Legends row: The names that define the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is where legends are born and moments are frozen in time. The following 20 individuals embody the rich history of the sport's grandest stage.
(Names are listed in order of their first Super Bowl appearance. Let us know in the comments who you would add.)
Vince Lombardi, Packers coach
Super Bowl appearances: I🏆, II🏆
Football's most famous coach - for whom its grand trophy is named - won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968 after leading the Packers to five NFL championships in seven years. Lombardi was the preeminent genius of his era and the godfather of a Green Bay dynasty. He resigned after Super Bowl II and died less than three years later.
Joe Namath, Jets QB
Super Bowl appearances: III🏆
Days after guaranteeing victory as an 18-point underdog, "Broadway Joe" led the AFL's Jets to a 16-7 win over the NFL's Baltimore Colts. To this day, it's the largest upset in Super Bowl history. The AFL was considered inferior up to that point, especially since the Packers smoked their teams in the first two Super Bowls. But Namath made good on his promise and validated his league, paving the way for the AFL and NFL to merge in 1970.
Don Shula, Colts/Dolphins coach
Super Bowl appearances: III, VI🏆, VII🏆, VIII, XVII, XIX
After losing to Namath and the Jets, Shula left Baltimore for Miami, where he became a Super Bowl mainstay and the winningest coach of all time. He led the 1972 Dolphins to the only perfect season in NFL history and then won another title the next year. He took three more trips to the grand stage, though a third ring eluded him.
Terry Bradshaw, Steelers QB
Super Bowl appearances: IX🏆, X🏆, XIII🏆, XIV🏆
The original TB12 went 4-0 in Super Bowls, orchestrating a Steelers dynasty in the back half of the 1970s. He retired as the only quarterback to win three Super Bowls, never mind four. Football looks a lot different today, so his numbers don't sound gaudy, but at the time, Bradshaw's 932 passing yards and nine touchdowns were Super Bowl career records.
Joe Montana, 49ers QB
Super Bowl appearances: XVI🏆, XIX🏆, XXIII🏆, XXIV🏆
"Joe Cool" ruled the 1980s and matched Bradshaw with a 4-0 record in Super Bowls. Montana prevailed in high-profile quarterback battles with Ken Anderson, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, and John Elway, and he won three game MVPs. He threw 11 touchdowns and never committed an interception in his Super Bowl career.
Marcus Allen, Raiders RB
Super Bowl appearances: XVIII🏆
Some call it the greatest run in Super Bowl history. In January 1984, Allen took a handoff to the left, only to see a slew of Washington defenders. So he stopped, turned around, went back inside, and sprinted 74 yards for the longest touchdown run the Super Bowl had ever seen, a record that stood for 22 years. The game MVP ran for 117 yards and a touchdown on his other 19 carries.
William Perry, Bears DT
Super Bowl appearances: XX🏆
At well over 300 pounds, "The Refrigerator" became the heaviest player to score a Super Bowl touchdown when he steamrolled Patriots linebacker Larry McGrew on a goal-line carry. Bears coach Mike Ditka occasionally deployed the hefty defender on offense. Perry put the Bears up 44-3 and punctuated their dominant 1985 season.
Bill Belichick, Giants DC/Patriots coach
Super Bowl appearances: XXI🏆, XXV🏆, XXXI, XXXVI🏆, XXXVIII🏆, XXXIX🏆, XLII, XLVI, XLIX🏆, LI🏆, LII, LIII🏆
Belichick's Super Bowl journey began with the Giants, where he won two of his record eight titles as Bill Parcells' defensive coordinator. His game plan from Super Bowl XXV - in which he baited the high-paced, pass-happy Bills into running the ball - is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Belichick went on to win six championships as a head coach with the Patriots, grabbing three in the 2000s and three in the 2010s.
John Elway, Broncos QB
Super Bowl appearances: XXI, XXII, XXIV, XXXII🏆, XXXIII🏆, 50 (as GM)🏆
For the longest time, Elway couldn't win the big one. All of that changed in 1998 when, at 37, he defeated Brett Favre and the Packers to capture the elusive title. He won it again the next year along with Super Bowl MVP honors and rode off into the sunset with his Hall of Fame resume complete. Elway picked up a third ring at Super Bowl 50 as the Broncos' architect.
Doug Williams, Washington QB
Super Bowl appearances: XXII🏆
Williams became the first Black quarterback to both start and win a Super Bowl when he led Washington to victory over Elway's Broncos. Williams, who underwent a root canal the day before, put up a record-breaking 331 passing yards in the win. Want to know the best part? Williams went 0-2 in his only two starts of that 1987 regular season.
