Albuquerque fans are in a huge uproar for the 45th edition of the Super Bowl, arguably the biggest game of the year.
Two of the oldest and most successful NFL organizations, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, will tussle for the right to hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.
In Albuquerque and around UNM, Packers and Steelers’ fans are gearing up to cheer for their team and hopefully see it walk away victorious.
Shawna Nelson, a UNM sophomore, said she has been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan from birth. She said she got her fanhood from her mother, who was named after a hall-of-fame Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback.
“My mom’s name is Terry because she started watching when Terry Bradshaw was playing,” she said.
Of course, Bradshaw’s playing days are over, yet the Steelers still have a formidable quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger.
Lobo Village General Manager Brent McPherson was just as quick to point out that the Packers have steely Aaron Rodgers. A Michigan native, McPherson grew up close to Green Bay, Wisc. Because the Detroit Lions went decades without winning seasons, he said he grew up rooting for the Packers, especially Brett Favre.
“We didn’t have much hope in the Lions,” he said. “So, you really have to use your imagination. There was the Packers for a long time and Brett Farve.”
McPerhson said he is also excited to see Packers’ cornerback Charles Woodson play in his second Super Bowl. Woodson, a former Michigan football player, won a national championship and the Heisman Trophy in 1997.
Making their eighth Super Bowl appearance, the Steelers look to win their seventh Super Bowl title.
Nelson said it would even sweeter if Pittsburgh won because this year’s game — which is traditionally played at a neutral site — since it takes place in Dallas at the Cowboys’ new billion-dollar stadium.
“Oh my gosh. I would be so excited (if Pittsburgh won) because the other half of my family is Dallas Cowboys fans,” she said. “I am just going to rub it in all over the place.”
As for who will win the game, McPherson said he has to go with the Packers because of their starting quarterback: Aaron Rodgers.
“As much as I like Brett Favre, (Rodgers) can sling it, too,” he said. “I think someone once said, ‘He could throw a football through a car wash and not get wet.’”
McPherson said the Packers and Steelers will go down to the wire, but he sees Green Bay winning 28-26.
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“Aaron Rodgers is going to do what he does and air it out,” he said. “I think the Steelers are older and they don’t have what it takes. They have a great coach (Mike Tomlin) and you have to give props to him, but at the end of the day, the Packers are going to be too much for them.”
Of course, Nelson said that wasn’t the case: It’s Pittsburgh’s year.
“Even before this season began, it was ‘Black and Yellow,’” she said. “The Steelers will win, but I don’t have a score.”
*Super Bowl XLV
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers
Sunday, 4:29 p.m.
Dallas
*
