.
  • Tony Dungy became the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl.
• First Super Bowl to be played in the rain.
• First Super Bowl to have six turnovers in the first half.
• First time a team won a Super Bowl after finishing the regular season ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Indianapolis was also the first team to win the Super Bowl after having a sub-.500 record in December (2-3).

Other Notes

• This game featured two participants ending long Super Bowl appearance droughts.

• The Colts made their first appearance in a Super Bowl since winning Super Bowl V in January 1971 while they were still located in Baltimore.
• The Bears made their first appearance since their 1985 season, in which they defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.

• In four Super Bowls played at Dolphin Stadium, all have had a kickoff returned for a touchdown. Coincidently, all of them have been by the losing team.
• Devin Hester and Reggie Wayne, both of the University of Miami became the first alumni of the same school to score the first two touchdowns in a Super Bowl.
• Adam Vinatieri became the first kicker to ever play in five Super Bowls and the first to win four Super Bowl rings. Vinatieri's three field goals and two extra points gave him a total of 49 points for the entire 2006 post-season, an NFL record.
• Joseph Addai's 10 receptions tied Miami Dolphin Tony Nathan (Super Bowl XIX) for a Super Bowl record.
• Muhsin Muhammad, who also scored a touchdown as a member of the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, became the third player ever to score a touchdown in two different Super Bowls for two different teams, joining Ricky Proehl (St. Louis Rams - Super Bowl XXXVI, Carolina Panthers - Super Bowl XXXVIII) and Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers - Super Bowls XXXIII, XXIV, and XXIX, Oakland Raiders - Super Bowl XXXVII).
• This was the first time that both teams scored touchdowns in the first quarter since Super Bowl XXXII. It was also the first time the NFC team scored a touchdown in the first quarter since that Super Bowl.
• This was the second Super Bowl where both teams scored non-offensive touchdowns. The first was Super Bowl XXXV when both the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants returned kickoffs for touchdowns, as well as a Ravens interception return for a touchdown.
• This was the third Super Bowl to have two players rush for more than 100 yards as Dominic Rhodes had 114 for the Colts and Thomas Jones had 113 for the Bears. The previous Super Bowls in which that happened were Super Bowl III (Matt Snell had 121 for the New York Jets and Tom Matte had 116 for the Colts) and Super Bowl XXV (Ottis Anderson had 102 for the New York Giants and Thurman Thomas had 135 for the Buffalo Bills.
• The NFC won the coin toss for the 10th straight Super Bowl (dating back to Super Bowl XXXII). They are 2-8 in those games and have lost the last four.
• With this game, every division in the NFL has been represented in the Super Bowl since the 2002 realignment.
• In addition to being the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl, Tony Dungy is the third man to win the Super Bowl as a head coach as well as a player (with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII), following Tom Flores (Super Bowl IV with the Kansas City Chiefs and coaching the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowls XV and XVIII) and Mike Ditka (Super Bowl VI with the Dallas Cowboys and coaching the Bears in XX).
• The Colts became the second franchise to win the Super Bowl in two different cities, winning Super Bowl V, held in Miami as the Baltimore Colts, joining the Raiders, who won Super Bowl XI and XV in Oakland, and XVIII in Los Angeles, and the third to play in two different cities, joining the aforementioned Raiders and the Rams (Super Bowl XIV in Los Angeles, and Super Bowls XXXIV and XXXVI in St. Louis.)
• The Colts are the second "dome team" to win the Super Bowl, joining the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, and the first to win a Super Bowl played outdoors.

Commercials

Advertising rates were reported as being slightly higher than in the year before, with CBS confirming a price of $2.6 million (US) for some 30-second spots, compared with $2.5 million during Super Bowl XL. However, CNN reported that after discounts, the average price could be closer to $1.8 to $2 million. Familiar advertisers in recent years such as Anheuser-Busch, CareerBuilder, General Motors and Coca-Cola bought multiple advertising spots, and other popular advertisers like Go Daddy and Emerald Nuts had commercials this year.