Jerry Rice, 49ers/Raiders WR
Super Bowl appearances: XXIII🏆, XXIV🏆, XXIX🏆, XXXVII
Rice owns single-game Super Bowl records for receptions (11), receiving yards (215), and touchdowns (3). He also holds the career Super Bowl records for receptions (33), receiving yards (589), and touchdowns (8). The most decorated wideout of all time went to his last Super Bowl with the Raiders, posting five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown at age 40.
Scott Norwood, Bills K
Super Bowl appearances: XXV, XXVI
This one's harsh, but you can't write Super Bowl history without mentioning its most notorious field-goal miss. Norwood had a 47-yard attempt to beat the Giants in 1991 and could've gifted the Bills their first Super Bowl, but his ball sailed wide right. The Bills made it back to the next three Super Bowls, and Norwood accompanied them in 1992 (and made every kick), but Buffalo lost those, too.
Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner/GM
Super Bowl appearances: XXVII🏆, XXVIII🏆, XXX🏆
The '70s had the Steelers, the '80s had the 49ers, and the '90s had Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. Jones purchased America's Team in 1989 on the heels of a 3-13 season, then hired coach Jimmy Johnson and built a behemoth that rolled to championships in 1993 and 1994. A rift with Johnson led to a coaching change, but Jones got his hands on a third trophy without him in 1996.
Adam Vinatieri, Patriots/Colts K
Super Bowl appearances: XXXI, XXXVI🏆, XXXVIII🏆, XXXIX🏆, XLI🏆
Only four Super Bowls have ended on a field goal, and half of them came off Vinatieri's foot. The longtime Patriot kicked walk-off winners against the Rams and Panthers in a three-year span and won his third title against the Eagles as New England stamped its early-2000s dynasty. Vinatieri signed with the rival Colts in 2006 and snagged his fourth ring.
Mike Jones, Rams LB
Super Bowl appearances: XXXIV🏆
Jones had a fairly ordinary career - except for when he tackled Titans receiver Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line on the final play of the 1999 season. That play saved the Super Bowl for the Rams and turned Jones into one of the most important figures in the game's history. The Rams let him go one year later while seeking cap space.
Tom Brady, Patriots/Buccaneers QB
Super Bowl appearances: XXXVI🏆, XXXVIII🏆, XXXIX🏆, XLII, XLVI, XLIX🏆, LI🏆, LII, LIII🏆, LV🏆
At the time of his retirement in 2023, Brady had appeared in 17.5% of all Super Bowls. The seven-time champion owns countless Super Bowl records, including five MVP awards and the largest comeback in game history. Brady won his first title in 2002 against the Rams as a fresh-faced 24-year-old and his last in 2021 against the Chiefs as a grizzled 43-year-old.
Eli Manning, Giants QB
Super Bowl appearances: XLII🏆, XLVI🏆
Manning had the Patriots' number. He spoiled their bid for a perfect 2007 season with a miraculous downfield completion to David Tyree and a go-ahead touchdown in the waning moments of Super Bowl XLII. And he took down the Patriots again four seasons later, with a pinpoint shot down the sideline to Mario Manningham producing another image for the scrapbook.
Santonio Holmes, Steelers WR
Super Bowl appearances: XLIII🏆
Holmes only appeared in one Super Bowl, but he sure made it count. On second-and-goal with under a minute left against the Cardinals in 2009, Holmes hauled in a Ben Roethlisberger pass at the back corner of the end zone, narrowly managing to tap his toes inbounds before tumbling to the ground. The game-winning catch etched Holmes into Steelers and Super Bowl lore.
Malcolm Butler, Patriots CB
Super Bowl appearances: XLIX🏆, LI🏆, LII
The Seahawks were 1 yard away from repeating as champions in 2015 when an undrafted rookie from West Alabama jumped Russell Wilson's slant pass and intercepted it at the goal line. But everyone is still wondering what happened at Super Bowl LII: Butler played just one special-teams snap in a game where the Patriots allowed 41 points and lost to the Eagles.
Nick Foles, Eagles QB
Super Bowl appearances: LII🏆
On paper, Foles versus Brady was a mismatch reminiscent of David versus Goliath. But Foles, a veteran backup pressed into action late in the 2018 season, never got the memo. He threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns against the Patriots and caught a touchdown on the "Philly Special" trick play, outshining Brady in the second-highest scoring Super Bowl of all time.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs QB
Super Bowl appearances: LIV🏆, LV, LVII🏆, LVIII🏆, LIX
Mahomes earned his place in the Super Bowl history books by carrying the Chiefs to five appearances in his first seven seasons as a starter. He executed fourth-quarter comebacks in his three wins, tossed the overtime touchdown in Super Bowl LVIII against the 49ers, and became a three-time Super Bowl MVP before turning 29.