Super Bowls are legacy games. How we remember some players, coaches and others involved in the NFL’s championship game is dictated by how many rings they end up with.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks met 11 years ago in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever, and think about how the legacies of those involved in that game changed based on one Malcolm Butler interception. This Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl will also shape how we think about some of the key figures involved.
Here are the 10 people involved in Super Bowl LX with the most on the line, in terms of their legacies within the sport:
10. Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence
Remember when DeMarcus Ware left the Cowboys, won a Super Bowl with the Broncos and ended up making the Hall of Fame? Lawrence doesn’t have anywhere near the Hall of Fame case that Ware had, but winning a title after his “I know for sure I’m not gonna win a Super Bowl there” comment about the Cowboys on his way out of town would be a pretty impressive called shot.
9. Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick
This seems like a stretch, but a Patriots Super Bowl title only two years after Belichick left New England wouldn’t enhance his legacy. Fair or not, it took a hit when Tom Brady won a Super Bowl without him in Tampa Bay. If the Patriots rebuild quickly after Belichick left and win another Super Bowl, the impressive nature of building a formerly sad-sack franchise into a dynasty will fade just a touch more. Or, it could also be argued that a championship led by Mike Vrabel (Belichick’s former player) and Josh McDaniels (his longtime offensive coordinator) would actually look good on Belichick. Either way, Belichick does loom over this Super Bowl a bit even if he’s not there.
8. Patriots WR Stefon Diggs
Diggs had a run as one of the elite receivers in the NFL, including leading the league in receptions and receiving yards in 2020. He made one of the iconic plays in postseason history with the “Minneapolis Miracle” for the Vikings. He’ll be remembered no matter what happens on Super Bowl Sunday. But a Super Bowl ring, as the leading receiver for the Patriots this season, would boost his career even more.
7. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald
In this exercise, every Super Bowl coach and quarterback will make the list. More than any other position in the NFL, head coach and quarterback are judged on titles. Macdonald already has an impressive start to his head-coaching career, having led Seattle to a Super Bowl in his second Seahawks season at age 38. He’s an unquestioned defensive wizard. He presumably has a lot of time to win a Super Bowl if this opportunity passes him by. But getting a first title would cement him as one of the NFL’s best coaches, especially considering his age.
6. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels
One of the questions from last year’s Super Bowl was whether Steve Spagnuolo was building the type of résumé that would get consideration for him to be the first coach to make the Hall of Fame based on his work as a coordinator. Is it time to have the same conversation about McDaniels? McDaniels was bad as the head coach of the Broncos and Raiders, but he is one of the most successful coordinators ever. He can tie Spagnuolo’s record by winning his fourth Super Bowl ring as a coordinator (he has six rings overall as an assistant). He hasn’t even turned 50 years old yet. Winning a ring without Bill Belichick and Tom Brady would be a great look for him.
5. Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Smith-Njigba had a monster season that is likely to include an NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. There’s not much argument about his ability after he led the NFL in receiving yards. But if he adds a Super Bowl ring to that, he would start to have an argument as the NFL’s best receiver over Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson and others who don’t have a title on their résumé. And JSN is just three years into his career. It’s also worth mentioning that if the Seahawks win, Smith-Njigba has a pretty good shot of being Super Bowl MVP.
4. Patriots QB Drake Maye
You will hear that Maye, in his second season, will have other opportunities to win a Super Bowl. He will be the second-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl. The youngest on that list is Dan Marino, who started once and never made it back. So nothing is guaranteed. Being the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl, at the end of a season in which he’ll finish in the top two of the NFL MVP voting, would put Maye on a fast track to be one of the faces of the league for the next decade. He might be on that path already, but you never know when a Super Bowl opportunity will be your last.
3. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel
Only four men have won a Super Bowl as a player and head coach: Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy, Tom Flores and Doug Pederson. Vrabel can be the fifth on that list, and the first to win as a player and coach for the same franchise. Vrabel is already widely respected, though his time with the Tennessee Titans ended without a Super Bowl appearance and in a messy firing. Winning a Super Bowl in his first season coaching the Patriots would push Vrabel even higher on the ranking of current NFL coaches (and bring more shame to the Titans in firing him).
2. Patriots owner Robert Kraft
Kraft is already a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist in the contributor category this year. While it can be argued if team owners belong in the Hall, others have made it and Kraft’s Patriots have had more success than the other recent inductees. If Kraft’s Patriots win a Super Bowl without Tom Brady or Bill Belichick, he’d be the main figure connected to all seven New England championships. And his decision to fire Jerod Mayo and hire Mike Vrabel this past offseason already is a good look for him. Owners generally get too much credit, but Kraft’s reputation would grow with another Super Bowl.
1. Seahawks QB Sam Darnold
Darnold still gets scorn every time he makes a mistake. Presumably, people just don’t want to admit they were wrong about him and give him credit. A Super Bowl win makes it very hard to keep piling on Darnold for not playing well enough in big games. Darnold is a rare case, a quarterback who was drafted high, labeled a bust, then rebounded to become a productive quarterback and a potential Super Bowl winner. Super Bowl championships for any starting quarterback cements a legacy. We remember each one. For Darnold, who is just 28 years old, it might not be a one-off like Nick Foles, Trent Dilfer or Jeff Hostetler winning it all. It could be the start of him building an entirely new, unique and unexpected legacy.
