Steve Breaston Afro King

As promised, here is a screen capture of the Stevie Breaston's Super Bowl XLIII afro.

When the Arizona Cardinals offense was introduced by NBC on Sunday night they chose to include their fullback rather than Steve Breaston (their 3rd WR). When this shot came up in the middle of the 2nd quarter everyone at my party started to cheer -- because they knew that Breaston was my pre-game choice for Super Bowl MVP. He finished the game with a respectable 6 catches for 71 yards. He also had 34 yards in an exciting punt return. Not bad for a guy who Kirk Herbstreit once called his offensive production "worthless".

I have to say Breaston's afro is the best I have seen on a current or former Michigan player since 1976 when Michigan All American point guard Rickey Green made it to the cover of Sports Illustrated. Michigan Coach Johnny Orr called him "the most exciting college basketball player in the country." Green had led Michigan to the 1976 NCAA finals where they lost to Bobby Knight's undefeated Indiana Hoosiers.

I have a feeling that Bo was not that keen on the big afro look. You need to go all the way back to the early 1970's to find a similar look for a Michigan football player. The two most famous afros in Michigan football belong to Thom Darden and Dave Brown. Darden was an All American in 1971 and returned to his native Ohio to become an All-Pro with the Browns. Dave Brown was an All American in both 1973 and 1974. He played on the Steelers first Super Bowl team in 1975. He was then selected by the expansion Seattle Seahawks where he made a couple of Pro Bowls. Dave Brown was a coach at Texas Tech when he died in 2006. He went into the College Football Hall of Fame the next year.