Super Bowl XLIIISuper Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2008 season. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals by the score of 27–23. The game was played on February 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. With this victory, the Steelers became the first team to win six Super Bowl championships.
Eli ManningElisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest son of quarterback Archie Manning and younger brother of quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning played college football at Ole Miss, where he won the Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards as a senior. He was selected first overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and traded to the Giants during the draft.
Troy PolamaluTroy Aumua Polamalu (ˌpoʊləˈmɑːluː; born Troy Benjamin Aumua; April 19, 1981) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career as a strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). An eight-time Pro Bowl and six-time All-Pro selection, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility. Polamalu played college football for the USC Trojans, earning first-team All-American honors.
Super Bowl XLIISuper Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion underdog New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion undefeated New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2007 season. The Giants defeated the Patriots by the score of 17–14 with the now well known "Helmet Catch" often being considered as one of the best Super Bowl catches of all time. Many also consider this game the biggest upset of all time.
Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North Division. Founded in , the Steelers are the seventh-oldest franchise in the NFL, and the oldest franchise in the AFC. In contrast with their status as perennial also-rans in the pre-merger NFL, where they were the oldest team never to have won a league championship, the Steelers of the post-merger (modern) era are among the most successful NFL franchises, especially during their dynasty in the 1970s.
Mike TomlinMichael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, seven division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and a title in Super Bowl XLIII. At age 36, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, a record which was later beaten by Sean McVay in Super Bowl LVI.
Tony RomoAntonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illinois University, where he made an Ohio Valley Conference championship appearance in 2001 and won the Walter Payton Award the following year. Romo signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Beginning his career in a backup role, Romo served as the Cowboys' primary starter from 2006 to 2015.
New York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, west of New York City. The stadium is shared with the New York Jets. The Giants are headquartered and practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, also in the Meadowlands.
PittsburghPittsburgh (ˈpɪtsbɜːrɡ ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, and the 68th-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 census. It is the largest city of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.