Pro Football Fan Site

PFT: The Cardinals haven’t been especially effusive in their support of new starting quarterback Matt Leinart. All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald says he’s got Leinart’s back.

MIAMI — Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information, we’ve got a good omen for Reggie Bush and New Orleans fans.



Bush is a running back and he’s originally from San Diego. Those two items are somewhat significant. Running backs from San Diego have a strong history in Super Bowls.



Here’s a look:



Marcus Allen — Super Bowl XVIII — 20 Rush, 191 yards, 2 TDs vs. Redskins (Super Bowl MVP)



Allen used Super Bowl XVIII as his personal race track rushing for 191 yards on 20 carries in a blowout victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Redskins, 38-9. The most memorable play of that Super Bowl came when Allen scampered for a 74-yard touchdown. Allen took home MVP honors and gave Al Davis and the Raiders his last Super Bowl victory.



Terrell Davis — Super Bowl XXXII — 30 Rush, 157 yards, 3 TDs vs. Packers (Super Bowl MVP)



Super Bowl XXXII was a homecoming for the San Diego native Davis and he did not disappoint in his hometown. Davis carried the ball 30 times for 157 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner. To cap off the perfect game, Davis took the MVP award, giving John Elway and the Broncos the first Super Bowl win in franchise history while denying Brett Favre his second straight Super Bowl title. Davis rushed for over 100 yards despite battling migraines throughout the game.



Davis — Super Bowl XXXIII — 25 Rush, 102 yards vs. Falcons



The next year, Davis and the Broncos returned for an encore in Super Bowl XXXIII, this time in Miami against the Falcons. Davis had another 100-yard performance rushing for 102 yards in the 34-19 win over Atlanta . Davis played well, but the spotlight belonged to Elway, who passed for 336 yards and a touchdown in what would be his last game.

MIAMI — He strolled in to Wednesday’s media session about 20 minutes late and offered no real explanation. But Jeremy Shockey offered just about everything else.



The New Orleans tight end, spoke for a good 20 minutes and didn’t hold much back. For the next 15 minutes, Shockey covered ground from Miami to New York to New Orleans. Never known for being a team leader, Shockey revealed that he has talked to the Saints about the temptations of Miami.



“Having lived here, I’ve done every temptation there is in the offseason,’’ Shockey said. “I was telling all the guys on the team, you’re going to be invited to every party. You’re going to be approached by every girl. You’re going to have movie-star status. Just resist that for one week and, then, we’ll come back and I’ll pay for everyone’s plane ticket and I will show you around Miami, the local style.’’



Shockey also talked a lot about his days at the University of Miami and especially about his relationship with New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who was Shockey’s teammate with the Hurricanes. They both went to New York — Shockey to the Giants and Vilma to the Jets — before being traded separately to the Saints before the 2008 season.



“He got drafted to New York and I got drafted by a New York team,’’ Shockey said. “We’ve never really been far away from each other. He got traded here and then my trade went down and I was just ecstatic to be back with him. Seeing him play in New York and how he got treated in New York wasn’t right. He proved to his team that they made a bad decision in getting rid of him. He’s had a great year. Our friendship is strong and it will remain strong for a long time.’’



Shockey also answered a lot of questions about his previous Super Bowl, which wasn’t super for him. He had a broken leg and couldn’t play and there was controversy that the Giants might have been better off without him. You’ve heard Shockey’s side of the story many times before so we won’t rehash that, but he was emphatic that he was happy his teammates won the Super Bowl.



“I wasn’t forced out of New York,’’ Shockey said. “It was more of an option than anything. It was just my time to leave. No matter what happened when I came back, even if I had my best season ever, it would be a distraction just because of the stories that were written before the Super Bowl.’’



Shockey, who has said before he’s been fined by coach Sean Payton for talking about injuries, wouldn’t talk much about the knee problem that’s been hampering him for several weeks.



“I’m doing good,’’ Shockey said.



Then, he suddenly turned it all off.



“That’s it,’’ Shockey said. “I’ve got to go catch a bus [to practice], fellas.’’

MIAMI — The NFL has announced the officiating crew for Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV.



Scott Green will be the referee and lead the seven man crew. Green served as back judge in two previous Super Bowls and has officiated 12 playoff games in a 19-year career. Joining him will be umpire Undrey Wash, head linesman John McGrath, line judge Jeff Seeman, field judge Rob Vernatchi, side judge Greg Meyer and back judge Greg Steed.



Jim Lapetina will be the replay assistant and Jim Pearson will be the video operator.

Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney says his ankle is feeling better and he is taking it one day at a time.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A quick vignette from the NFL media center.

McMahon

Chris Nowinski, the former Harvard player who now runs the brain bank at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, was talking with former Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler and former Buffalo Bills lineman Ross Tucker.



That’s a Harvard guy, a Dartmouth guy and a Princeton guy, talking about medical research.Tucker handed Nowinski his card and volunteered to donate his brain to the center.



Then legendary party boy Jim McMahon came strolling by.



Tucker stopped McMahon to introduce him to Nowinski.



“I would like to see this brain,” Tucker said, pointing to McMahon’s shaved head.



After a bit of salesmanship from Nowinski, McMahon reluctantly took his business card and walked away shaking his head.

Mike Florio thinks there are larger tactics at play behind Philadelphia’s reported decision not to trade Michael Vick during the offseason. (NBC Sports)

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan will not be fined by the NFL for making an obscene gesture at a mixed martial arts event last weekend.

No, I’m not passing along a link to this piece because it includes a link to one of my blog posts.



I just thought you might enjoy a take on Jim Caldwell from a much different perspective than you get here or most of the other places we generally do our Colts reading.



Robin Bates is both a big Colts fan and an English professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.



His blog, “Better Living Through Beowulf,” has taken a Colts turn this week, and I found this piece on Caldwell to be an interesting read.



It picks up on one point I’ve made this week: Caldwell is monotone and admittedly often intentionally unrevealing. But asked a thoughtful question on a topic he feels he has room to discuss, and you get quite a thoughtful answer. Because of his delivery it’s often better in ESPN.com’s AFC South Blog or “Better Living Through Beowulf” than it is on television, and because we want our television sound bites, he tends to be underplayed.



Curious what you think. Unless you hate it. Then keep a lid on it, OK?

Super Bowl Wednesday from Paul Kuharsky on Vimeo.

Paul Kuharsky ponders Dwight Freeney, guys on IR and practice squader Brandon Harrison.