The New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17, in overtime Sunday to clinch the NFC title. Earlier on Sunday, the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Raves, 23-20, to win the AFC title.
Many of you will remember the last time that the Giants faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl. That was in 2008 when New England entered the title game with a perfect record only to have its dream season ended by Eli Manning and the Giants.
I suspect that the Patriots will be out for a little revenge this year, and I think they’ll be too much for the Giants to handle this year.
Even my Magic Eight Ball agreed. When I asked it if the Patriots would win the Super Bowl this year, its answer was “Absolutely!”
Both teams include players with Alabama ties.
Patriots players with Alabama connections include former Alabama defensive ends Mark Anderson and Brandon Deaderick.
Giants players with Alabama ties include former Troy wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan, former Troy kicker Lawrence Tynes, former Troy defensive end Osi Umenyiora and former Alabama State cornerback Michael Coe.
During the past week, the state tourism department also released its list of Top 10 events for the month of February and this month’s list includes a couple of sports-related items.
The Mercedes-Benz Marathon Weekend will be held Feb. 10-12 in Birmingham with the race to be held on Feb. 12. On Feb. 24, the 25th Annual Shelby County Cattlemen’s Rodeo will be held in Columbiana. The rodeo event features chuck wagon races, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and bareback riding.
Also during the past week, the Alabama Sports Writers Association named Daphne running back T.J. Yeldon as the 30th recipient of the ASWA’s Mr. Football Award.
Yeldon was a great player at Daphne and Alabama Crimson Tide fans in the audience will be happy to hear that the 6-foot-2, 210-pound running back has already enrolled at The Capstone.
As the winner of the Mr. Football Award, Yeldon joins a select fraternity of great players from the state’s prep football past.
Vigor’s Tommy Compton won the first-ever Mr. Football Award in 1982 and other winners over the years have included Pierre Goode of Hazlewood, David Palmer of Jackson-Olin, Freddie Kitchens of Etowah, Carnell Williams of Etowah, Brandon Cox of Hewitt-Trussville, JaMarcus Russell of Williamson, Andre Smith of Huffman, Julio Jones of Foley and Clint Moseley of Leroy.
Yeldon put up some impressive numbers while at Daphne. As a senior, he carried the ball 231 times for 2,196 total yards, an average of 9.6 yards per carry. He also finished the year with 31 touchdowns and rushed for over 300 yards on two occasions. No doubt he’ll make a welcome addition to The Tide’s already stacked offensive backfield.
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