Many prominent football
players have made it to the big game and represented their culture and heritage
in the Super Bowl. Fox New Latino takes a look at some of the greatest and in
some cases just players who made it to the big game and the impact they’ve had
on the sport.
This is not a
comprehensive list of all Latinos who’ve played in the Super Bowl, but a list
of the bigger names and obvious participants.
Last Year
Victor Cruz and Aaron
Hernandez
The New York Giants
Victor Cruz has become a media sensation in his short time in the league with
his Latino flair and salsa dancing. Just last year the wide receiver won
his first championship with the Giants, catching a touchdown at Super Bowl
XLVI. Cruz’s mother is Puerto Rican. The losing New England Patriots had tight
end Aaron Hernandez, who is also of Puerto Rican heritage. He led the team with
67 receiving yards and also scored a touchdown for his team, though the team
ended up losing.
The Legends
Tom Flores –
Quarterback/Head Coach - Oakland / LA Raiders
Flores was the first
Latino quarterback in the NFL and the first Latino to lead a team to a Super
Bowl title. Flores won a Super Bowl as a Kansas City Chiefs (he backed up Len
Dawson), an assistant coach with the Raiders and most notably as head coach of
the Raiders in Super Bowl XV and XVIII. Flores still hasn’t been inducted into
the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Jim Plunkett –
Quarterback - Oakland Raiders
Jim Plunkett, who is
Mexican-American, won the Heisman Trophy as quarterback with Stanford
University in 1970, the first Latino to win the big prize. He was the first
Latino to get drafted in the 1st round selected first overall. In 1981,
Plunkett led the team to his first Super Bowl win as the game’s MVP.
Three years later, he did it again.
Ted Hendricks –
Linebacker – Baltimore Colts/Oakland / LA Raiders
Hendricks was born in
Guatemala his mother a native of the country. He earned his Hall of Fame status
in 1990. He dominated as a pass-rushing linebacker, earning eight Pro Bowl
appearances and being named first-team All Pro four times. He finished with
60.5 sacks, 26 interceptions and was a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams.
Anthony Muñoz – Offensive
Tackle – Cincinatti Bengals
Hall of Fame lineman
Anthony Muñoz played in two Super Bowls, XVI and XXIII. But each time his
team lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
Manny Fernandez –
Defensive Tackle – Miami Dolphins
Manny Fernandez played
in three Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins. In Super Bowl VII he had 17
tackles as the Dolphins beat the Redskins and completed the only undefeated
season of NFL history.
Joe Kapp – Quarterback –
Minnesota Vikings
Kapp entered the NFL in
1967 and led the Vikings to their first division title and Super Bowl, losing
to the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. In 1970, he made the cover of Sports
Illustrated in a piece titled “The Toughest Chicano.”
Read
more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2013/02/01/super-bowl-history-latinos-in-big-game/#ixzz2JfcDyRuC
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