With Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson headed to the NFL’s conference title games, this is the first time in 21 years – and only second time ever – that three of the final four teams are quarterbacked by a Super Bowl champion.
Yes, when it comes to the QBs who’ll be involved in Colts-Patriots in the AFC and Packers-Seahawks in the NFC next Sunday, one of these is not like the others: Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck is the lone member of the quartet in search of his first ring.
New England’s Brady won the 2002, 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls, while Green Bay’s Rodgers (2011) and Seattle’s Wilson (last year) have won one trophy apiece.
According to STATS, the only other such trio still standing at this stage came at the end of the 1983-84 season, when the Raiders’ Jim Plunkett, Redskins’ Joe Theismann and 49ers’ Joe Montana did it. (The fourth team was the Seahawks; Dave Krieg and Jim Zorn combined for five interceptions in a conference title game loss.)
The 25-year-old Luck led the Colts to this year’s AFC finale by throwing for 265 yards and two touchdowns in a changing-of-the-guard 24-13 victory over 38-year-old Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos on Sunday night.