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Five underhyped Super Bowl stories

You will hear all week in Tampa about Kurt Warner’s tight connection with the almighty—and that’s not a reference to Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

You will see a lot of attention paid to Fitzgerald being the son of a sportswriter, Larry Sr., because the media are fascinated one of their own could spawn a child capable of making headlines instead of writing them.

Inevitably, you will have the dreaded comparison between Fitzgerald’s hair and Steelers safety Troy Polamalu’s. You will have injury information about Hines Ward’s knee guarded as if it contained President Obama’s Blackberry address.

You will have all the big names, from Big Ben Roethlisberger to Edgerrin James, receiving bigger coverage than ever as they dominate Super Bowl XLIII story lines.

But here are five under-the-radar guys unlikely to create much buzz among the 4,000 credentialed media members—until Sunday’s kickoff , when their contributions could affect the outcome as much as any other player’s.

Mike Gandy

It’s hard to believe the Bears’ third-round draft pick from 2001 finds himself protecting the blind side of a future Hall of Fame quarterback in a Super Bowl. This was a guy the Bears once moved to guard to help make room for Qasim Mitchell. For all the things former teammates and coaches in Chicago and Buffalo might have said about Gandy being brooding or distant, the guy must be doing something right. He has started 35 straight games since joining the Cardinals in 2007 and this year gave up only 6½ sacks with one holding penalty. Compare that to Dallas Pro Bowl left tackle Flozell Adams, who gave up 7½ sacks with three holding penalties. Gandy’s strengths—his quickness and awareness—will be tested by a complex Pittsburgh blitz package that could target him. If Gandy can hold his own against the rush and help keep the Cardinals’ resurgent running game moving the chains, Arizona has a chance.

Ike Taylor

Fitzgerald has 419 reception yards in the playoffs and, more than any other player in the Super Bowl, possesses the ability to dominate the game. Though Taylor will have help from a blitzing pass rush and safeties over the top, the cornerback typically assigned to the opponent’s top receiver must believe he has to be the best player on the NFL’s best defense. If Taylor can be, it could create quite the Super Bowl legend for the former fourth-round pick out of Louisiana-Lafayette. It wouldn’t be the first time Taylor has shut down an elite receiver. In back-to-back wins this season, he limited Randy Moss (45) and Terrell Owens (32) to fewer than 100 yards combined. Bears cornerback Charles Tillman’s college teammate plays a similarly physical style. Ask anybody in Pittsburgh and they will tell you there were bricks used to build Heinz Field softer than Taylor’s hands, but knocking down passes would suffice against the Cardinals.

Santonio Holmes

While the status of Ward’s knee injury likely will warrant around-the-clock updates, the most explosive player for the Steelers this postseason risks being overlooked. Outside Pittsburgh, Holmes is largely unappreciated, but that could be changing. Against the Chargers, Holmes’ 67-yard punt return for a touchdown broke the game open. Against the Ravens, his 65-yard TD catch from Roethlisberger gave the Steelers the momentum and lead they needed. It bodes well for the Steelers that the last time they played the Cardinals, in September 2007, Holmes caught six passes for 128 yards and two TDs.

Adrian Wilson

Talk of the NFL’s best safeties usually starts with a debate over Ed Reed of the Ravens and Polamalu. Somebody might throw in Brian Dawkins of the Eagles, and every now and then somebody west of the Rockies may mention Wilson. He belongs in that company. He is the Cardinals’ version of Mike Brown, only better. The strong safety and longest-tenured Cardinal has operated in relative obscurity since Arizona took him in the third round of the 2001 NFL draft. But just like Polamalu did against the Ravens, Wilson has the ability to make a play to change an outcome. Roethlisberger made a point to know where Reed was on every snap, and expect him to show that same sort of respect for Wilson.

Clancy Pendergast

There is Steelers 71-year-old defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who will spend the week hearing how the perfect ending to his career would be retiring after stopping Arizona’s high-octane offense in the Super Bowl. There are the juicy subplots of former Steelers assistants on the Cardinals’ staff. There is the ongoing coronation of Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley as a future head coach. Yet the assistant coach many folks will ignore could make the most lasting impact if he pushes the right buttons to stop the Steelers’ running game and keep Roethlisberger in the pocket. Pendergast has found a way to get the Cardinals’ defense to give up an average of 8.1 fewer points and 42.7 fewer rushing yards per game in the playoffs. Arizona also leads all teams in the postseason with seven interceptions and five sacks. If that trend continues in Tampa, there will be hundreds of media members Sunday night Googling galore to find out the origin of Pendergast’s first name.