Playing Like Professionals

At the beginning of each NFL playoff game, the starting line ups of both teams introduce themselves and identify the team they played for at the previous level. In most cases, this means college. This can either be a connection or separation for these professional players.

Hines Ward and Leonard Pope are receivers on the Steelers and Cardinals, respectively. What they have in common is their affiliation to the University of Georgia. In fact, the University of Georgia is the only school that can claim three players that have been named Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. The first two are Jake Scott of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins and Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos in 1998. Hines Ward won the third back in 2005.

Santonio Holmes, the Steelers receiver that received the honor of MVP this year (along with the game winning touchdown pass), attended an Ohio State University. Two of his teammates when to rival Michigan. This is not uncommon for players from rival schools to wind up at the same professional organization.

Despite these differences at the collegiate level, they play together and act as professionals.

Just as there are some players who represent a major college football powerhouse, there are also those who existed as big fish in a small pond. Big Ben Roethlisberger was a standout at Miami University in Ohio before being drafted by the Steelers. Also unusual, Arizona punter Ben Graham is the first Australian-native to play in a Super Bowl.

There is a dynamic difference between player-team relationships at the two levels. College teams demand a higher loyalty from its players because the players select the colleges themselves during recruiting and rarely play for more than one team. Professional players, however, are often traded and can be drafted by any team regardless of previous player affiliations. In addition, college rivalries are stronger for those same reasons.

Just as a point of reference, Bruce Springsteen, who performed at halftime, did not attend college.