Super Bowl Football Game

Admit it. You had no idea ESPN has 18 platforms. But they do and there is Super Bowl coverage on all of them. And this isn't even the network that is actually televising the game, so ESPN has to get creative. For example, Friday at 12:30 on the actual, original ESPN platform, Mike Tirico will host "SportsCenter." And not just any "SportsCenter," but a "SportsCenter Special: The Champions" with analysts who have won Super Bowl rings -- Tedy Bruschi, Mike Ditka, Trent Dilfer, Jon Gruden, Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Millen, Mark Schlereth and Steve Young.

Joe Lombardi wants to uphold the values of his famous grandfather. He also wants to uphold his grandfather's trophy. Lombardi, 38, is quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints, who play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV. He's also a grandson of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the championship trophy is named. The two never met, as Joe was born a year after his grandfather's death in 1970. But the younger Lombardi has attracted a lot of attention this week, even though his role with the Saints is a fairly low-profile one. "Some of the coaches were teasing me because of all this attention I'm getting because of my grandfather," he said.

Lorenzo Bromell isn't likely to forget the hit -- and not only because it drew a hefty fine from the NFL. Peyton Manning won't soon forget it either. The collision came in 2001, when Manning was in his fourth season as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts, and Bromell was a defensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins. Manning wound up with a hairline fracture of the jaw, and the now-retired Bromell secured the dubious distinction of being the only player to knock Manning out of a game.

Will he or won't he? Can he or can't he? It was only fitting that Dwight Freeney -- mystery man for the Indianapolis Colts -- showed up to Super Bowl media day Tuesday wearing flip-flops. In light of his severely sprained right ankle, his status for Sunday's game seems to flip and flop by the minute. Freeney, a defensive end who finished tied for third in the league with 13 1/2 sacks, didn't have a noticeable limp as he made his way to his interview table at the event, and though he said the swelling had been bad, his ankles appeared to be roughly the same size.

Steve Sabol, the easygoing president of NFL Films and one of football's great storytellers, has a handwritten sign on his desk that reads, "The buck doesn't even pause here." Like his father, Ed, before him, Sabol wants his company's filmmakers to spread their creative wings, take risks, find new ways to tell stories. It's that creativity that helped build NFL Films into the empire it is today, changed how we watch football, and has left a significant imprint on Hollywood.

Down . . . set . . . uncut! The 44th Super Bowl is at hand, and NFL Films has been there for every one of them, documenting not just what happens on the field but many things that even the most ardent fans wouldn't otherwise see. NFL Films founder Ed Sabol started it all when, in 1962, he bid $3,000 for the film rights to the NFL championship game. Since, the company has filmed more than 9,300 NFL games, and shoots enough 16-millimeter film per season to stretch from Indianapolis to New Orleans -- with almost 200 miles of celluloid to spare.

What the Indianapolis Colts' defense needs to concentrate on to stop the New Orleans Saints' offense in the Super Bowl (Feb. 7, 3:15 p.m. PST, Ch. 2): Ice Man Cometh This is Dwight Freeney's stage. The Colts defensive end, who tied for third in the league with 13 1/2 sacks this season, plays big in big games. Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod got some blocking help Sunday and did a solid job against Minnesota's Jared Allen . The Saints need an encore against one of the NFL's most dangerous whirling-dervish pass rushers.

What the New Orleans Saints' offense needs to concentrate on to combat the Indianapolis Colts' defense in Super Bowl XLIV: Dance with who brought them Drew Brees is the leader of this team, an elite quarterback who has remarkable anticipation and can make all the throws. He's a little more mobile than Peyton Manning , but the Saints don't ask him to make plays with his feet. He uses that ability to move for sightlines, so he can get a better look at his receivers.

What the New Orleans Saints' defense needs to concentrate on to stop the Indianapolis Colts offense in Super Bowl XLIV (Feb. 7, 3:15 p.m., Ch. 2): Getting their licks in The Saints hit Brett Favre every chance they could and, like body blows in boxing, those hits took a toll. You'd better believe they'll try to do the same thing with Peyton Manning , even though the Colts do an outstanding job of providing protection. . Bobby McCray , the Saints' right defensive end who replaced stalwart Charles Grant , hasn't made a lot of plays this season.

The first time Peyton Manning hunkered into an NFL huddle, called an NFL play, scanned the field and fired a pass to an NFL receiver, it didn't come as the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts. It came with the New Orleans Saints. And the future four-time NFL most valuable player was in high school, more than a decade before he would lead the Colts to Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints. He grew up in New Orleans, and his father, Archie, was a former star quarterback for the Saints who was always around the team because he was their radio analyst.