Back in August, back before the season began, Eli Manning was asked whether he considered himself an “elite” quarterback a la Tom Brady.

IN just his first year as an NFL coach, Jim Harbaugh has brought his San Francisco 49ers to the brink of a Super Bowl appearance.

MM: How important is a winning pro franchise to a city?

MAYBE the parallel universe exists where Joe Montana is an out-half, and not a quarterback, or where William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry is a loose-head prop rather than a defensive lineman.

A LITTLE over 10 years ago, Ronan O’Gara found himself in the toilets of a bar in Cork when he spotted someone smirking at him. “How do I know you?” asked the stranger.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, securing their fourth Vince Lombardi trophy in a dramatic showdown, writes John Riordan.

PITTSBURGH native Mike McCarthy will come face-to-face with the city of his birth in the Super Bowl on Sunday week after the showdown so long desired by the purists became a reality on Sunday night.

ELI MANNING trotted toward the New York Giants’ huddle facing a challenge of historic proportions.

BRETT FAVRE, who ignored critics saying he was too old and enjoyed a record-smashing season, has lifted the Green Bay Packers one victory from an unlikely trip to Superbowl XLII.

Two of the men accused of staging an armed robbery with OJ Simpson have agreed to give evidence against him.

Two of the men accused of staging an armed robbery with OJ Simpson today agreed to give evidence against him.

OJ Simpson’s arrest may be the start of a new legal odyssey for the fallen American football star and actor, one that could reopen the possibility of prison time more than a decade after his acquittal on murder charges.

Police have arrested OJ Simpson after an armed group allegedly burst into a US hotel room and snatched memorabilia that documented his sports career.

TOPPING their own standard for dramatic triumphs, the New England Patriots won their second Super Bowl crown in three years on Sunday with a repeat of the same heart-stopping thrills that brought a title in 2002.

DONOVAN MCNABB, the National Football League’s highest-paid player, returns to quarterback for Philadelphia today when they take on another team with an explosive quarterback talent - Atlanta - in the playoff second round.

BRETT FAVRE sparked NFL pace-setters Green Bay to a seventh consecutive win on Sunday while Issac Bruce celebrated his 30th birthday by rallying St. Louis to victory.