The only major hype related to commercials in the months leading up to Super Bowl XLI involved various campaigns to allow consumers to be involved in the creation of Super Bowl ads, inspired by consumer-generated content sites like YouTube. Frito-Lay announced a campaign in September 2006 to allow the public to submit ads for their Doritos brand and vote on the best one, which aired in the Super Bowl. Doritos actually aired two of the ads; the winning ad (featuring a chance meeting with a man and a woman that feature the qualities of Doritos) aired in the first quarter, while a second (with a checkout lady overly enamored with the product) aired in the second quarter. The five finalists each received $10,000 in this contest. General Motors announced a similar contest, open only to college students, for their Chevrolet brand; however, the ad would be produced professionally based on ideas suggested by the public. The winning ad featured men gathering around an HHR model with women in it and stripping off their clothes and giving it a car wash. The NFL itself advertised a similar contest to generate suggestions for a commercial promoting the league, with the winning concept featuring fans' disappointment that their teams' season was over.

The USA Today "Ad Meter" survey chose a Budweiser ad featuring crabs worshiping an ice chest with that particular beer inside as the top ad of Super Bowl XLI, followed by another Bud commercial featuring a stray dog with mud spots climbing onto the brewery's trademark Clydsedale-drawn wagon in a parade. In all, Anheuser-Busch took seven of the top ten spots in the annual survey, sweeping the top three spots. A YouTube user survey chose the Doritos "Snack Hard" ad (produced for the incredible price of $12 US) as their top ad, that ad finished fourth in the USA Today survey.

One ad that drew criticism from the gay community was for the Snickers candy bar featuring two men accidentally "kissing" each other after sharing the product in question, then proceeded to rip chest hairs as a manly act. The ad was killed the next day by Masterfoods USA, Mars, Incorporated's snack food division and three other versions were deleted from the snickers.com web site. The ad was ninth in the USA Today ad survey.

While it wasn't technically a commercial, an internet web site run by Indianapolis-based web content producer Mediasauce called bearvscolt.com featured a daily video of two men - one dressed as a bear, Chicago's mascot, and one dressed as a colt, the mascot of the home team, complete with their own MySpace pages - in zany skits.

Controversies prohibiting fan parties and presentations

Prohibiting tailgating

The NFL upset many fans by banning the traditional practice of tailgating at Super Bowl XLI. Originally, spokesmen for Dolphin Stadium announced that tailgating would be permitted as usual, however the NFL quickly contradicted this statement announcing an NFL owner imposed ban on all tailgating and non-ticketed fans are forbidden within a two-block-radius of the stadium.

Prohibiting church display

The NFL upset a large number of fans by threatening churches with lawsuits if they had Super Bowl parties. Such parties are a long-standing practice of many churches. National Football League assistant counsel Rachel L. Margolies sent a letter to the Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, ordering the church to cancel its party and remove the trademarked Super Bowl name from its website. She said that the church could not use the words "Super Bowl" as it violates trademark law, could not charge admission as that violates copyright law, could not use its projection screen (only one television could be used and it could not be over 55 inches), and could not "promote a message" in connection with the game. Regarding the last point, the Fall Creek Baptist church planned to also show an extra video to highlight the Christian testimonies of Colts coach Tony Dungy and Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith. "While this may be a noble message," Rachel L. Margolies wrote, "we are consistent in refusing the use of our game broadcasts in connection with events that promote a message, no matter the content." In contrast, sports bars nationwide were allowed to show the game, as are businesses that televise sports as part of their everyday operations.

The Indianapolis Star picked up the story, and soon pastors across the U.S. were working to cancel their parties. Immediately the NFL received a backlash of bad publicity, with indignant football fans in constant sarcasm (akin to rules imposed about on-field behavior i.e. taunting opposition teams) referring to the NFL as the "No Fun League." For example, the enforcement of this policy earned the NFL a "Worst Person in the World" silver on the February 2, 2007 edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

After a long series of bad press, the NFL issued a written statement clarifying their policy, saying that they did not object to churches hosting Super Bowl parties so long as they did not charge admission and showed the game on "a television of the type commonly used at home". This statement did not attempt to forbid coordination of any other message with the game, something typically done by churches, nor did it attempt to forbid the use of the term "Super Bowl."

