By the end of Sunday, we’ll know whichteams are headed to Super Bowl XLVI.

    One thing we know is that at least one Ole Miss alumnus will be onthe Super Bowl-winning team and also one on the losing team.Furthermore, the losing teams from today’s conference championshipgames will also have players who wore the red and blue during theircollege days.

    In the NFC game, former Rebel linebacker Patrick Willis hopes tohelp his San Francisco 49ers stop fellow former Rebel quarterbackEli Manning and the New York Giants.

    In the AFC title game, the confrontation is not quite so direct asboth ex-Rebels play on their teams’ offenses. Michael Oher, from”The Blide Side” fame, is the Baltimore Ravens’ tackle whileBenJarvis Green-Ellis is among the running back corps for the NewEngland Patriots.

    If there could somehow be a tournament or playoff with teams madeup of the greatest football players in history from each of the 50states, my money’s on Mississippi. A review copy of “Mississippi’s100 Greatest Football Players of All Time” we received at The DAILYLEADER recently backs up my assertion quite well.

    Being an avid football fan, I was already pretty confident in myfictional playoff claim. But the book, edited by Neil White andpublished by The Nautilus Publishing Company, clued me in on somehistory I did not know and strengthened my belief about thegreatness of Magnolia State football.

    Consider that the three highest-ranked players on the list areconsidered if not the best, then certainly among the best to everto play their respective positions on offense. And all hail fromMississippi.

    Topping the list is Crawford native Jerry Rice. The MississippiValley State alumnus holds every meaningful NFL receiving recordand was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2010.

    At No. 2 is Columbia native and Jackson State University alumWalter Payton. “Sweetness,” who died of a liver disease at the ageof 45, was the career rushing yards leader until that record wasbroken a few years ago by Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys.

    And the leading all-time Mississippi offense would be quarterbackBrett Favre, who placed third on the Top 100 list. Favre, who wasborn in Kiln and played at the University of Southern Mississippi,thrilled fans on his way to numerous career passing and touchdownrecords, and his call to the Hall will be answered as soon as he iseligible.

    I don’t want to do a place-by-place recap of the list, but No. 4 -Lance Alworth – is certainly worthy of mention for a Brookhavenaudience.

    According to the book, Alworth earned 15 letters for BrookhavenHigh School before going on to play at the University of Arkansas.The flanker, who was nicknamed “Bambi,” gained fame with the SanDiego Chargers and was the first player from the old AmericanFootball League inducted in the National Football League Hall ofFame after the two leagues merged.

    And lest I forget my Saints friends, beloved New Orleansquarterback and Ole Miss alum Archie Manning came in at No. 6 onthe book’s list. Other former Saints with noted Mississippi tiesinclude Deuce McAlister (Ole Miss) at No. 34, wide receiver JoeHorn (Itawamba Community College) at No. 36, cornerback AshleyAmbrose (MVSU) at No. 76, and kick returner Fred McAfee(Mississippi College) at No. 84.

    The offense could certainly score enough points to keep theMagnolia State team in any game, but the all-state defense couldhold its own as well.

     Among defensive playerswith Mississippi connections are former all-time sacks leaderDeacon Jones (MVSU) and Hugh Green (Natchez native) at defensiveend and tackle L.C. Greenwood (Canton native) of the championPittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s. Jackson State and Houston Oilers’Robert Brazille and Willis would lead the linebacking corps, andJackson State alum Lem Barney, who played for the Detroit Lions,would be the team’s top cornerback.

    If – for whatever reason – the offense had to punt the ball, theMississippi all-stars are OK there with former USM Golden Eagle RayGuy, considered by many to be the best punter of all time.Personally, I think it’s an absolute travesty that he has yet to beinducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

    According to the book, 588 native-born Mississippians have playedin the NFL and 726 with ties to state colleges have.

    Ole Miss leads the way with 181 players, followed by MississippiState with 127, USM with 97, Jackson State with 89 and Alcorn with51. All other state schools have less than 50 former players whoreached the NFL.

    Those stats are just something to chew as we enjoy some footballthis afternoon and the Super Bowl in two weeks.

    That’s all for now.

    Write to Managing Editor Matthew Coleman at P.O. Box 551,Brookhaven MS 39602, or send e-mail tomcoleman@dailyleader.com.