SUPER BOWL CATCHES
'YES WE CAN' FEVER!

The 'YES WE CAN' fever has struck this year's Super Bowl!

In the Black College Sports Page's celebration of the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, we are taking a look at black figures in sports whose accomplishments and achievements proudly proclaim the theme of the new U. S. president historically and today.

That is no more evident today than in the soon-to-be contested Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay.

Pictured above in the neon glow of their team's colors are Pittsburgh Steelers' Head Coach Mike Tomlin (l.) and Arizona Cardinals' General Manager Rod Graves (r.) whose respective teams will take the field on February 1st to crown the champion of American football.

It's clear that these African-American men stand on the shoulders of many others that have come before them, many of them pictured in this edition of the BCSP. But they also represent a continuation of the new president's theme reflected in the lives of all those pictured here - a realization that thru hard work, dedication, a commitment to excellence and a determination to live out your dreams, anything is possible.

It' somewhat ironic that however last weekend's NFL Conference finals had turned out would have reflected well on the 'YES WE CAN' theme.

While the Steelers had a black head coach and the Cardinals a black GM, both Philadelphia and Baltimore had variations on the same theme. Donavan McNabb was the Eagles' starting quarterback and Ozzie Newsome is the Ravens' GM.

But you may ask, 'what's all of this got to do with black college sports?' which is, after all, the theme of this publication. Well, we can make that case, too. Try this.

Mike Tomlin's father, Ed, attended and played football at Hampton University for head coach Melvin Labat. Yes, the same Hampton Pirates that the BCSP covers on a weekly basis. And we hear he was pretty good.

In fact, according to one of his teammates (Charles Smith) who is a friend of the BCSP editor, the elder Tomlin had NFL skills. As a 6-2, 225-pound fullback at Hampton in the mid 1960s, Ed, according to this source, was a true talent.

Graves' father, the late Jackie Graves, was a scout for the Philadelphia Eagles and those bloodlines came in handy as Rod spent 13 years with the Chicago Bears in various personnel capacities. He joined the Cardinals in 1997, assumed responsibility for the scouting department in 1998 and became vice president for football operations in 2002 after six years as special assistant to the president. He currently serves as the team's general manager.

Graves oversees all facets of the Cardinals' football operations including contract negotiations, overseeing college and professional scouting efforts.

In that role, he can be held responsible for drafting the only black college product playing in Super Bowl XLIII - budding star Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the defensive back out of Tennessee State taken in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. The rookie cornerback has six interceptions in the 11 games he has started and is already assigned the opposing team's top receiver.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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