Carolina Panthers Football Team

It is hard to imagine, watching DeShaun Foster sitting on his makeshift throne at media day, diamond earrings, diamond bracelet, sparkling smile. It is hard to envision, watching him tug at his teal and white Carolina Panther jersey, bursting out of his uniform and into the coolest Sunday in sports. But, you know, this could have happened three years ago. His crown could have been the Heisman Trophy. His championship contender could have been UCLA.

Bill Belichick may be one of the smartest coaches in Super Bowl history, but he is also perhaps the worst-dressed, his sideline attire ranging from ugly gray sweatshirts to ugly gray hooded sweatshirts. "I didn't realize it was a big deal," he said Monday, laughing. Then he confessed, "Sometimes I walk on the field not really conscious about how everything fits together." Linebacker Ted Johnson admitted that the players notice. "That's him," he said. "But I think he's gotten better.

John Fox didn't come to the Super Bowl with his heart on his sleeve. He wore it on his finger. As a reminder of what it feels like to come this far and lose, the coach of the Carolina Panthers brought to Houston the NFC championship ring he won as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, who lost to Baltimore in the Super Bowl three years ago.

In the NFL if you are sick or injured, it's best to go away. You are nothing but a reminder of how instantaneously infallibility evaporates in this league, how quickly a knee shreds or a leg snaps or a shoulder separates or a concussion leaves you too weak and woozy to stumble onto the field. So quickly that, in a slow-moving second, an NFL game can end, a season can end, a career can end.

Christian Fauria isn't used to being the center of attention, not this late in the season, at least. So while speaking to reporters Sunday at the first Super Bowl news conference, the New England tight end turned the tables on them. He lifted his digital camera to his face and took a shot of the dozen or so TV cameras focused on him.

It's as if high school graduation week broke out here the last few days. It seems as if good-byes are being said, farewell notes are being written in the yearbook, as if the future is the great unknown. "The window is closing," Philadelphia Eagle cornerback Troy Vincent said. "We want to seize the moment, maximize the moment. Because it's probably the last moment for this group of guys."

To suggest that Jake Delhomme has come from nowhere is to encourage Delhomme to begin a history lesson about nowhere. He comes from Breaux Bridge, La., which is the crawfish capital of the world. How can that be nowhere? "It's a capital of the world," Delhomme said. "C'mon." He played quarterback in college at Louisiana Lafayette when it was known as Southwestern Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns won two Big West Conference titles under Delhomme and that's something you can't have happening nowhere.

The Philadelphia Eagles are preparing for their third consecutive conference title game. The New England Patriots are two seasons removed from winning the Super Bowl. The Indianapolis Colts have averaged more than 10 victories a season over the last five. And the Carolina Panthers? Only two years ago, they set an NFL record by losing 15 consecutive games. When it comes to football's version of the final four, the Panthers are the party crashers. And that's just how they like it.