The Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills were nowhere to be found at Super Bowl XLII, but that didn't stop football fans in Erie, Pa. from celebrating Super Sunday. Sports bars, taverns, and social clubs were jammed with folks who cheered hard for their favorites. A sampling of the most popular spot seems to show that most Erie fans adopted the New York Giants as their favorite in the NFL's biggest game of the year.

Erie has long been a strong sports town, and its ties to the NFL go back many years. Local players signed up with professional teams as early as the 1930's, but it got serious in the 1960's when Fred Biletnikoff became a star with the AFL's Oakland Raiders. Biletnikoff, a glue-fingered wide receiver who won Super Bowl MVP honors in 1977, was eventually enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

In the 1990's, All-Pro center Mark Stepnoski anchored the Dallas Cowboys offensive line, as that team won several Super Bowls. And just one year ago, Bob Sanders, another Erie kid, became the defensive catalyst who helped lead the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title.

Erie's sports fans take great pride in this football heroes, and Sanders gave back to the city during the summer of 2007 when he returned home and put on a free football clinic that was attended by more than 500 inner-city children.

Admittedly, it's not quite the same in Erie when the Steelers or Bills fail to advance to the NFL's biggest game. Cleveland has never played in a Super Bowl, although the Browns were one of the league's top teams in the 1950's and '60s, and won the championship in 1964.

Erie fans love baseball, basketball, hockey and other sports, but football holds a special place in the hearts of local folks. Veteran Erie Times-News sports columnist John Dudley understands this and did another strong job of covering the NFL scene during the 2007 season. Dudley, who lays it on the line, occasionally draws the barbs of fans who feel he's against their favorite team, but it's all part that wonderful time from fall through winter when football is king in Erie.

Now it's a long wait until July, when the pro teams report to camp. But the NFL Draft is coming up in April, and that's sure to get fans buzzing again.

-- Kevin Cuneo