16 facts to know for the Super Bowl

Today is the big day. After months of commercials, official reviews, helmet-to-helmet hits and more commercials, it's Super Bowl Sunday.

Peyton Manning will be on TV almost as much as he is in games when he doesn't play – on those omnipresent Nationwide Insurance commercials.

If you're a fan, you already know about the Broncos and Panthers, who play today. If you're not, you're in the right place.

This is where you can learn all you need to know about the event, teams and players in Super Bowl 50 in lovely Santa Clara.

Here are 16 facts, since the greatest player in Super Bowl history was No. 16: David Woodley of the 1982 Dolphins.

Hah hah, fooled you. It was Joe Montana. Not on the 1982 Dolphins, though. He was the greatest No. 16.

Anyway, here are the 16 facts, some of which might be true:

• Manning, Denver's quarterback, started his NFL career in 1998. That means he started his career in the same millennium as the American Revolution.
• The teams may experiment today with a rule that a failed replay challenge results in the responsible coach being punched in the stomach by the opposing coach while standing at the 50-yard line.
• Super Bowl IV was the first time with an individual performer at halftime. It was Carol Channing. Seriously. Carol Channing.
• Manning started his NFL career in 1998. That means he started his career a millennium when Carol Channing performed in a Super Bowl halftime show. Carol Channing!
• Carolina quarterback Cam Newton ranks fourth on the "Greatest Newtons" list, behind Sir Issac, Wayne and Fig.
• Denver, the hometown of the AFC Champion Broncos, is actually 5,280 feet above sea level, which is why it's nickname is "The 1.609-Kilometer-High City."
• Carol Channing. Seriously. And she was in the Super Bowl halftime show again two years later. Twice!
• The term "sack," which means tackling the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, comes from the early practice of grabbing quarterbacks, stuffing them in burlap bags and keeping them there the rest of their natural lives. That practice ended in 1983.
• Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib is not only the greatest rhyming name in the NFL, it's a sure winner in "hangman."
• CBS will broadcast today's Super Bowl. Ironically, CBS is the network that broadcast "I Love Lucy" in the 1950s. It's also quite possible that I don't know what "ironically" means. Which might be ironic. But maybe not.
• Manning started his NFL career in 1998. That means he started his career in the millennium that "I Love Lucy" was on CBS.
• The NFL decided to call the game "Super Bowl 50" instead of using a Roman numeral because Roman numbers only go up to 49. In ancient Rome, anything greater than 49 was called "Magnum Numerus."
• Manning started his NFL career in 1998. That means he started his career just one millennium after the one that saw the height of the Roman Empire.
• Super Bowls are the 21 most-watched TV programs in American history. The 22nd-most-watched program was that "Gilligan's Island" episode where they almost got off the island, but Gilligan fouled it up. I think.
• The character of "Gilligan" was played by Bob Denver, who is the namesake of one of the NFL teams in today's game: Yes, Charlotte, North Carolina, is named after Bob Denver.
• Manning started his NFL career in 1998. That means he started his career in the same millennium as the invention of the printing press, which made the printed version of this column possible.

Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.