References

1. Press, Associated. "Colts big odds favorites over Bears in Super Bowl XLI". Retrieved 2007-02-06.
2. "Corrente to referee first Super Bowl".
3. "Goodell wants players held accountable".
4. "publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=55057". Retrieved 2007-02-06.
5. Colts-Bears draws No. 3 audience of all time SuperBowl.com, 5 February 2007.
6. "www.suntimes.com/business/feder/244726,CST-FIN-feder06.article". Retrieved 2007-02-06.
7. "www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-greene0607feb06,0,5006266.column?coll=orl-sports-col". Retrieved 2007-02-06.
8. ^ "Super prices for Super Bowl ads". 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2007-01-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "Super Bowl Draws Third-Largest TV Audience Ever". NewsMax.com, Feb. 6, 2007.
10. "Miami awarded 2007 Super Bowl". NFL.com. 2003-09-17. Retrieved 2006-12-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
11. ^ Talalay, Sarah (2006-02-17). "Committee Unveils Logo, Theme". Sun-Sentinel. p. 7C. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "Judge allows Bears' Johnson to play in Super Bowl". Reuters/The Boston Globe. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 2007-02-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
13. "www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/16594390.htm". Retrieved 2007-02-06.
14. "CBS Sports announces NFL TV schedule". CBS Sports. 2006-04-06. Retrieved 2006-12-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "CBS Sports NFL schedule". CBS Sports. 2006-04-09. Retrieved 2006-12-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "Westwood One press release". 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. CBS announcer's comment during the national anthem
18. ^ "Worldwide media coverage of Super Bowl XLI". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
19. For the last decade SBS6 used to broadcast the game in The Netherlands. However, this year only NASN will be showing the Super Bowl.
20. "Cirque du Soleil to perform in Super Bowl XLI pregame show". SuperBowl.com. 2007-01-09. Retrieved 2006-01-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
21. "Joel Heading South For Super Bowl, Shows". Billboard.com. 2006-11-28. Retrieved 2006-12-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
22. "Marlee Matlin and Jason Hay-Southwell to Sign National Anthem During Billy Joel Performance at Super Bowl XLI on CBS". Elitestv.com. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
23. "Marino, Shula to be honored at Super Bowl XLI". SuperBowl.com. 2006-12-14. Retrieved 2006-12-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
24. "Prince to perform at Super Bowl halftime". SuperBowl.com. 2006-12-10. Retrieved 2006-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
25. "Marching 100 to play with Prince". Tallahassee.com. 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2007-01-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
26. ^ Dave Hoekstra (February 5, 2007). "Purple rain turned super". Retrieved on Feb. 5, 2007
27. "A Noncontroversial Prince, Just the Way the N.F.L. Likes Him". NYTimes.com. 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
28. Brad Kava (Sunday, February 04, 2007). "Mini Review: Prince At Superbowl". Mercury News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Retrieved on Feb. 5, 2007
29. Associated Press (Monday, February 05, 2007). "No Malfunction as Prince Rocks Halftime". New York Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Retrieved on Feb. 5, 2007
30. "Notebook". Mercurynews.com. 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
31. "Some Super Bowl ads to be work of 'ordinary people'". Retrieved 2007-01-17.
32. "NFL Officials Ban Tailgating at Super Bowl XLI". WSVN.com. 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
33. Stephanie Simon (2007-02-03). "No sanctuary for Super Bowl flock: Churches scramble to cancel parties after an NFL warning". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-02-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
34. Bob Unruh (2007-02-02). "Church Super Bowl festivities may go on: NFL says just do not charge admission fees to parties". WorldNetDaily.com. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
35. "cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9971155". Retrieved 2007-02-06.

External links

• Official Super Bowl website
• Host committee website
• Game summary at NFL.com

• 2006 National Football League season
• 2007 in American football
• 2007 in the United States
• Super Bowl
• The NFL on CBS
• Sports in Miami
• Chicago Bears
• Indianapolis Colts