NFL in a rush for Super Bowl in cold weather city?

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Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011
9:04 a.m.

By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com

Dan Patrick said it: Would you want the Super Bowl played in these conditions?

And the lingering question after that is whether or not the NFL is going to be in any rush to award Super Bowls to weather-vulnerable cities (any come to mind?)

Flipping on The Dan Patrick Show and seeing Dan and his guys in parkas, sniffling and hunkering in an outdoor broadcast at Dallas, which is getting whacked with freezing rain and windthis is a first.

Daryl Johnston dropped by and didnt put in a vote for Super Bowls in this kind of weather.

Im not a fan of that, Johnston said. And he nailed the big concern: If this happened Thursday or Friday when people were traveling to the game, that would be a big problem.

Johnston recounted a chat with Brian Urlacher before the Seattle playoff game and said that Urlacher was leaning toward Troy Polamalu, then caught himself, saying, Of course, behind Julius Peppers.

Peppers (4th) and Urlacher (5th) lost out in voting for defensive player of the year, behind winner Polamalu for the Steelers, Green Bays Clay Matthews and Pittsburghs James Harrison. Hard to argue with the results. If you were having a pickup game and had first pick, for your defense, which would you take?

Best ever?

Dan veered into the debate over the greatest team in NFL history and his call was the 70s Pittsburgh Steelers, although he didnt clarify whether it was for one particular season or just overall.

No argument on the greatest overall. But the 85 Bears still command that honor for a single season. As John Madden said in doing the Forward for my book, The Rise and Self-Destruction of the Greatest Football Team in History, I coached against those Steelers teams; the Bears were better.

Good enough for me.

But Dan is spot-on about Terry Bradshaw never receiving proper credit among the all-time greats at quarterback. Bradshaw won four rings with those Steelers and suffers in the greatest debates because the rest of his team was so off-the-charts good.

You wonder if that is going to be the fate of Ben Roethlisberger, who is within sight on his third Super Bowl win and hasnt turned 29 yet.

Just a random thought here: The greatest quarterback of all time is one of Joe Montana, Otto Graham or Tom Brady.

But after them: Peyton Manning has won a Super Bowl and lost last years. Bradshaw won all four he reached and delivered winning plays in more than one. Roethlisberger plays his best in big games.

So youre in a Super Bowl and you have your choice of Bradshaw, Manning or Roethlisbergeryour call?

Remember, its a passer rating, not a quarterback rating. A quarterback is the sine qua non of a football team, and as good as Manning ishas been, how does he compare in the overall?

After the Big Three, the call here is easy: 1) Bradshaw; 2) Roethlisberger; 3) Manning.

John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider, and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.

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