Notable local fingerprints on Lombardi Trophy
Pitt football has had no shortage of connections to the Super Bowl since the game was first played in 1967. The Panthers have had 48 players who went on to compete in the big game, with more than half of that group (25) coming out on the winning end at least once in their careers.
In addition to contributions on the field, former Panthers have contributed to Super Bowl efforts in other areas. From coaching to scouting and even the broadcast booth, plenty of Pitt men have left their fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy. While it would be nearly impossible to list every connection, here are some of the more notable Panthers that have left their mark on Super Bowl history:
Leading the charge
The roots to Pitt’s first appearance in the big game stem just a few months after the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I. Looking to add depth to its defense, Green Bay selected Jim Flanigan in the second round of the 1967 NFL draft.
In his rookie season, Flanigan served as a reserve linebacker on Vince Lombardi’s defense, which dominated on football’s greatest stage the following year, winning Super Bowl II against the Oakland Raiders, 33-14. Flanigan would go on to play four more seasons in the NFL before calling it a career in 1971.
Home sweet home
Just a few years after Flanigan, one of the program’s most celebrated talents made his first of many Super Bowl appearances.
Nearing the end of his
Hall of Fame career, Mike Ditka saw time on the field for the Dallas Cowboys in both Super Bowl V and VI. Ditka’s touchdown catch in Super Bowl VI — a 24-3 Cowboys victory vs. the Miami Dolphins — serves as one of the final great moments in his storied playing career.
After transitioning from the field to the sideline, Ditka went on to appear in the big game four more times as a coach — three as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys (X, XII & XIII) and the fourth being Super Bowl XX, where, as a head coach, he led the Chicago Bears to a 46-10 rout of the New England Patriots. Ditka’s Super Bowl-winning team featured Jimbo Covert, a consensus All-American offensive tackle for Pitt in 1982 that went on to have a Hall of Fame career in Chicago.
Ditka’s six Super Bowl appearances tie him with Russ Grimm for the most of any former Panther who coached and played in the NFL. He is still the only former Pitt football alumnus who has earned the right to call himself a Super Bowlwinning head coach.
Continued greatness
After concluding his illustrious collegiate career at Pitt with both a Heisman trophy and a national championship in 1976, Tony Dorsett kept the good times rolling in his rookie NFL season. He played a large role in helping the Cowboys earn their second title in the form of a 27-10 victory against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.
He returned to the Super Bowl the following year, where he and his team fell to the Steelers, 35-31. Dorsett rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in his Super Bowl debut. He followed that with a better showing the next year, tallying 96 yards rushing on 16 carries, plus 44 receiving yards on five receptions.
Quadruple Yoi!
Away from the field, legendary Steelers color analyst Myron Cope, a Pitt alumnus, made history of his own in the late 1970s, as he became the first color analyst to broadcast four Super Bowl victories for the team he covered.
Cope remained in the Steelers broadcast booth until the 2005 season. Just one year into retirement, Cope watched with pride as the Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl (XL) with a 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Paving the way
It’s hard to argue that any offensive line boasts more Super Bowl prestige as a unit than “the Hogs.” An iconic unit for the bulk of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Redskins’ front five paved the way for four Super Bowl appearances and three championships from 1982 through 1991.
While the unit was best known as a collective whole, two of the Hogs’ key pieces were former Pitt standouts Russ Grimm and Mark May. Grimm and May played together for Washington in three Super Bowls, where they won twice (XVII & XXII).
After watching May depart to the San Diego Chargers in free agency, Grimm played in and won another Super Bowl with Washington in the 1991 season, when the Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24. Grimm’s four Super Bowl appearances as a player tie him with Fred Cox, a kicker for the Minnesota Vikings, for the most of any Pitt alumnus.
Heroics and heartbreak
The best individual performance by a Panther in the Super Bowl also took place in one of the event’s best overall games.
Matched against the league’s best defense, Larry Fitzgerald delivered a bigtime effort for the Cardinals against the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, hauling in seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Fitzgerald’s scores came in the final quarter. His second, a 64yard catch and run, put the Cardinals ahead with less than three minutes remaining.
Had it not been for Santonio Holmes’ game-winning response in the final minute, Fitzgerald would
have likely been the game’s MVP. But instead, Fitzgerald and his teammates watched as the Steelers celebrated the franchise’s sixth championship after securing a 27-23 victory.
Game over
Pitt’s most recent former player to win a Super Bowl came just two years ago, when Aaron Donald added yet another notable moment to what will be a Hall of Fame career by helping the Rams defeat the Bengals, 2320, in Super Bowl LVI.
With less than a minute remaining and Cincinnati approaching nearing field goal range, the Bengals championship dreams came to an end because of Donald, whose rush on Joe Burrow
was enough to force an incompletion on 4th-and-1 from the Rams’ 49. Donald finished the game with two sacks and four total tackles.
This year
While there are no former Panthers who will play in this year’s Super Bowl, Pitt’s program still has connections with both teams. Rick Burkholder, a Pitt alumnus, serves as the vice president of sports medicine and performance for the Chiefs, while Dom DeCicco, a former two-time All-Big East safety for the Panthers, now works in the San Francisco 49ers’ scouting department.