CANADIANS IN SUPER BOWL HUNT

The likelihood of a Canadian or two playing in Super Bowl 41 on Feb. 4 Miami is way down on the depth chart among today's storylines for the NFL's conference championship games.

With Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning ("like a breath of stale air" -- Kissing Suzy Kolber), the resurrection of the Saints, the possibility of Peyton playing his daddy's old team and the chance for a Super Bowl with two African-American head coaches, Chicago's Lovie Smith and Indy's Tony Dungy, who grew up putting a C in offence and defence is pretty small beer.

It is notable that three of the four teams left in the NFL playoff tournament have a Canadian on the roster, even though no one seems to be writing about it.

Last winter, Seattle Seahawks long snapper Jean-Phillippe Darche, a McGill grad, became the player from a Canadian university to play in the Super Bowl in 26 years.

If the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts win today there will be two CIS grads playing in the game -- Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije (second photo), the former Manitoba Bison, and Colts backup offensive tackle Dan Federkeil (third photo), the one-time defensive star with the Calgary Dinos. Both play mostly special teams, but two CIS players in the Super Bowl? You know that would be a first. If it's a Colts-Bears matchup, that means a Canadian university player will earn a Super Bowl ring -- also a first.

(The Globe & Mail profiled Idonije extensively this week, but didn't mention the other two Canadians in the hunt.)

Of the Canadian trio, New England Patriots starting right tackle Nick Kaczur (top picture) of Brantford, Ont., plays the biggest role on his team, keeping blitzing defenders from messing up the really, really ridiculously good-looking Tom Brady's dental work. Kaczur is another Belichickian success story. He was a middle-round draft pick in 2005, but has done whatever the Patriots have needed him to, playing both tackle spots on offence. He'll have another tough assignment today, lining up most of the time against Indy's left end, Robert Mathis, who's only averaged 10.5 sacks a season over the past three years.

Yours truly lived in Manitoba a few years ago, when Idonije, who got his start playing nine-man football in western Manitoba, was trying to break into the NFL. Manitoba's on a pretty good roll in sports (two words: Cindy Klassen), but the Brandon native making the Super Bowl would be an all-time chart-topper for Friendly Manitoba.

Idonije had a big part in the Bears' overtime win over Seattle last week. In overtime, he put a strong rush on Seahawks punter Ryan Plackemeier, forcing him to hurry his kick and "shankemeier" (hat tip to ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski) an 18-yard punt, giving the Bears great field position for their winning drive.

So if it's snowing when the Bears and dome-team New Orleans Saints kick off in a couple hours, Idonije should be ready. He's from Manitoba. The Bears, of course, are co-blogger Neil Acharya's team, and he's hoping it snows.

Federkeil's also an interesting story -- he played defensive line at the U of Calgary, but the Colts were able to discern that he should come over from the "dark side" and play offence. He got into two late-season games and appeared in Indy's first playoff game, but we deactivated for last week's game in San Diego. He's back in the lineup today and was on Indy's field-goal team two weeks ago.

Lastly, how's that for irony -- the New Orleans Saints, with the French fleur-de-lis on their helmets, are the only team still kicking which doesn't have a Canadian on the active roster. That's because Mitch Berger isn't kicking -- the B.C.-born punter is on injured reserve.

(DIGRESSION: For the record, I'm hoping we'll see Manning face his daddy Archie's Saints in Miami on Feb. 4, but only if little brother Eli Manning sings the national anthem in the same state he was probably in when these pictures were taken.)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.