The Super Bowl is the game of games. To perform at your best on the biggest stage takes a special athlete. What has become of some of the game’s MVPs?
Chuck Howley
Chuck Howley was the MVP in Super Bowl V, playing on a Dallas Cowboys team that lost to the Baltimore Colts. He interecepted two passes and forced a fumble in the game. After retirement, Howley had a uniform rental business in Dallas. He also became involved with the breeding of quarter horses at Happy Hollow Ranch in Wills Point, Tx.
Len Dawson
Once a Kansas City legend, always a KC legend. Len Dawson guided the Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl IV over the Minnesota Vikings. The quarterback had a diverse career before he left the gridiron. I n 1966, while still playing for the Chiefs, Len became Sports Director for KMBC 9 NEWS. He also was a member of the Chiefs’ radio network for 34 years until last season.
Fred Biletnikoff
Fred Biletnikoff was one of the players who defined what it meant to be an Oakland Raider. He was MVP in Super Bowl XI when he caught for passes for 79 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. Three of the grabs set up Oakland touchdowns. His Biletnikoff Foundation founded Tracey’s Place of Hope in 2015. It was named in memory of his daughter, who overcame drug addiction to become a counselor but was tragically killed by an ex-boyfriend. In Loomis, Ca, Tracey’s Place of Hope is a shelter for domestic violence victims and substance abuse treatment for females ages 14 to 18. The overall goal for The The Biletnikoff Foundation is as a nonprofit dedicated to supporting youth, primarily from low-to-moderate income neighborhoods or backgrounds, who are particularly “at risk” to the realities of drug and alcohol addiction, as well as domestic and gender violence.
Terry Bradshaw
A four-time Super Bowl champ and two-time MVP, Terry Bradshaw was a dominant force during the Pittsbugh Steelers dynasty. The quarterback can be seem weekly on FOX Sports’ NFL studio show. He has also acted in television shows and movies.
Joe Montana
Joe Montana has been part of a venture capital firm. Most recently, it made a $75 million investment in a pot operator. Caliva, the San Jose, Ca-based group, said it would use the investment to grow a company that includes a farm, a retail store, distribution center and a delivery service. Montana launched the venture capital firm Liquid 2 Ventures in 2015. Additionally, he was part of a group that invested in a startup known as Chipper Cash, which offers no-fee, P2P, cross-border mobile-money payments in Africa.
Ottis Anderson
Ottis Anderson was the MVP of Super Bowl XXV. Post-football, Anderson has become involved in several ventures and is involved with writing benefits for municipalities, school boards and privately held businesses in New Jersey. Anderson has been affiliated with many community organizations In 2017, Anderson joined Metro Exhibits as a VP of Business Development. Anderson helps to develop new business opportunities in the trade show exhibit industry. He focuses on project design.
Peyton Manning
The question isn’t where is Peyton Manning? It is where isn’t he? The former Colts and Broncos star is seemingly everywhere. He’s an entrepreneur, on all sorts of commercials and has done a series for ESPN. Retirement has been good to the former Tennessee great.
Larry Brown
Larry Brown was an unlikely Super Bowl MVP. He intecepted two passes in XXX to earn the honor. Since retiring, he has made an appearance on the old show “Married with Children” and Since his retirement, Brown made an appearance in the show Married With Children and has been a co-host of the pre-game and post-game shows on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network.
Deion Branch
Former New England Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXIX MVP Deion Branch wound up living in Georgia after his career. Branch caught 11 passes for 133 yards to earn MVP honors. Now, he runs the Deion Branch Foundation, which he founded in 2004 when one of his twin sons was diagnosed with viral meningitis. “A lot of guys start their own foundations for whatever their reasons are,” Branch said to Prime Time Sports Talk recently. “Mine is very near and dear to me, my kid was born with viral meningitis and he was given six months to live and this April he’ll be 18. I never question God and I think he would never put something on me that I can’t handle, my son wakes up every day with a smile on his face and there are so many people, so many nurses, so many doctors that I have to give all the credit to because they did a great job with my kid.” Branch also runs his “skills and drills” camps to help teach the up-and-coming players the right ways to play football.
Troy Aikman
Another quarterback who was a Super Bowl MVP, who is not difficult to find. Troy Aikman has become a successful analyst on FOX Sports’ No. 1 broadcast team with Joe Buck. He has alsoowned a NASCAR racing team and become a part owner of the San Diego Padres.
Jim Plunkett
Jim Plunkett was the MVP of Super Bowl XV for the Oakland Raiders. The former Stanford star has had numerous post-career businesses, including owning a beer distributorship and playing a role in Oakland’s broadcast team. He was on the board of the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The cause has special meaning for him, as both of his parents were blind. Also, in 2018, Plunkett joined NFL Hall of Famers Steve Young and Ronnie Lott on an effort to raise awareness and educate football players about concussions. The three longtime Bay Area NFL stars are advisors to TeachAids, a nonprofit for research-based interactive concussion education product called CrashCourse, this September.
Lynn Swann
Lynn Swann won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Swann has held many roles after his retirement. He worked for ABC from 1976-2006. Swann ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006. He currently is the athletic director at his alma mater, the University of Southern California.
Franco Harris
Franco Harris was the MVP in Super Bowl IX. He also caught the Immaculate Reception pass. Harris went into the nutritional food business after hanging up his cleats. He built his company, Super Bakery Inc., from the ground up. His signature product, Super Donut, is loaded with minerals, vitamins and protein. Harris also has a company called Silversport, which focuses on antimicrobial fitness and workout gear and allows socks to stay odor free for days.
Terrell Davis
Terrell Davis works for NFL Network correspondent and studio host for NFL Total Access. He will play host to the the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s annual “Day Out with Dad” event on June 22. The event includes a day of family fun centered around a Hall of Fame Character Camp which includes football skills and drills. Parents and their children can spend the day bonding while also getting up close and personal with one of the best players in NFL history.
John Riggins
The unique and charismatic John Riggins turned to acting after football. He also has a variety of roles on Washington Redskins broadcasts. He also is a huge piece of FAIR (Fairness for Athletes in Retirement), which is standing up to the NFL. The non-profit organization is led by Riggins and his wife, Lisa Marie, who is an attorney. The group’s goal is for the NFL and NFLPA to institute pension reform. It seeks to spend millions to bring the paychecks of older retirees up to the level of those leaving the game today.
Jake Scott
Jake Scott vanished from the public scene after his football career. One writer, Dave Hyde, managed to catch up with the Miami Dolphins’ DB more than a decade ago. Scott told stories about traveling the world. He makes a living as an investor.
Larry Csonka
The great running back of the Miami Dolphins who was the MVP in Super Bowl VIII has had an interesting post-football career. Larry Csonka and Audrey Bradshaw have either hosted and/or produced three nationally broadcast outdoor series on ESPN, espn2, TNN and NBC Sports Outdoors including; “North to Alaska,” “Csonka Outdoors” and “Suzuki Great Outdoors.” He also is a motivational speaker and is an Alaska resident.
Doug Williams
The quarterback who threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns in the Redskins’ rout of the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII is the team’s SVP of Player Personnel. He has also coached at Morehouse and his alma mater, Grambling State.
Santonio Holmes
The receiver who caught the game-winning TD pass from Ben Roethlisberger in XLIII is back in school at Ohio State. He is finishing his Ohio State degree in consumer services and family finance management,
Joe Namath
The one and only Broadway Joe went on to a career as an actor and has had numerous business investments. The MVP in Super Bowl III is a commercial spokesman and has a strong social media presence. As cool as he was during his playing days.
